Eclipse - Act 2 - Of Blood and Truth
by Cosmic Fiction
Summary: Everyone has their truths...but only one is THE truth. When a new enemy arises from the ashes of the Black Smog, blood stains the ground from countless souls as the Legendary Jack the Ripper returns. Ruby and Yang are both faced with a question that will challenge their bonds with Blake and Weiss, and the same for J.N.P.R, as they search for the truth behind Summer's death.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

* * *

"Well... " Pyrrha sighs, rolling her shoulder as the chains binding her chafe across her back. "I'm not going to deny... " She looks upwards at the ground, and down past her feet to the chain disappearing up into the ceiling. "... this could've gone better."

Beneath are hundreds of starving Grimm, snarling and snapping up at her. From Beowulves to Creeps to Deathstalkers. A few have their sharp teeth just grazing the end of her inverted crimson ponytail. The blood rushes to her head and she groans, blinking out of sync and rolling the wrists bound at her back.

She flits her eyes around at the deep and dark cave network she found herself in. She tilts her chin up to look down, at the sea of writhing creeps underneath. So, she was underground, that much is for certain. Attached to the chains keeping her suspended is a wind-chime, jingling with every small swinging motion she caused. This sets the blind Creeps into overdrive, snapping and leaping to get a taste of what is causing the noise.

"You're a Beacon student, aren't you?" Came a gravelly voice, one that carries with it a great deal of knowledge. Pyrrha freezes her wriggling, snapping her eyes forward. Even though the world is upside down, she makes no mistake to who stands on the balcony before her.

"Well, if it isn't Mr Merlot." Pyrrha quips and she tilts her head curiously, that ever so bright smile on her face – despite the predicament.

"Ah! Doctor! Doctor Merlot." He corrects with a grin. Pyrrha huffs, blowing some of the dust from her brow.

"Right. My apologies." Pyrrha looks around, craning her neck. "Umm... this is all a bit theatrical, isn't it? You know, for one lone Huntress student."

"O-Oh no, I'm not underestimating you meddling kids this time!" Merlot chuckles, waggling his finger at her. It is easy to forget that – in between all the chaos that has hit their education – Teams R.W.B.Y and J.N.P.R had both stopped the mad Doctor once before, prior the first attack on Vale and before the Vytal Festival. The tall Doctor stares the young woman down as he stares at her. "Besides, I ask the questions."

"Okay. I'm sorry." Pyrrha says sweetly, wrapping her fingers around the chains at her back. Merlot raises a brow, but carries on, being the theatrical monologuing man he has always been. If there has ever been a man who shares an ego as extreme as Jacques Schnee, it would be Doctor Merlot.

"Why, is a Beacon soon-to-be Graduate sniffling around my make shift laboratory?"

"Oh yes, of course. We blew up your last one, didn't we? I'm sorry." Pyrrha smiles sheepishly, seeing to enjoy that memory a little too much, this however causes Merlot to growl with immense displeasure. "Yes, on behalf of Beacon, Ozpin, Team's RWBY and JNPR... we are sorry."

"Enough." Merlot huffs. "Why are you here?"

"Well... it's a long story really."

"You're not going anywhere." Merlot chuckles. "Oh! I do have an appointment in an hour though, so..." He taps his watch. Pyrrha huffs again, rolling her eyes as she begins her long tale of how she got here.

"As one of our final tests before graduation, we must offer the headmaster an item of interest and show we can single handedly take care of a Grimm hive. When I saw your robots at the cave entrance... Oooh it was too good to resist. Sorry." Pyrrha gives a sheepish laugh, if her hands were free, she would have gently covered her soft lips.

"So..." Merlot points beneath Pyrrha. She looks at the Grimm. "Hive." Pyrrha nods. Merlot points to his chest. "Item of interest?"

"Oh, don't think of yourself as an item, Doctor. But yes." Pyrrha says, passing some of her aura through the chains binding her, testing their magnetism. "You see, with Neopolitan captured and vanished, you are the second-best gift." She tells him with a smile, now that Neo has massive bounties set on her head after her escape from Authorities prior the fall of the Black Smog.

"So, in a perfect world, you'll wipe out the hive, capture me, and graduate with flying colours?" Merlot tilts his head with a grin. Pyrrha shrugs.

"Yes, pretty much."

"Shame. We don't live in a perfect world! Ah hah!" Merlot cackles, springing his hand forward and pressing the remote in his grasp. Pyrrha rolls her eyes as the chain unlocks and starts to drop her down into the horde below. With a burst of black energy, the chains explode, and she quickly rolls over to grab the chains and swing up onto the cave wall, gripping the black stone.

The Grimm roar devilishly, addicted to the taste of blood that is so close to them, rolling over each other like a stormy black sea, trying to get to her. She looks up at Merlot on the balcony, seeing him walking across the platform.

"Why'd you think I set up my new lab here? Think of all the tests I can run on all those Grimm! End of the day, the Black Smog scattered, and many of them…found their way here. Isn't it incredible how things turn out?" He gestures to the writhing black ground. "After they devour you of course. Oh, and so close to graduating too." Merlot pouts. Pyrrha raises a brow, lifting her fingers with a twitch, listening to the metal bangs echoing through the winding cave networks.

"You remember we broke your toys last time, don't you?" Pyrrha says, Merlot's smile dropping. Suddenly both Milo and Akoúo break through the stone in a plume of rubble, shooting through the air in a golden blur towards Pyrrha. She smirks and leaps off the cave wall, swirling elegantly through the air.

Her feet touch down on Akoúo for a brief second, before leaping off the whizzing shield. Akoúo embeds itself in the wall, and Pyrrha lands behind Merlot with a grin.

He cackles and lifts his cybernetic arm, the right appendage shifting and morphing mechanically under his sleeve until the fingers became recognisable as the barrel of a flame thrower. The sleeve melts and burns away as bright crimson flames shoot out at Pyrrha, she raises her gauntlets shielding herself from the super-heated flames, though the metal soon turning red hot.

She flicks her wrist and Akoúo snaps up out of the wall and clatters Merlot in the back of the head, making him stumble forward. She kicks him square in the chest and he hits the parapet wall with a crunch. She catches the spinning shield on her gauntlet, just as another salvo of fire engulfs her. Merlot, left hand on the parapet, slowly rises to his dazed feet, right arm still spouting flames.

As Akoúo starts to glow red along its rounded edges, she looks up at Milo embedded in the cave walls, just beneath a stalactite. She smirks and flicks her fingers, black light ripping Milo from the stone and shooting down into Merlot's knee, the blunt end dropping him easily to a knelt stature. Pyrrha lowers her glowing shield and uses the thousand-degree edge to slice the end of Merlot's mechanised arm off, bringing the flame thrower to an end. Merlot yelps as Pyrrha steps on his other hand, pinning him in place, her heel proving to be very uncomfortable.

Merlot's red optic looks up and he grins wickedly, Pyrrha furrowing her brows in confusion. Too late does she hear the barrelling metal footsteps behind, turning to the robot shoulder charging her through the parapet in a spray of rubble.

She falls towards the horde below, eyes wide in shock. Thinking quick, she outstretches her hand and it glows black. Milo blasting a hole straight through the robot's chest, flat out shutting it down. As it falls, Milo dives down for her, Pyrrha rolling over in the air and readying her knees up to her chest, as Milo passes beneath her with a loud metallic hum.

She kicks down on Milo's blunt backside and gives herself a double jump up onto a ledge, Milo slamming into the Creep crowd below, killing at least twelve with a massive shockwave.

Pyrrha pants, surveying her surroundings, before seeing the explosive red canisters. She grins and swings her wrist, launching Akoúo into a spin directly at them. The shield impacts and pierces the red drum, knocking it off the ledge and falling into the Creeps below. Pyrrha braces herself, gritting her teeth and covering her ears.

The drum squashes several creeps but doesn't explode.

"Wha-?" Pyrrha looks down, then up. "Ah, what? But red barrels always explode!" She huffs like a disappointed child, almost like she is winging, "Fine, old fashioned way then." She leaps off the wall towards the Creeps forming a mountain out of themselves to get to her. She raises both fists over her head and slams them down on the top two Creeps, rolling over their backs and sliding down the writhing mound. She pushes off the last Creep and rolls through the air before catching Milo in one hand and Akoúo in the other, sliding along her knees in a shower of sparks.

The fluid the flattened red drum had been leaking the whole time catches those sparks and ignites in a pale blue and orange flame, racing back along the floor in a swath of fire, before reaching the drum and erupting in a loud fireball.

"Yay!" Pyrrha's eyes light up, just as the remaining creeps barrel towards her. She finds a recess in the cave wall and presses her back into it, raising Milo in spear form over Akoúo. She blows out a shaky breath. "Okay... Phalanx. Just as Father taught you." She grits her teeth as the Grimm make contact.

Merlot rises to his feet, stumbling inside with a slow and heavy limp. He disappears inside of his lab trying to find his weapon attachments - one handed. Eventually he does, muttering to himself as he cleans off the melted metal and can finally attach to the elbow socket. He grins, then freezes as silence reigns outside the door. He tilts his head.

Silence.

"Well... " He stands with a groan. "Perhaps that truly was too many Grimm. Shame. She would've made a fine Huntress."

He unlocks the door and it slides open, revealing Pyrrha leaning against the wall, checking herself in her pocket mirror while her Aura slowly regenerates. Black blood freckles her once pristine armour, the shield on her back dented and scratched to near unrecognisable stature. That will most certainly

"Ready to go?" She shuts the mirror and says with a peppy smile. Merlot simply scoffs. "Grand."

He grits his teeth and raises the arm cannon, to which Pyrrha huffs and kicks his bad knee, dropping the man to the ground, before taking his arm and detaching it.

"Won't be needing weapons." She says, throwing it over him into the trash can.

"I…take it I can't call a lawyer?" Merlot asks curiously, and she grabs him, lifting him up to his feet.

"Do you have one?" She asks, and he falls silent.

"I did." Merlot says, and Pyrrha just raises her brow and sighs.

"Come on, don't make this difficult." She says, but he looks back at her and he just starts ranting and raving about her and the Huntsmen Academies.

"Do you really think this will help anything? This isn't the first time you lot have tried to take me and it gosh-darnt will not be the last!" Merlot calls out, and Pyrrha rolls her eyes, before glancing at the roll of duct tape sat on the table and her gaze slowly turns to Merlot with a smirk. Merlot's eyes widen and he stares back. "Oh no…don't you dare."

* * *

**Ruby**

* * *

Outside of the location, they are all waiting for the last two members to return with their prizes. Team R.W.B.Y, Team J.N.P.R – missing only Pyrrha and Jaune right now – and Team S.S.S.N. Ruby stands with her back pressed against the tree here in the domain where both Pyrrha and Jaune agreed to locate their rewards. As friends – or family – they agreed to turn in their gifts together at the exact same time.

Four years have passed since the fall of the Black Smog, and they are now at their Graduation, and they have all changed over the years. Ruby now sports a white high-neck décolletage blouse with brown studded wristbands on the arms. Her outfit retains the use of a black skirt with red tulle underneath, somewhat similar to her original outfit, but her waist cincher has been replaced with an over bust corset with red strip holding it in place. A black belt bordered in red holds the magnetic clip for Crescent Rose and its ammunition. She also has brown straps on her blouse that allow her to wear a small brown backpack.

In lieu of her usual full black stockings, Ruby wears thigh-high stockings reaching to a few inches below the hem of her skirt, decorated by an image of a long-stemmed rose. Her red-soled black boots contain four straps and buckles apiece. Her cloak has a singular clip on the right shoulder in the shape of her emblem, replacing the cross-shaped clips from her original attire. Both the cloak and the stockings show tears from the long road they have been on to get to this point. Her hair has also grown slightly longer, maintaining the colour gradation from black at the roots to red at the tips.

Weiss' new gear includes a short, glittering dress with a colour gradation of blue to pale blue at the hem, a sweetheart neckline, and a white, tulle petticoat.

A white ribbon is wrapped multiple times around her waist, and over the outfit is worn a slightly sheer long-sleeved blue shrug fastened at the collar with a large sapphire broach that has three pendants dangling from it. Printed on the back of the shrug is the Schnee Crest. Completing her attire are dark blue wedge heels and sapphire drop earrings.

Blake's new attire features a long white tailcoat with dark grey lining and a sleeveless black crop top. The crop top has rectangular and diamond-shaped cut-outs around the neckline. Additionally, she wears a white belt over black fitted pants. Across her torso is a diagonal strap that contains a smaller magnetic clip used to sheathe Gambol Shroud. She wears thigh-high black heeled boots with gold-coloured edging around the top. The left boot has a belt wrapped twice around the thigh. Each boot bears her belladonna emblem in white on the outer side of the thigh, and a white pouch is attached to the back of her belt. And now, she no longer wears her bow.

Yang still wears the clothes she chose to wear upon returning to Beacon when the Black Smog attacked. She wears a tan jacket with orange lining and gold edging, unzipped halfway to show an orange crop top. The coat has darker brown short sleeves, a thick collar that completely encircles her neck, and two long gold-trimmed detachable rectangular tails. She also wears fitted black pants, and her hair has been let down again like her original outfit.

Around her hips and over the tails of her coat is a brown belt, which has two pieces of dark brown material trimmed in gold attached to it. The first covers from her left hip to the back of the belt and is folded over the belt, and the second is attached from the right hip and almost around to the other piece of material. She wears knee high brown boots with gold caps on the heel and toe, with the heel cap attaching to a gold strap across the front of her ankle, and a gold zipper on the upper half of the front of the boots. A single small buckled strap is on the upper outside of her boots, and a purple bandana tied around her left knee. A pair of black fingerless gloves with long brown cuffs reaching to mid forearm complete the outfit.

They are not the only ones to change their attire either, for Ren and Nora have done the same thing. Nora has fashioned herself a new matured version of her previous clothes, including a brand new – and awesome – weapon. She has named it Stormur Skeggox, an extremely powerful Battleaxe filled with the same pink dust that she would use with her now destroyed Magnhild. It still transforms into her beloved Grenade Launcher but has shrunken it down to an axe, for faster strikes, and with thrusters that can allow more devastating blows. Her orange hair has grown longer, and her body is larger thanks to her incredible – and terrifying strength.

Especially her thunder thighs.

With her sleeves rolled up, the muscle definition is as clear as day. Ren on the other hand has had a major change, now no longer tying his hair up behind his head, he has let it fall and grow long. He also wears a combat under armour that is black and tight to his skin, with an off-the-shoulder green sleeve that relates back to his old coat he wore before. He also has a curved dagger sheathed on his boot and has upgraded Stormflower to have larger and stronger blades, ones that can actually cut up Grimm extremely well. He – like the rest of them – has also improved his muscular definition, becoming one hell of an adversary for foes to face.

Sun on the other hand is the only member of his team to actually change his attire. He now wears a black shirt with golden buttons connecting it together, completely buttoned up. And the reason? Certainly because of the new scar he has scraped across his chest from the Praetorian Knight. The wound can still be seen, and due to how deep and serious the wound was, he required a unique form of surgery that cannot be removed. To prevent further damage to his body and internal haemorrhaging the nurses injected a dark grey filament to repair the damage, however it cannot be removed afterwards. He now has a long scar with this filament across his chest and the side of his face, cutting through his cheek and his hair on one side.

He is smiling again, but still suffers from some rather serious insecurities about his wound, ones that he cannot bring himself to keep his shirt open anymore. But that has not stopped him and his team from being the lovable idiots that they are, as they all stand there waiting with Ice Cream that they bought from a nearby truck in the city. The location they are at?

Mountain Glenn.

Turns out Merlot decided he wanted to return back to the city of which he caused the destruction of in the first place to conduct his experiments on the Grimm. Obviously, it did not take much for them to figure out he would return here, they were not fools – they knew he would have escaped from his facility when he set it to self-destruct.

Weiss and Blake look at their boyfriends and shake their heads at them, and Neptune pauses licking the ice cream as he looks at her. "What?" He slurs and she just rolls her eyes, in which Sun challenges her as he always does.

"Y'know you're just jealous you didn't think of it, Ice Queen." Sun jabs with a cheeky grin on his face, a grin that Weiss detests. She spins round and stares at him.

"I am not some savage mutt! I have class and would never…want…Ice Cream." She stammers, fighting through the words as she stares at the delicious ice cream in their hands. Sun scoffs as he stares at Weiss.

"You fought through that." Sun comments with a grin on his face, and Weiss blushes as Neptune smirks, offering his Ice Cream to her.

"No, I didn't." She defends, crossing her arms and looking away, until she glances back at the Cream for a second. Nora and Ren look at each other as they wait for Jaune and they jump off the rock they are both sat on.

"We're gonna go see how Jaune's doing in there." She says as she and Ren both walk towards the old abandoned building that Jaune headed into. He said he was simply gonna go in there, grab the old relic Ozpin said was in here, and come back with it. Unlike Blake and Weiss, Ruby is staring at the pink ice cream that Scarlet is licking beside his boyfriend, salivating desperately. And Scarlet's words don't make it any easier for the Puppy Girl.

"This is Delicious." He comments as he continues to enjoy his treat.

"Oh, come on…" She groans desperately, the petals building up around her long red cape, and Yang rolls his eyes, extending her metal hand, grabbing her cape just as she tries to dash towards it, only to fall on her butt. She sits beside her sister and looks at the floor sadly. As she sits there, the little Corgi approaches her and licks her hand as she sits there, immediately curing her fake grief with joy as she tickles Zwei.

"I can't believe you brought him here." Weiss comments.

"How could I leave him? LOOK AT HIS LITTLE FACE!" Ruby squeals as she points to Zwei as he pants with a smile, looking at Weiss, and she breaks with a similar squeal, petting him.

"How can you not love a face like this?" Weiss coos as she scratches his ears, and Blake shudders, looking away from the dog.

"I can hate that face." She says, making Yang chuckle.

"Your sour puss." She jokes, making yet another one of her puns, hearing Sun's response in the background.

"Get out." Sun orders, and she looks around at the _outside _location they are at.

"How?" She asks.

"Go inside, and then get out." Sun says, and Yang sighs as she walks towards one of the ancient destroyed buildings to do exactly that, in which Sage chuckles. Blake's ear twitches when she hears the approach of someone nearby and she turns her head and bumps her partner's elbow upon her return.

"Look." She says, and they all turn to see Pyrrha emerging with Merlot at her mercy – with duct tape around his mouth – walking him down the steps. His deadpanned expression truly does make them feel great, especially to realise they finally have him this time.

"Well look who it is." Ruby says as she walks towards Merlot in Pyrrha's custody. She stares him down and he stares right back. "Been a while…"

He muffles and Pyrrha rolls her emerald eyes, grabbing the duct tape and ripping it off, quite sharply too. "Ouch…hello again, Miss Rose." He says as he looks at her, and Ruby chuckles.

"You're not getting out of this one this time, Merlot. You're gonna do your time for what you've done." She states as she stares right into his eyes and he scoffs.

"Please, you can't hold me. Nobody can for long." He states as he leans back with a smile.

"Alright, that's enough out of you." Pyrrha says as she sticks the duct tape back to the wriggling Doctor's mouth. Pyrrha moves him across the destroyed area and she sits him down, chaining him up to a metal pole whilst they wait for the rest of her team to return, with whatever Jaune has located for his final exam. Pyrrha walks back to Ruby and gives her a hug. "Thank you for waiting, sorry if I kept you waiting."

"Still waiting on Jaune." Ruby comments as she looks at the building he went into.

"He isn't back?" Pyrrha asks her, and Ruby shakes her head as she leans against Crescent Rose. Pyrrha looks at the building and she sighs. "I'm sure he's fine, but…you know me." Pyrrha says.

"Go on, we'll wait." She says to her and Pyrrha walks towards the building. She jumps up and clambers up the building, through the destroyed walls and windows, shattered by the Grimm that decimated this place. With the Black Smog practically extinct now, Vale is finally completely secure. The City of Vale and Beacon are both nearly completely repaired as well, just adding the finishing touches now. Pyrrha walks up the broken stairs with ease towards the opening into that cave that Jaune mentioned.

Until a sudden tremor hits…and she stops as she hears a distant scream.

A familiar scream…almost girly.

But certainly Jaune's.

She sees him running towards her, now in his new gear he had forged with Pyrrha as she got her new clothes as well. He also still rocks his new haircut, the sides shaven down and his blonde locks waving with every movement made by him. Nora and Ren both sprint beside him, Nora with Stormur Skeggox in her grasp and Ren with Stormflower. "Pyrrha! The window!" Jaune screams.

"Jaune? What did you do?" She questions, when suddenly a massive Cerberus Grimm erupts through the floor behind them, bellowing out from all three heads, smashing through the supports as it charges after them. Her eyes widen and she pulls Akoúo into her grasp.

"The WINDOW!" Jaune shrieks, and she nods her head.

"Done!" She calls, swinging round and launching Akoúo right into it, shattering it and she jumps through, her team behind her as they slide down. Nora slides towards Sun who has no idea of what is charging towards them.

"OMPH!" Nora grunts as she slides past him, eating his whole ice cream, leaving him with just the cone. He deadpans and sighs as he stands there, staring at the empty cone, turning to the open window. When the Cerberus suddenly erupts through the building with a deafening roar. He drops the cone and Scarlet eats the whole thing in one, crying out from the brain freeze. Everyone draws their weapons as the beast crashes down into the centre of the area, roaring as it bites at them with its three heads.

All the meanwhile…

Zwei waddles along and approaches Ruby's little Walkman on the ground with her Red Like Roses Headphones plugged in from when she was listening to them. He looks at it as they all start battling against the Creature of Grimm behind him, and he nibbles on the cable, yanking it from her Walkman, allowing the music to blare out.

The Remixed version of _I Burn_ that played in Junior's Club begins playing in the background and Zwei flicks his head back with a joyous smile on his face.

He waddles along as he hears the music playing around him, seemingly unaware of the epic battle happening around him. But he doesn't care, he is happy, a happy little corgi. He waddles along as Ruby shoots around him in a cyclone of petals, firing Crescent Rose at the massive Beast as it barks and howls, jumping and biting at her repeatedly, whilst Scarlet swings round one of the buildings and kicks it in the side of one of its heads. The Cerberus barks from the impact and staggers back, slashing its claws that ignite with flames at him as he rolls back, just avoiding it. It swings its long spiny tail round and smacks Jaune across the ground, rolling past Zwei and landing right beside him, He groans as he slowly gets back up, pressing Crocea Mors down into the ground to get back up. He blocks an incoming fireball with his shield as he stares at it, panting.

He stands tall and double takes when he sees Zwei waddling along. "Zwei?" He comments, until suddenly the fireball comes flying back once again, sending him rolling back. Zwei – unphased by it all – continues to waddle along. His tongue hanging out as he keeps playing with joy as Ruby's Walkman keeps playing her beloved tunes. Weiss flips through the air and she slides across her Glyph, forming another to stop the incoming fireball. She stares at Zwei, seeing him in danger.

"Zwei! Get out of here, you're gonna get hurt!" She demands, and Zwei looks at her then his ears flop down as he gives her the sad puppy eyes and whines. Her heart melts immediately as she leans forward, hands pressed to her legs. "Oh, it's okay, I love you!" She coos with a bright smile, when suddenly the Cerberus swings its tail right at her, sending her flying with a distant scream. Zwei barks as he bounces along, Sun spiralling his Gunchucks round as he fires them repeatedly, expelling shells with every single shot. He rolls aside as the Cerberus turns ones of its heads and blasts a fireball right at him, and Neptune pulls his goggles down and engages his semblance, rapidly firing shots into the fireballs, exploding them as it fires them at him.

Sage roars as he jumps up at the beast with his Claymore held above his head as she slashes it down the swinging tail of the beast, cutting it clean off, landing right beside the little puppy that dances with the music. The Cerberus growls and it lunges towards him, biting onto his aura protected body and shaking him around like a chew toy. "Get off him!" Nora calls out as she throws her new Storm Axe and it spins through the air, right over Zwei with crackling pink dust around it, stabbing it into the jaw of the creature. She jumps and grapples onto her axe, cutting its jaw open and ripping Sage from its razor-sharp teeth.

Sage crashes and tumbles across the ground, landing right in front of Zwei. He looks at the black and white Corgi, seeing him smile and lick his nose gently. Sage chuckles and ruffles his fluffy head, before getting back up and charging towards the monster with his huge sword, not even bothered by the attack he just endured. Zwei turns and his attention is caught by a small Grimm – one of those Rapier Wasps in fact – alone they are completely harmless but in swarms that is something else entirely. The Wasp buzzes along and he chases after it, biting at it repeatedly.

He finally catches it, trying to eat it until Ruby zooms back in a swarm of petals, landing right beside her beloved dog. "Hey, c'mon, spit it out. Spit it!" Ruby orders and he does as she commands, spitting the dead wasp out onto the floor, smothered in saliva. "Gross pup." Ruby says before spinning round and firing Crescent Rose at the furious beast that blasts fireballs into the sky, like it is triggering the end times. She takes her rifle and transforms it into Scythe form, blasting towards the beast yet again. She cuts straight through the thick and armoured hide of the huge creature, curving around it, opening deep wounds all over its massive body before hooking the blade underneath the neck of one of its heads.

She fires the rifle, riding the recoil and severing the head from the neck, black smoke pouring out from its stump. The head crashes down to the ground with a thud, and Ruby lands down onto the ground nearby. Ren jumps up and lands onto one of Weiss' Glyphs, firing both of his Stormflower Pistols at the giant creature, black blood and smoke pouring from every single wound, it roars with both rage and hunger. He lands on the ground and rolls out of the way as Nora points the head of her Axe at the beast, charging the pink dust up and blasting a focused beam of energy from the opening inside. The beam of superheated dust carves through one of its muscular legs and it bellows in agony, collapsing as it gets severed.

Yang punches one of the last two heads with her fists, punching it downwards into the ground so hard that the ground shakes and cracks split through the surface of the ground. It groans as it rises up, but snaps its jaws at her suddenly, only for her to cartwheel backwards to avoid its devastating jaws. She raises her fists to see Blake swing round with her Grappling Hook, stabbing Gambol Shroud into its neck and slicing a deep wound into it, so deep it causes the head to hang from sinew.

She lands down and nods to Yang, she throws her Grappling Hook to her and the Blonde-Haired Brawler catches it in her metal hand, and she runs around the block and the Cerberus. She fires Ember Celica repeatedly behind her to build up on speed, and Blake yells as she launches Yang towards that head. She yells with fury, punching the side of its skull with immense force, beheading it from the impact alone. The head falls from its neck and crashes down to the ground with a heavy thud.

Yang lands down on the ground and smirks to Blake, and Ruby readies herself as she stares at the final one and nods to Pyrrha who blasts towards it. She throws her shield and it collides into its nose, making it recoil back from the impact. Weiss casts ice and it freezes around its legs to hold it in position whilst Pyrrha zooms in. She and Pyrrha take their bladed weapons, and they swing them with great speed, cutting straight through the last neck of the Cerberus, killing it. The head crashes down in front of Zwei and he growls, barking at the dead beast's head as it crumbles and disintegrates before his very eyes.

Ruby lands down on the ground as she pants, rising back up and cracking her neck. Pyrrha lands and she slams her sword down to the ground, landing with one knee pressed to the ground. She looks up, her red hair flowing in the wind as she looks at Jaune who nervously chuckles. "Hey…" He says to her and she walks towards him, grabbing his face and kissing him lovingly on the lips.

As they break, she whispers to him. "You had me worried." She says.

"Me? Nah, had it under control." He assures with a chuckle.

"Oh rubbish." Scarlet says with a scoff as he holsters his pistol.

"No, no…hundred percent." Jaune assures, leaning down and pressing his hands to his legs as he sighs.

"Did you…get your trophy?" Yang asks him as she deactivates Ember Celica, walking through the black smoke of the dead Cerberus.

"Mhm...check it out – the long-lost declaration for Mountain Glenn to be built years ago." Jaune reveals, pulling out of his pocket. Their eyes widen as they look at it.

"Oz has been looking for stuff like that for years, so then we can always remember our history." Sun says as he looks at the scroll in Jaune's hand.

They did it…

* * *

**Jaune**

* * *

With their final exam's handed in, and their month-long mission complete, J.N.P.R and R.W.B.Y let out the loudest, most exhausted sigh ever heard on Remnant. Team S.S.S.N have already gone off to get some drinks, leaving only the two teams together. Then, eyes opening to the world again, the eight friends all look to each other, and...

"YEAH!"

"Wahoo!"

"That's it! W-We're done!"

"O-Oh I can't believe it! Look I-I'm shaking, just lookame!"

They quickly stem their chattering, Ruby hugging Jaune as tight as she can, laughing into his neck. She kicks her legs to the air and cheered. "Yeaaaah! That's a wrap! Now we just gotta wait for our results!"

"Which, judging by how long Winter said it might take to grade, we can expect back in two to three weeks. Excluding weekends and holidays." Weiss clears her throat into her fist. Yang loops her robotic arm over Weiss' shoulders with a grin.

"Well I think we have all earned ourselves a decent meal, huh?"

"Oh absolutely!" They all nods amongst themselves.

"No more ration packs?" Nora whispers with hope, balling up the collar of Ren's tailcoat in her fists. He chuckles and takes her hands in his, nodding with a soft smile. "Real food?"

"Yes Nora. And you can have aaaall the pancakes you want." Ren says amidst a chortle, ruffling her hair. She gasps, instantly drooling, plates upon plates of food dancing across her eyes.

"Mmm, I must admit... " Jaune stretches his back with a click and a crack. "I'm dying for something greasy, served with fries."

"Normally, I'd remind you of training, to please pick a healthier option... " Pyrrha smirks, prodding his collarbone. Then her stomach grumbles loudly, to which she blushes. "... but today is a definite exception to the rule. I want chocolate cake."

"Oh, a Gateau? With frosting and a small helping of ice cream?" Weiss has hearts in her eyes, blinking rapidly and shaking her head. They all stare at her in disbelief. "What? I have a sweet tooth too you know. Especially when I've eaten dehydrated... every fruit and vegetable under the sun for the past month!"

"Yuck, yeah Weiss is right. I didn't know so many things could be dehydrated and put in a plastic bag." Ruby sticks out her tongue. "Blake, didn't you have a dehydrated water bottle at one point?"

"Yeah, I honestly believe it was a gag gift Sun put in my rations pack before we left." Blake pinches her brow. "Just had an empty bottle all month."

"Pfft, what?"

"Oh yeah, she's not kidding." Yang nods, removing her rucksack and unzipping it. "I kept it cos I found it so funny." She pulls out the bottle, already chuckling. "Pfft! Look, see? Even says-"

"To drink add 25 millilitres of water." Nora and Jaune read, both snorting. "Gotta be a gag, right?"

"I'd hope so!" Yang chuckles, taking her smelly rucksack and turning it upside over the nearest trashcan. Out falls empty foil ration packets by the dozen. "Th-This is the whole teams by the way."

"Nope, Yang ate all our rations too." Blake smirks, hand on her hip as Yang gasps.

"Did not!"

"So did." Weiss crosses her arms with a cocked hip. Yang growls at her.

"Guys! Mmm' hungry!" Ruby pouts as her stomach rumbled. "Can we just continue this later, you know... once my belly's stopped eating itself?"

"Good call Ruby." Jaune takes out his scroll with a hum. "Ooh! We could go to Caesars teasers. They do good seafood."

"Right now, I'd eat sea food." Yang huffs, patting her stomach. "As in-"

"_I see food I eat it._" All seven of her friends say in unison, rolling their collective eyes. Yang pouts.

"You guys are no fun."

"Huh hoh! Oh boy, Oooor we could go to Freddie's Pizzeria!" Jaune smiles joyfully at all the collective frowns. "What? It's a respectable chain."

"Maybe, if we were hosting a kids party!" Weiss snaps, "I think we have all earned a full three courses at one of Vale's classiest establishments."

"Wash your mouth out Weiss, Freddie's is classy! Why I even took Pyrrha there on a date a few months back!" Jaune smiles at her. R.W.B.Y tilt their heads to look around Jaune at Pyrrha.

"He didn't."

"He did." Pyrrha laughs sheepishly, tapping her fingertips together. "It was... umm... lovely."

"Yeah!" Jaune's eyes darts back to Pyrrha. He knows her nervous ticks like the back of his hand by now. "Wait. You didn't like it?"

"Oh no, your company was lovely! It's just... A-And I am grateful... but... for Valentine's Day? Really?" She winces. R.W.B.Y gasp collectively. He turns to face them.

"You didn't!" Yang gasps.

"What is wrong with you?!" Weiss scoffs.

"Jaune... really? Not. Cool." Blake rolls her eyes.

"Yeaaaah, I don't do dates, Jaune. But even I know that's low." Ruby shakes her head. Jaune gasps, a hand over his heart. He steps backwards, the shock and awe evident in his eyes.

"Well! I learned something about my friends today! A-And girlfriend! That they cannot appreciate class when it hits them in the face!"

"_I'm_ going to hit you in the face!" Weiss growls, shaking her fist at him. Jaune sticks out his tongue in retaliation. Nora huffs, waddling in between them all.

"So that's it, huh? We survive our month-long mission... only to starve to death outside of Beacon... BECAUSE NOBODY COULD MAKE UP THEIR MIIIIIIINDS-AH!" She pants, her voice echoing.

"R.W.B.Y! Fall in!" Ruby yells, huddling with her three teammates. Jaune frowns.

"Oh yeah? JNPR! On me!" He snaps, huddling with his three. "Okay, Freddie's has an ice cream machine and it's amaze-balls, s'all I'm saying."

"Jaune. I have to agree with Weiss. We do deserve to spoil ourselves. This is to celebrate the completion of our last exams!" Pyrrha shrugs, looking to Ren and Nora whom her arms are looped around. Jaune nods.

"Okay. No, you guys are right. By the way... can I just say, as your leader." He swallows thickly. "That I love you guys. Seriously. We've been through so much, a-and... well... I guess I never want it to end." He smiles, wiping his eye. "I hope I've been the best leader I could be for you."

"You've been the bestest." Nora beams, booping his nose. Ren smiles softly.

"I'm not booping your nose. But I could not have asked for a better leader through all this, or a better best friend."

Nora gasps, her eyes glassy.

"Best, male friend?" Ren adds. Nora pouts. "Male friend?" Nora hiccups, wiping her eyes. "Friend?" Nora sniffles and whines. "Nora!"

"I for one, think that you're the best thing that's ever happened to me." Pyrrha smiles up at him. Jaune beams back.

"Okay, break huddle." Jaune stands up. "So, I can kiss my girlfriend." He pulls her to him, claiming her lips. She smiles into the kiss, lifting her hand to cradle the back of his head, stroking the rough short hairs. His hands find her hip and the small of her back, closing the distance between them. Nora looks at Ren with a smirk. He blinks at her, then at the lip locked pair, sighing heavily.

"Ahem?" Ren clears his throat into his fist. Pyrrha and Jaune blink their eyes open, lips still firmly locked as they looked at him. Ren pats his stomach and then points in the direction of Vale.

"Can he get marked down for sleeping with a team member? Not very professional, eh leader?" Nora nudges Jaune, causing him to spasm into her elbow and break his lip lock with Pyrrha. Pyrrha blushes, wiping the saliva from her lips with her thumb.

"Sorry."

"Ahem. Yeah." Jaune rubs the back of his head with a cough. Ren looks at Nora and shakes his head with a roll of his eyes. He goes to walk over to the still huddled R.W.B.Y and slowly raising voices, when Nora catches his collar with a mischievous look in her eyes.

"And where'd you think you're going, partner? He gets a little sugar, what about me? Hmm?" Nora places her other hand on her hip. Ren gives a small chuckle and leans in, sweetly pecking the Valkyrie on the lips.

"First food, then some privacy for the two of us." Ren says softly against her ticklish skin. Nora sighs heavenly.

"You sir, know the way into my heart." She gives him one last chaste kiss, before turning to Pyrrha and Jaune. "See? Self-control. Learn some."

"I'm sorry, but he was nearly eaten by a Cerberus earlier!" Pyrrha shrugs, finding her shoes suddenly very interesting.

* * *

"Oh please, Ruby. The only reason you don't want to eat there anymore is because they stopped selling baked goods."

"I'm not rewarding their disrespect with my time, Weiss! I ain't about that life." Ruby frowns at her. Weiss groans, pinching her brow. "Yang! Think of somewhere!"

"Err..."

"Quick fire! Off the top of your head! Go!"

"Ceasers!"

"Nah, I don't feel like sea food." Ruby frowns. Yang scoffs.

"Y-You said-"

"Gosh Yang, stop living in the past!"

"That's it!"

"That's it we're going to Caesars." Weiss says, standing out of the huddle as Yang tackles Ruby. JNPR walk over.

"Hey, made a decision?"

"Caesars."

"Sounds good to me." Pyrrha smiles softly as Yang and Ruby choke each other in the foreground. "I must admit I am famished."

"I think we can all relate." Weiss whimpers, holding her growling stomach. The cloud of fists and bickering roll across the ground between them all. Nora hops onto Ren's back, looping her arms around his neck, while Jaune happily feeds his hand into Pyrrha's. They look adoringly at each other, before Pyrrha sighs and snaps her eyes to the fighting sisters.

"Umm, you two?"

"Huh?" The bickering sisters pause. The six awaiting pairs of eyes all bore into them. Yang blink back to Ruby, both unfreezing and standing up, patting one another off.

"Let's go eat." Blake sighs, dragging Yang off by her collar guard, boots scraping the concrete.

"Hey umm... quick question Weiss." Jaune speaks up. Weiss turns to look at him with a huff.

"Yes Jaune?"

"What star rating has Caesars got?"

"Oh, it's fancy. At least four. Why?" Weiss crosses her arms.

"Because... well... we all... " He lifts his arm and sniffs his armpit, his face going green. "Stink."

Weiss pales, looking down at her navy-blue combat skirt, at all the stains and scuffs. She groans and sniffs her own armpit, almost throwing up in her mouth. "Bleurgh! That's it! Team RWBY, Halt!"

"So close." Ruby groans, lowering her head. Blake stops, looking at Ruby with a raised brow. "She's realised."

"What?"

"That she stinks. That we all do. Now we have to shower and change before we can eat." Ruby whines.

"We are not going to an establishment like that dressed and smelling like this! We are not animals!" Weiss crosses her arms, before pointing back at Beacon. "Hit the showers and pick out your best attire. We're going to do this properly!"

* * *

"Okay Jaune! Shower's all yours!" Nora yells through the bathroom door. Said leader is sat on his bed, Pyrrha straddling his lap with both hands on his shoulders, their lips locked in the quiet of their room. Jaune peels his lips from hers.

"Thanks Nora! Man, I can't wait to brush my teeth." He chuckles. "Sorry my breath stinks."

"You and me both." Pyrrha hums, stroking the back of his head with a satisfied sigh. Their bodies hum with tiredness, hunger bordering on starvation. But the hunger for touch is sated as Pyrrha gets as much of Jaune as she can in this small peaceful moment. She kisses his neck and buries her face there.

"Love you." She mumbles. Jaune smiles, burying his face in her dusty, knotted hair.

"Love you too." He smiles, hugging her tightly. He sobers and pulls away, cupping her elbows and sitting her up again. Her eyes search him, confusion adorably knitting her brows. "Listen. A-About that Valentine's Day. I'm sorry, I should have taken you somewhere nicer, fancier."

"Jaune, it's okay, I was only teasing." Pyrrha says, stroking his head with her nails, sending shivers down his neck. "I'm happy wherever as long as I'm with you."

"Yeah." He chuckles, kissing her nose. "Same to you."

She grins against his ear, whispering hotly. "I've missed you." Pyrrha slowly dismounts his lap, winking at him with a smirk just as the bathroom door flung open. They may have agreed to wait to bring in their Trophies together as a unified effort – but they mainly had been hunting down these trophies on their own or in small teams in areas where they are close. Her hunt for Merlot happened to bring her to the same place where Jaune was searching for that sealed Certificate.

They had not seen each other in quite a while. So, they have some catching up to do.

"Aah! I feel so squeaky clean, huh Ren?"

Currently Ren is brushing his teeth, leaning over the sink. With a mouthful of toothpaste, he nods to her.

"Yesh Nora. Shqueky clean."

"Ah." Nora's content smile falters. "So, who's gonna shower first?" Nora asks. Pyrrha wrings her fingers gingerly while Jaune scratches the back of his head, scanning the carpet.

"Well... Jaune can go first if he likes." Pyrrha sighs. Nora studies the bashful pair before looking at her bed and the folded up Stormur Skeggox. She flits her eyes back to Jaune and Pyrrha then clears her throat.

"Oh, Ren!"

"Yes Nora?"

"We should really check our weapons back into the lockers before we go out for the evening, don'tcha think?"

"Well... yes, probably." Ren re-emerges fully dressed. "Can't it wait till-"

"Nope. Let's do it now, I can't be bothered to wait for these two to get ready. You know how long Pyrrha takes to do her hair." Nora shrugs.

"I do not-"

"Ye-Yes you do." Nora glares at her knowingly, nodding to Jaune and back so Ren couldn't see. Pyrrha catches on and flushes.

"Oh! Y-Yes, my mistake, I do. The length of it, it just takes so long to dry. Sorry." She shrugs with a sheepish laugh. Ren huffs.

"Okay, come on Nora." He picks up Stormflower and Crocea Mors. "You guys want us to drop these off too?"

"That'd be great! Thanks guys." Jaune smiles, standing and rolling his shoulder with a groan.

"Okay. See you in a while. Come along, Nora."

"Coming Ren!" She follows him out, before leaning back in to stare at Pyrrha. "You two owe me!"

"Huh?" Jaune says as the door clicks shut. "Owe her for wha-Mmmph!" He is silenced by Pyrrha's lips engulfing his. She kisses him with all she has, breathing through their noses loudly. They finally part, panting.

"Shower. The both of us. Now." Pyrrha says in the small space, her face flushes red. Jaune nods dumbly, taking her hand and following her into the bathroom.

How things change in four years…

* * *

**Pyrrha**

* * *

Weiss takes a step up to the front desk at Caesars, clearing her throat into her fist. The man writing into a small book behind the counter looks up and smiles, shutting the notebook. "Hello, we would like a table for eight please."

"Table for eight... " He reopens the notebook and runs his finger down the page. "Taaaaaaable fooooooor aha, eight. I can give you the booth in the back room?"

"Sounds lovely." Weiss nods, waving over the others.

* * *

"So anyway, there we are- sc-scene's set, right? - Nora's thrown a toaster in the river, me and Pyrrha are hanging onto this branch for dear life, right? A-And Ren! Ren's just... hahaha... o-okay, okay. Whew. Ren. Ren's across the river, yelling at Nora to stop whatever it is she's doing, cos this Ursa's trying to climb the tree me and Pyr are in!" Jaune fights through the story with only occasional interruptions from laughter.

"... So, Nora stomps back over, picks up Stormur, Yells at Ren... a-and I quote. "Hush ya gums, I'm charging up over here!" The table snicker with barely held back laughter, Nora biting her lip while Yang struggles to keep her bubbling laugh within. "... So, Nora stands in the river, after aaaaall that, yeah? She stands there, looks at her feet and just says "Oh man, I need to plug it in first."

The entire table erupt in laughter, startling all the other quieter customers, eyes curiously searching the restaurant for the noisy Huntsmen. Weiss giggles into her palm, wiping her eye carefully with her fingertip.

"Y-You dunce, you're ruining my make up!"

"Nora!" Yang lifts her head off the table, grasping the neck of her beer bottle. "Y-You're killin' me!"

"I was under pressure!" Nora defends herself with a grin. "I had Grimm to kill, and I needed a juice up, stat!"

"That was very funny." Pyrrha snickers, finger tracing the rim of her wine glass. "Where did you even get the toaster?"

"The house, at the mill. Where the Ursa was hiding out." Nora thumbs over her shoulder, as if the house was there. Jaune smiles softly at Nora.

"This one." Jaune beams, pointing across the table at Nora, to which she raises a brow and a smile. "Is one of the best team mates I could ever ask for. And a great little sister."

"Pretty sure I'm older than you." Nora grins, lifting her chin and crossing her arms. Jaune shrugs and leans back in his seat, looping his arm over Pyrrha's shoulder.

"Mental age, sure."

"Ah, yeah, that's the one." Nora laughs, picking up her glass, smiling into it. Jaune smiles and winks at her, before turning to Ruby across the table.

"So! That's just one of the many stories from this month's mission." Jaune chuckles. "Ruby? What'd you guys get up to?"

"Yes, we would love to hear that." Pyrrha leans forward, chin resting atop her palms with a grin. Weiss snaps her eyes to Ruby and lifts her finger warningly.

"You are not telling that story!" She narrows her eyes as Ruby's mouth slowly opens. "Ruby, so help me, I know you too well by now!"

"So basically..." Ruby says, Weiss groaning and dropping her head in her hands. "We found this little village. It was pretty... run down, but pretty, you know?"

"Mmm." Pyrrha nods, lifting her glass to her lips. Ruby looks at Yang and gapes. Yang huffs and carries the story forward.

"So anyway, Weiss walks into the square - you know, middle of the village type thing, yadda, yadda - anyways! Weiss. Fountain. Water in the fountain. Green mossy water." Yang says, looking at JNPR knowingly.

"Uh oh." Nora snorts, snuggling into Ren's side as she gulps her drink. Yang nods.

"So, this squirrel jumps off the roof of this old house and knocks a couple of glasses over, smashing them. Ice queen here jumps - you know "Argh!" type deal - Stumbles back and-"

"Falls into the fountain, yes hah-hah!" Weiss rolls her eyes, groaning as the table laughed.

These are the moments they always wanted to remember…always wanted to last.

Not the horror…that would follow.

* * *

**Author Note - We're BACK!**

**Finally beginning a whole new Act to Eclipse, and oh boy oh howdy have I been waiting to start this one for ages XD. Loved writing this Prologue (biggest one so far too), showing them all being together and happy, but as that part at the end forshadowed...this is indeed where it all goes to hell. So...might as well warn you now...if you are unfamiliar with my work with KoG and...my...brutality...be warned. From here on out, nobody is safe - I do not really believe in plot armour. If you have read Knights of Grimm then you already know this, so I am just warning Eclipse Readers who are unaware of this fact right now. The series here on out is gonna be intense.**

**And epic.**

**Also, be sure to send some love to Marius15! That cover is absolutely outstanding! I hope you enjoy the rest of the series, and please review, follow and favourite if you liked it!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter - Graduation Day**

**\- Matt**


	2. Graduation Day

**Chapter 1 – Graduation Day**

* * *

**Jaune**

* * *

Today is the day.

Their day.

Four years of hard work, fighting the monsters that feast on fear and wear hides of shadow; it has all led to this: Graduation day.

The Beacon courtyard - so normally empty and spacious - is now lined with rows upon rows of black chairs, all facing the centre stage, draped with shiny blue silk, brightly reflecting the beautiful sky above. At the podium is Professor Ozpin, a bright smile on his face as he eyes the rows of seats, all filled with his forth years. Not only them though, this Ceremony is very important to the Academies, and it has hosted this day for every single graduate in all four Academies. Students from Atlas, Mistral and Vacuo are here as well, Team A.B.R.N, N.D.G.O, F.N.K.I, B.R.N.Z and many other students are here.

Even Penny's teammate, Ciel Soleil is here as well, missing her cute and fun little Android Friend. Although she holds herself more like an officer rather than a student, Atlesian to the bone.

Ozpin clears his throat as he taps the microphone, he has recovered since awakening from his coma four years ago, but he still needs to use his cane to get around. But despite everything, he is still the same Headmaster he was before the traumatic events of the Battle of Beacon occurred. And then, after clearing his throat and wetting his lips – he speaks.

"Today is a momentous day. All of you, sitting before me, are here because you wanted to be. You fought, tooth and nail, pen and paper, to get your studies done to your highest levels... And now you receive the fruits of your labours." He gestures to Glynda and Port, smiling softly as they stack the scrolls of parchment, all tied with lovely green silk. Ozpin turns back to face the crowd as a welcoming breeze sweeps over the spectators.

Jaune quickly slaps his hand atop his Mortarboard Cap, keeping the square clothing in place through the breeze. Pyrrha flits her eyes to her side to see him scratching at his collar, under their silky black robes. She tuts and takes his hand from the itchy red blemish, seating it in her lap and grasp.

"Sorry. Just nervous I guess."

"I know." She quietly touches her lips to his hand. "But try not to be. We've done all the hard work. Now we get rewarded for it."

Jaune smiles brightly to her and nods, looking around at the row ahead - seating R.W.B.Y and C.R.D.L. His eyes flit to the row behind, Sun grinning ear to ear besides his fellow teammates. Team C.F.V.Y are also sitting beside S.S.S.N, Coco whispering to Velvet as she snorts into her hand. Jaune can only grin.

They've done it.

They've truly done it.

Ozpin speaks up once more and Jaune snaps to attention.

"When I look at you all, I think of an old Mistral Acclamation: Axios. It means "worthy of" and "deserving of." made by the Deacons themselves to proclaim who deserved what. All of you deserve to be here, deserve to graduate. And never has a smaller group made it through so much - only to be made smaller. After all you have done to protect this school and what it stands for... well, you were all going to graduate no matter what in my books." Ozpin chuckles, stepping back from the microphone, to which the audience erupts into applause.

"So." Ozpin claps, gesturing to the stage and the steps – he will always love this part of the job, seeing the joy and accomplishment on the faces of his students. It truly does make him feel like he is doing the right thing. "Axios?"

"Axios!" The audience replies in a fumbling unison. Ozpin chuckles, nodding to Glynda as she opens a scroll to read. The large holographic display above the stage illuminates with a photo of each called upon student.

"First! Team C.R.D.L! Cardin Winchester!" Glynda calls. Cardin stands, tugging at the creases in his robes. The audience claps and he smiles genuinely, reddening his cheeks as he manoeuvres through the crowd to the path between rows. The applause only dies when he makes it up the steps to Ozpin, shaking his hand and receiving his diploma in the other.

"You've earned it." Ozpin says as Cardin swallows thickly, nodding. He waves to the audience and they cheer, making his way off the stage. One by one C.R.D.L and then C.F.V.Y walk up and receive their diplomas. Eventually even J.S.P.R make their way up, Jaymes gulps, gingerly looking Ozpin in the eye. The Headmaster pats the boy's shoulder with a smile.

"Despite how you started your journey, here you are. You stuck your head down and passed with flying colours." Ozpin sobers. "I'm sorry... about Rouge and Forrest. But I know they are proud of you."

"We all are. And thank you, sir." Jaymes smiles, taking his hand and shaking it. "You won't regret this."

"Wonderful." Ozpin chuckles.

Pyrrha watches the exchange and sighs contently, Jaune fixing her with a confused expression. She shrugs. "Remember after the Vytal Tournament? All that nonsense... All because he wasn't well. And since then, well I mean just look at him. He's lovely to be around and has passed with flying colours!"

"Yeah... " Jaune chuckles, smiling proudly. "He's done a lot. Proved that even people with conditions and disorders can be Huntsmen. Maybe more academies will start letting people with disabilities and stuff join, follow in Beacon's steps."

"That'd be nice." Pyrrha smiles as J.S.P.R exits the stage. Nora blows out a shaky breath beside Jaune, alerting him to her nervously bobbing knees. Pyrrha peers round Jaune with worry in her eyes. "Nora? Are you okay?"

"Y-Yep! Just... really nervous." She stutters, Ren smiling and looping an arm around her, soothing her with his Semblance. "Ah... thanks Renny."

"Always."

Pyrrha squeaks in her seat as Team R.W.B.Y in front of them stand, filing out of the row. Yang gives J.N.P.R a thumbs up on her way out. "Ooh look at them, Jaune! They've done it! I'm so proud of them!"

"Yeah, me too!" Jaune chuckles, watching brightly as Ruby steps up to Ozpin. The Professor smiles softly and holds out his hand, taking Ruby's in his.

"A dusty old Qrow." Ozpin chuckles, Ruby snorting. "Oh, when I first met you, I knew you were going to do great. Call it an old man's instincts."

"Thank you, Professor. For everything." Ruby grins. Ozpin gives her hand a squeeze then hands her the diploma. She takes the scroll with a gasp, wide eyes gawking over it. "I DID IT!"

The audience cheers with her. Next is Weiss, taking hers with a kind curtsy, looking for Winter in the crowd, and there she stands with Eryka also stood there with her arms crossed. Eryka has a bright smile on her face as she looks at her, and Winter applauds her little sister with a bright smile, however, as always with Weiss – she swallows her inner explosive joy unlike Ruby, and she makes her way down the steps. Yang steps up next, grinning widely as she damn near crushes Ozpin's hand, before taking her diploma with a giddy laugh, filing off of the stage. Blake steps up last, smiling softly as she shakes Ozpin's battered hand gently, taking her diploma with a kind exchange, before following Yang off stage.

Next is J.N.P.R.

Finally.

It is there turn.

"Team J.N.P.R!" Glynda calls up. Pyrrha stands with a shaky breath, Jaune chuckling as he too shakes the nerves out of his hands. Nora's legs are quite literally dancing with anticipation as she rises up. As R.W.B.Y files back into their seats, they give the biggest smiles possible, Ruby throwing the big thumbs up to Jaune. On their way up the long path to the stage, Jaune turns to Pyrrha, taking her hand from in her gown's sleeve. She snaps her eyes to him.

"We did it, okay? We did it." He smiles sweetly, Pyrrha smiling back dreamily as she gives his hand a squeeze. Nora bounces on her toes behind Jaune, Ren almost using up his whole reserve of semblance to keep her calm. Jaune looks at the steps and at Ozpin and Glynda. He blows out a breath and turns to his team. "Wish me luck."

"All the luck in the world." Pyrrha beams. "Now go, go!" Jaune gulps and nods, stepping up and onto the stage, before Ozpin. The Professor of Beacon Academy stands before him, diploma in hand. He smiles and holds it out to Jaune, but as he reaches, he reels it back, Jaune's smile dropping.

"When you joined this academy, you did so under false documents."

"Oh no." Pyrrha gulps. Jaune stammers, sweating. Ozpin smiles, taking Jaune's hand.

"I knew taking you on despite that would be a risk well worth the price. You've excelled, Mr Arc. You've led your team to the brink and back, and their loyalty to you is undying. I am very, very proud to offer this diploma to you."

"I... " Jaune swallows thickly, taking the scroll. "Thank you, sir. So much."

"My pleasure." Ozpin pats his shoulder. Jaune steps around him and to Glynda, who smiles.

"You proved me wrong. Well done Mr Arc. You've earned that." Glynda says. Jaune taps the scroll into his hand, nodding.

"Thank you, Professor."

Pyrrha stands before Ozpin with a shaky breath. Ozpin chuckles, handing her the diploma and shaking her hand. "Congratulations Miss Nikos. You're now an official Huntress." He leans closer. "And you worked wonders with that boy." He motions to Jaune, as he stumbles down the last steps. She giggles and controlls herself.

"Of course, Professor."

"Off you go." Pyrrha walks past him briskly, smiling to Glynda and thanking her, before trotting down the steps to the awaiting Jaune Arc. She feels such relief that he never mentioned about what happened in the Vault, it still lingers in her mind every now and then. But that happened a long time ago now…it's time to move on and forget. Leave that business to those who are qualified to carry it out. As soon as she is off the stage she gasps in delight and shoves her diploma in Jaune's face with a giggling grin.

"We did it!" She laughs, throwing her arms around his neck. He chuckles and kisses her neck, hugging her tightly. "I graduated, Jaune!"

"Yeah ya did!" Jaune smiles, watching Nora receive hers with a nod and smile. "We did it." Pyrrha lifts her head, and with her arms still wrapped around his neck, she presses her lips to his in a devoted kiss.

"Ahem? Seriously?" Nora scoffs, tapping her foot. Pyrrha and Jaune part the kiss with a wet smack, rubbing the backs of their heads. Nora rolls her eyes and laughs, hugging them both. "We graduated!"

"C'mere you!" Jaune laughs, picking Nora up with Pyrrha as the three hug, the Valkyrie kicking her legs in the air with immense joy as Ren comes down the steps with his diploma in his hand.

* * *

**Winter**

* * *

After the Graduation Ceremony…

Things went back to usual, the Courtyard was cleaned up and returned to normal, classes up and running once more and the Construction Workers adding the finishing touches to the Academy. The city is already finished, and they have done an absolutely marvellous job. Now the Contractors are just hashing out the details on the final works with the Professors. With Ironwood here as well, taking part in the Ceremony earlier, he too is providing plenty of assistance with the conclusion of the rebuilding of Beacon.

However, class still is under way for the younger students, and Winter Schnee – is not a teacher to be trifled with. However, she is free from having to teach a class today, and now is doing something else whilst the students are on break.

Currently Winter is on her inspection of the school grounds, taking mental notes at all the discrepancies she notices. These range from the rusty water coming from the drinking fountain by Port's classroom, a high number of loose cobbles on the pavement - _possible ankle injuries!_ \- and reigning in several public displays of affections.

_Ugh_

Winter wraps her palm on the back of one student's head, leaving him wincing and rubbing the spot. "Please, keep a professional demeanour around campus. Less lip locking. Now get to class."

"Y-Yes Miss!" The pair scuttle off in a glowing haze of blushes.

"Specialist!" She calls out, sighing since nobody ever gets that one right. "Does the rank mean nothing anymore?" Winter scoffs and rolled her eyes, before turning on her heel to trot towards the courtyards. She closes her eyes as she steps out of the C.C.T tower's cool shadow, sunlight lighting her vision glowing red behind her eyelids. She feels the warmth of the sun smooth softly over her pale complexion, the almost deafening cicadas of the afternoon echoing around campus. If she had hay fever, then the current stinging scents of strong pollen would definitely have brought tears to her eyes. To say it is a lovely summers day would be an understatement.

Almost all the students are inside, either in class or eating lunch. Only person out here is, well. Winter huffs.

The subject of her affection.

Eryka is stood in the large grass clearing of the squared courtyard. She is spinning a long cable like a grappling hook, with some sort of big round ball on the end. Winter watches on as Eryka carries on unawares.

As she swings the lure, she quickly steps to the side and moves the spinning cable, just as several hefty pounds of Altum Eagle swoop down and passes Eryka. Dulcis flaps his ginormous wings to climb back up into the blue sky, eclipsing the sun as be banks around.

"Good boy! C'mon!" Eryka calls out, whistling to get the huge bird's attention. He turns sharply and folds his wings back, diving down and grabbing the ball on the end of the lure with a dull thud. The Eagle drops to the floor, talons buried in the leather ball. Eryka chuckles, hands on her hips and a great big smile on her tanned face.

She bends down next to the eagle and removes her jacket, Winter's mouth going dry at the salmon red undershirt clinging to her tight and generous curves. Her arms bulge with muscle as she drapes her jacket over the lure, Dulcis letting go once it is out of sight. He instead turns his gaze to Eryka with several puzzled tilts of his head.

She bundles up the lure and stuffs it in her satchel, before tugging a long lifeless squirrel out and throwing it down in front of Dulcis: his reward. He makes short work of it with his beak and talons. Eryka stands up, the midday light illuminating her thick blue hair into electricity. Then those bright blue eyes flit up to Winter.

"Hey!" She smiles, giving a small wave. Winter blushes but quickly dampens it down, lifting her chin and giving a crisp and curt wave back.

Eryka looks very different now, after four years of being in a committed relationship with Winter Schnee, she has changed her look. She is cleaner, smells fresher and has even changed her hairstyle. Undercut and still as blue as ever with patterned markings shaved into it, but what has changed now is that she has tied it up into a bob at the back, with loose strands of blue hanging over one of her eyes, but not too many. Ironically – similar to Winter's, but she would never admit she got the style from her.

She looks much better now…happier.

Eryka scoffs and rolls her eyes with a smirk, before bending over to pick up her jacket, Winter's eyes widening and her cheeks flushing bright red. The womanly Vasillias ties the jacket around her waist and swipes her tattooed forearm along her brow. Small scars can be seen across her arms from her battles against Grimm and Bandits back in the Mountains of Mistral where she was trained. That coupled with a thin aura…she has collected more than a few scars.

All comes with the job after all.

Winter gulps and decides it will simply be weird to just stare from afar and then walk off. Instead she throws on her trusty military persona and walks over to the less disciplined woman.

"Hiya, Wints." Eryka says with a heightened voice, wrapping the lure up properly around her hand. Winter watches the motion, so deliberate and smooth. Her hands catch her eye. Just as toffee warm in colour as the rest of her supple skin, but they are ribbed with pale lines of scarring, battered knuckles and hands worn all the way up to where her colourful tattoo sleeves start. She blinks back to her blue eyes.

"Good afternoon. I must inquire... what is it you were just doing with... him?" She gestures to the huge Eagle at Eryka's side. Eryka blinks, but nods, before putting the rolled-up lure in her pouch.

"It's a thing that Falconers do to keep 'em fit and stop em from seeing us as solely a source of food." Eryka shrugs, looking down at her Eagle. "Ain't that right, fatty?"

"So... it's exercise? Training?" Winter asks. Eryka gives a warm smile and a nod.

"Yeah, pretty much. Gotta make em earn their food. See, I'm lucky, I've got an aura bond with my Eagle. But some falconers don't, and smaller birds like falcons and kestrels, well they'll stop hunting and flying around once they know that your glove's an easy spot for a free meal, you know?" Eryka bobs her shoulders. "You have to fly them at a certain weight too. He gets weighed every morning, though cos he's bonded to me differently to others, it isn't such a biggie. Doesn't mean I'm not gonna do it properly though."

"Sounds... very complex." Winter says thoughtfully. Eryka scoffs.

"You don't know the half of it." She clicks her tongue and two huge wings flap in front of Winter, startling her for but a moment. The Eagle seats himself gently on her shoulder, though Eryka does hiss at a few stray talon jabs. "Tss! Ow! But yeah... when this big lump sees you as family? Does that happy little flick of his tail? Makes all the hard work and early mornings worth it."

"So... why do you have to fly them at a certain weight?" Winter asks with a curious brow. She is truly enjoying learning, from Eryka of all people! Winter had rarely asked about how Dulcis and Eryka bonded, and how the training of Altum Eagles worked. She merely assumed it was a trade secret Mistraalian Falconers had, but clearly that is not the case. Maybe she isn't as ditsy as she lets on. Eryka chuckles, lifting her hand to massage the plumage on Dulcis' belly. His head snaps down and his beak gently closes playfully around her fingers.

"Cos when you're flying them, you pop em on your glove, send them off to a tree or fence post or something. Then you place a small tad bit of food on your glove and call them back. They come back for the food, not you. Soooo... if they're big and full..."

"Ahhh." Winter nods with a curt chuckle. "They won't come back for the food."

"Exactly. The number of Falconers I know who say _I dunno what went wrong! I gave him four chicks and two rabbits, then he didn't wanna fly back!_ Err, it's because he's a genius and you're a dumbass!" Eryka chuckles heartily, shaking her head. She sobers suddenly "So yeah. I-I'm sorry, you're probably busy, here I am chatting your ear off."

"No, not at all, I asked." Winter smiles lightly. "It's... interesting. I'd never met a Falconer before you. The closest I got to these creatures was in books. It's... quite astonishing to see one in person." Winter looks at the Eagle as he scans the distance, those big amber eyes flitting left and right.

"Yeaaaah, look at him, he knows he's gorgeous, posing for you and all." Eryka scoffs, scratching his belly to get the Eagle's attention. "Ain'cha? Handsome man who knows he is!"

Winter chuckles lightly, shaking her head and rolling her eyes. Eryka looks back to Winter and the pair holds one another's gaze for a while, before they both blush and look to the side, Winter lifting her chin and curtly tucking her hands behind her back.

"Well. It has been-"

"You wanna hold him?"

"I beg your pardon?" Winter splutters. Eryka shrugs.

"Well, it's just you said you've never seen an Eagle in person, sooo... wanna hold him?" Eryka beams. Winter scoffs.

"I-I couldn't- It wouldn't be-"

"C'mon, he doesn't bite. He's all talk, ain't ya?" Eryka smiles at her beloved Eagle. Winter chews her lip, before checking her pocket watch. She tucks it away and finds she really has nowhere to be for once. The last class she had that took place after the Ceremony finished, now she has nothing left for the rest of the day. So, with a shaky breath, she gives Eryka a sharp nod.

"Very well. What... umm... what do I need to do?"

"Nothin!" Eryka says, clicking her tongue twice, Dulcis dismounting and flapping safely down to the ground. "It's honestly super easy."

"For you, I may add." Winter scoffs as Eryka fishes her spare glove out from her pack.

"Well, yeah... but it's no biggie, I know he looks ma-hoo-sive, but he weighs like a bag of sugar or something. Maybe more after all those squirrels, huh chubs?" Eryka hollers to the Eagle as he paces about on the grass. She stands up and Winter tears her eyes off Eryka's captivating legs. The blue haired woman steps closer, into Winter's personal space and begins to slide the thick and padded glove over her hand.

"You a southpaw?" Eryka grins while she tightens the straps. Winter blinks at her.

"Am I a what?"

"A lefty or a righty?" Eryka says hotly. Winter gulps, she always acts so formal and stoic most of the time…around Eryka…she acts more like a shy teenage girl.

"Why, dare I ask?"

"Ahh, you don't get as pale as the kids do when I use that on em." Eryka snickers, turning to Winter with a huff, almost nose to nose. "There. All ready."

"I... I see." Winter lifts her chin. Eryka smirks and raises a brow. "Very well."

"Uh huh. C'mere Dulcis!" She whistles, the huge bird flapping his massive wingspan up onto Eryka's bare hand. One huge foot curled around her wrist, making it look thin! His other coiled around three of her fingers. His wings stay out to balance himself while Eryka gently transfers him to Winter's glove. "There ya go!"

Winter stares wide-eyed at the huge bird standing on her arm. She marvels in the weight, the sheer proximity. He begins grooming his feathers, ruffling them about. She is absolutely captivated by the stunning animal, the many beautiful colours, the stripes in his legs and the bright amber eyes that always look so focused. Eryka gently lifts Winter's lowering arm back up to straight.

"There ya go." She says softly, Winter gulping and nodding.

"O-Of course."

"You don't have to put the act on for me." Eryka says gently, Winter fixing her with a searching gaze. Eryka locks eyes with her, shrugging. "What's it like?"

"Incredible." Winter blurts, smiling brightly as she looks at the bird on her arm. Eryka smiles.

"Yeah, he is something, isn't he?"

"You've done tremendous work with him." Winter says, earning a confused stare. "He isn't like this because of nature. He's like this because you raised him, taught him. Signs of a good teacher."

"Mmm, well... guess Weiss is proof you're a stellar teacher too." Eryka smiles lightly. Winter huffs, sobering slightly.

"I... must apologise."

"What for?" Eryka asks. Winter blinks but carries on.

"I was wrong. I judged you early on. Thought you a fool, someone off gallivanting for fun. I was wrong. You're actually a very strong capable fighter, and a very respectable falconer and huntress."

"Ahh, don't mention it." Eryka brushes her off, massaging the tremble out of her quivering fist. "S'okay. I-I'm not a Huntress so you weren't wrong."

"Not officially, but you can track prey for miles. And you fight hard when relied on. That's respectable." Winter smiles. Eryka chuckles.

"Thanks, Wints. And uhh, I can tell this is not your strong suit, so I appreciate it."

"Thank you." Winter scoffs, lifting a hand to Dulcis, her fingers sinking into the soft plumage. She smiles.

"I was wrong about you too." Eryka huffs, gaining Winter's eye. "I thought you were this uptight, know-it-all. Turns out you can be pretty nice company."

"Mmm, you weren't far off with that assumption." Winter chuckles Eryka snorting.

"Holy shit, she makes jokes?!" Eryka giggles, Winter rolling her eyes despite her own smile. "D-Don't worry, won't breathe a word."

"Good." Winter says, sobering. "As lovely as this Eagle is to hold and admire, I do have rounds to continue."

"Yeah, no probs." Eryka takes Dulcis onto her shoulder and removes the glove. "So, he's good in your books?"

"Very. A true huntsman of nature's making."

"Oooh, those are bold and praising words, huh Dulcis? We better not tell her about the ferret you missed cos it outsmarted you, right?" Eryka winks at Winter as Dulcis cries out loudly into her ear in protest. "Oh, he dived in the hedgerow, did he? Must'a missed that bit!" The two bicker, Winter snickering lightly behind her palm.

"Thank you, Eryka…" Winter kindly says to her.

"My pleasure…say…what time do you finish your rounds?" Eryka inquires. "I've finished my stuff for the day."

Winter checks her watch. "Um…around six."

"What's the time now?" Eryka asks.

"Three."

"Alright, I'll go get him back to my apartment so then he can get some shut-eye. As for you and I…wanna have dinner? On me." Eryka suggests with a smile, and Winter smiles back.

"That sounds nice."

* * *

**Eryka**

* * *

Six O'clock.

The sun is beginning to set now and most of the students have returned back to their dorms to hang out until it is sleeping hours. However, the Graduates are out celebrating their graduation, Team S.S.S.N and C.R.D.L have challenged each other to a drinking competition which can only end in chaos knowing them. Team R.W.B.Y and J.N.P.R however have just been going out and having fun together. Eryka and Winter though have decided to continue building on their relationship together even further as they previously agreed.

And as always…

Winter is the one that showed up first – even though it was Eryka who invited her. She stands outside the Restaurant – known as _VNU_. She taps her finger against her arm as she stands there, wearing a pretty white dress as she always done, nice makeup on her face as well. With fresh perfume scented on her body and a faint blue eyeshadow. She has her white handbag resting on her shoulder as well, and her hair still in the same cut and style as she always has it. Her attention turns when she sees her girlfriend approaching her, walking with her blue dress on, her hair cleaned especially for this and also with some very attractive makeup and perfume.

Eryka smiles when she sees Winter standing there. "Can you wear anything but white? Why not pea green?" She asks her.

"Doesn't suit me right. And I get a lot of congratulations from people assuming I'm getting married." Winter jokes, making Eryka chuckle.

"Well, you look great, Wints." Eryka says as she kisses her gently on the lips, and Winter returns the favour.

"Not too bad yourself." Winter says back, and Eryka looks at the entrance and she clicks her tongue like she would to her Eagle.

"C'mon, already booked our spot." She says, and Winter rolls her eyes.

"I was here first." She whispers softly, luckily either Eryka didn't hear or just didn't come up with a counter fast enough. As they open the door the bell dings and they see the waiter at the front with a smile on his face. His head shaved and his hands held together with a well-spoken voice.

"Ah hello, we've been waiting for you. Please, follow me." The Waiter says, as he guides the two of them. They both enter the conditioned restaurant, where there are a few people inside conversing. With the beautiful smell of Mistraalian Cuisine, from Spaghetti to Curries and countless other varieties of delicious food, it is already making Winter rather hungry to imagine how it must taste.

The walls of the Restaurant are a welcoming red and beige with countless stunning paintings, some of them even oil, of the Mistraalian Landscape. The vast mountains and the beautiful grasslands that stretch out for miles. The Haunting Forests that must house countless Grimm, and the stunning City of Mistral. A wonderful sight, one of the many wonders of Remnant in fact. There are even some pieces on the walls of other locations – such as Lake Matsu – with its beautiful and almost alien floating mountains. Not the first time Winter has seen them, and every single time they have ever come here it has followed with intense battles against Grimm.

The Waiter guides them to their seat, and he sets down some napkins. They both take their seats on the warm chairs and he holds his hands behind his back with that smile plastered across his face. "If you would like to look through your menus, I will return to you shortly." The Waiter says.

"Thank you." Winter says with a smile, and Eryka looks around at the place.

"This is nice, huh?" She asks her.

"It really is…I'm surprised." Winter chuckles.

"Well you know, four years…bit of a milestone huh?" Eryka says as she shrugs her shoulders.

"I know…feels like it's been longer than that though." Winter sighs as she massages her brow, and Eryka chuckles as she leans forward.

"Alright, spill it Schnee." Eryka says as she looks right at her eyes. Winter groans, looking at her.

"Let's figure out what we're having first, then I'll tell." She says, and Eryka sighs as she lowers her head sadly.

"You're killing me, Wints." Eryka complains as she opens her menu up, and they sift through the many things that are on offer. And for the quality of the food here the prices are not too bad, highest prices ranging around twenty lien and the cheapest being five. The occasional sound of cutlery clinking and scraping inside, and the smell of food really does set the mood for a romantic date like this. As they decide, they close up their menus, and when the Waiter arrives, they tell him.

"I will have the Curry please." Winter requests, and Eryka says hers.

"Spaghetti Bolognese please." Eryka says, and the Waiter notes them down and he chuckles.

"Excellent choice, ladies. I will return in a bit." The Waiter says as he collects their menus and he walks away from them. Eryka leans across the table and she lifts one of her brows in utter curiosity to know more about this story.

"Alright…what happened? Stupid kid at class?" Eryka inquires with a form of exhilaration on her mind.

"Nothing too extreme, just…infuriating. One kid thought he would be funny to blare music out of his scroll every time I spoke." She sighs as she massages her brow and the bridge of her nose, still able to hear that annoying tune.

"Oh gods…did you make him regret it?" Eryka asks.

"Well his hand will probably be bruised for the next few weeks." Winter states, gesturing the action she uses with her crop to smack a naughty student's hand. The sound erupts in Eryka's imagination and she instinctively pulls her hand back.

"Ouch…I now how badly those things hurt." Eryka chuckles.

"You had it coming." Winter chuckles as she sips some of her champagne from her glass.

"Hardly, I sneezed." Eryka defends.

"Yeah, but as loud as a Goliath." Winter adds, and Eryka shrugs her shoulders and she leans back in her chair with her glass in her hand.

"What can I say? It's just my way, Wints." She says, for Eryka Vasillias is the most unladylike individual she has ever met – more so than Yang Xiao Long or Ruby Rose. But only by a little bit.

"What about you? Fun day?" Winter inquires.

"Yeah, my lessons for teaching Falconry at Beacon were accepted finally." Eryka confirms, and Winter nods her head.

"I heard about this. Ironwood mentioned it to me this morning. How did the first lesson go?" Winter inquires curiously, and Eryka smiles.

"Really well. I mean we haven't got any Birds yet, the kids won't start with Altum Eagles, probably some Harris Hawks or something simple to start with. Altum Eagles also can only be trained in the mountains…it's a spiritual thing my Mentor taught me." Eryka explains with the shrug of her shoulders.

"I can't imagine living up in the Mountains is particularly…fun." Winter comments as she pictures it – it must be a beautiful place to live, but considering how dangerous it must be with all the deadly Mountain Grimm that lurk up there and how cold it is…

"You'd be surprised…I mean most of the time I just meditated up there. It's what I spent most my time doing, y'know? Got me out of the Pit Fighting, helped me cool off that anger I had." Eryka explains as she circles the rim of her glass, glancing back to Winter, and she nods her head.

"So are Harris Hawks the same to teach as an Altum Eagle?" Winter inquires.

"Nah, way easier. Less of a bond though, the only thing Harris Hawks are interested in is the food you have. Run out of that and he won't listen to you. Altum Eagles…they're a bit like dogs. Cleverer than puppies, but they actually care for you as long as you care for it." Eryka explains, and Winter nods her head, understanding what she means.

"That's interesting, I assumed all birds were the same." Winter says, and Eryka chuckles.

"Oh no, certain birds are angry all the time. Some need to be reared from birth, others shouldn't due to adolescence problems. Eagles are for hunting, Owls aren't."

"Why not?"

"Owls just eat whatever they catch immediately. Chubby things, I remember watching a kid trying to hunt a rabbit with his Owl. Didn't even have a clump of fur left to bring back to the Summit." Eryka chuckles, and Winter giggles as well.

"Gods, reminds me of a private I was training one time. Not the same kind of thing, but I was trying to teach him to how to use his aura." Winter begins to explain and Eryka listens to every word she says. "I remember telling him over and over again, focus…just focus your energy into a barrier. But he kept trying literally create a shield with his hand…thought it would stop the wind cannon."

"Did it?" Eryka asks.

"Nope, he ended up around ten feet away from the cannon." Winter chuckles.

"Did he figure it out in the end?" Eryka inquires.

"Yeah, after about sixteen tries, first fifteen he just kept doing the same thing over and over and over again…" Winter groans as she presses her hands to her head as she sits there. "Man…Glynda wasn't kidding…I'd rather face the Black Smog than teach." She chuckles, making Eryka chuckle as well.

The fact they can make jokes about the terrifying Horde of Grimm really does show how far they have come from those terrifying days.

Then…their food arrives.

They spent their time together for a few hours in this restaurant, talking and eating, drinking…maybe a little too much as well. At the end they both emerge from the Restaurant with a glint of drunkenness in their eyes, but not blind drunk. More…giggly drunk.

"So…Whaddya wanna do now?" Eryka asks her.

* * *

Around half an hour later…

The two of them are both left panting with exhilaration, heated and naked in bed, in each other's embrace after making love to one another, hair dishevelled and Eryka chuckles.

"Well…that went better than expected."

* * *

**Ironwood**

* * *

With the Fractured Moon watching over them at all times…

Ironwood and Glynda walk around the now lonely Courtyard, cleaned up after the Graduation Ceremony was all said and done. They both look around at the place as Ironwood finishes his conversation with the head constructor. "So, this is all good?" The constructor inquires as he holds his clipboard in his hand.

"Yes, thank you. I will send over the Lien to your business account as soon as I can." Ironwood promises and the Contractor taps his clipboard and nods his head as he walks away from the General. James turns and he looks at Glynda as she looks around at the Academy, now completely repaired. It does not look like there was an attack here at all, she looks back to Ironwood and she smiles, holding his hands as she looks up at him. "You did it, Glynda." James says to her, and she softly chuckles.

"_We_ did, James. You were by my side throughout the whole thing when the Smog were watching us…and when Killian was here." Glynda states as she looks up at his eyes.

"If it weren't for your trust in your students though…I dunno if they could have made it to this day. That's because of you." He assures as he caresses her cheek with a gentle smile. As they stand there with the moonlight shining upon them, one of the workers accidentally bumps past Glynda and she turns, apologising, but he does so first.

"Sorry, Professor." The Worker says, and Glynda smiles, and she glances down to the Sub Machine Gun she saw for a split-second inside of his bag. Her eyes focus on the man as he walks away and she narrows her gaze, unaware of Ironwood walking round her and staring at something.

"Glynda?" Ironwood softly says with concern in his voice, and she turns, seeing the very thing that is approaching them. Passing by the four other stationary Atlesian Knights…is another one, but it is acting extremely bizarre, erratically even.

The Atlesian Knight drunkenly limps towards them, its screen on its face flickering into the screen of a smiley face – like an emoji actually – and there is quite a terrifying little girl's laughing voice coming out of the machine. The voice is deformed, crackling and about to shatter with every word that comes out of its mouth. "What the hell?" Glynda softly says with disbelief as she stares at the Atlesian Knight – they purged them of the Black Queen Virus and upgraded them to make them immune…but they have never seen a glitch like this before.

"Knight, stand down." Ironwood commands as he glares at the machine, and then it stops before him. Glynda stands behind Ironwood with concern in her eyes as she stares at the machine.

Then…the face turns red, but it still smiles as the little girl speaks so sweetly.

"Red Means Stop." The Robot tells him, and Ironwood raises a brow.

Then the face turns amber. "Yellow means get ready!"

Then it turns green.

"Green means go!"

Then the Atlesian Knight erupts into a massive explosion that engulfs both Glynda and Ironwood, throwing the Professor back, fatally wounding her as she crashes against the wall, the sound of multiple bones breaking in the process. Fire spreads like the plague and gunfire erupts around the entire Academy from a terrifying ambush that has been set up.

Laying in the flames, blown to pieces from the explosion…blood everywhere…he is hardly even alive. When Ironwood hears the sound of a bird cawing through the gunfire and seeing it glide through the smoke.

It's a Jackdaw.

As the Jackdaw glides through the thick black smoke from the explosion, he sees a silhouette emerging from the place of which it vanished. Standing tall with broad shoulders and a top hat on his head, eyes glowing bright red. Ironwood splutters as he lays there, in the ashes and the molten steel of the robot that just blew him apart. The man approaches and stands above him, crouching down to reveal his sadistic smile, red eyes and curved black moustache. "Oh James…how the Tin Man has fallen." The man snarls, before a blade extends from his long-shredded sleeve, and he slowly pushes the blade through his heart, making him cough up blood in agony as he twists it with a cruel and pure evil smile.

"But it's not you I'm after, General. It's the Scarecrow…don't take it personally. Just remember…Jack the Ripper has returned, and he's coming for

his little brother." He whispers, as he twists the extended blade in his heart, and watches as the light leaves Ironwood's eyes.

* * *

**Jack the Ripper**

* * *

Inside of the Cafeteria…

The explosion rattles the whole building, and everyone has fled, and the power has gone out as well, leaving them all in total darkness. The only ones who remain inside of the Food Hall are four Graduates of Beacon – Yatsuhashi, Ciel, Reese and Brawnz. They all get up and they draw their weapons, Ciel aims her rifle as they look around, hearing the flapping of bird wings in the darkness.

Terror fills their hearts as they hear a loud bang reverberate inside of the building, and Yatsuhashi holds his sword tight as they all look around, and Ciel walks forward with her rifle held up. "Hello?" Ciel calls out, which is when his massive cybernetic hand suddenly emerges from the shadows, grabbing her by the throat and lifting her off the floor, in front of all of them. He towers above them all, somehow, he is bigger than Yatsuhashi, the biggest student of them all. Ciel writhes in his grasp, but then there is a horrific crunch as he crushes her throat in one squeeze, spinal column and all.

Her body stops wiggling, and she just hangs from his grasp, silenced and murdered in a single second. He throws her body directly at Reese and knocks her onto the ground, crashing through the table. Yatsuhashi and Brawnz yell with rage as they charge forward, the Huntsman from Vacuo jumps up with his clawed Gauntlets in his hands, and he swings straight at him.

Jack the Ripper dodges his swing and he kicks him right across the jaw, knocking the young man down and Yatsuhashi immediately swings towards his enemy with a powerful roar. The impact sends cracks through the ground as he bellows. But Jack the Ripper punches Yatsuhashi so hard across the face it sends him flying back and he crashes down onto the ground. Reese gets up and she flies towards him on her hoverboard, but as she approaches, he aims his fist at her, and a long barrel extends from some kind of dust that is ejected from his metal arm. It forms and he fires a round that knocks her out of the air and detonates the dust fuel cells inside of the Board. It explodes and instantly breaks her aura, sending her plummeting and crashing down into the ground with a sudden and hard impact.

Brawnz and Yatsuhashi both leap towards the killer, but he unexpectedly forms up to four blades that extend from each arm like feathers, and he slashes them across their aura protected bodies. One blade on its own can deal some deadly damage to aura, but four on each arm, hitting at once? That is something else entirely, and he slashes and slashes repeatedly, keeping Brawnz up in the air, before he swings his boot downwards and pins him down by the throat. He drives the blades straight through his throat and he gasps in agony, blood splattering from his mouth and across his face, killing him slowly.

Yatsuhashi staggers in pain as he swings his sword with all his might at the man, but he catches the blade in his huge metal hand, stopping it so hard that it sends a shockwave across the ground. He then rips the massive sword from his hands, the other grabbing his shoulder pauldron and crushing it down to the point of which it brings him to his knees, breaking his aura first. Yatsuhashi howls in agony as he feels his own beloved Sword stab straight through him, blood pouring out and falling onto the floor.

Yatsuhashi stares at Jack the Ripper in fear, as the bladed feathers extend from his arm once more, his fist clenched. Yatsuhashi growls with defiant rage, grabbing the sword with both hands and slowly pulling it out from his own chest. He pushes his knee against the ground to rise up, but Jack the Ripper puts his defiance to an end as he suddenly launches the blades like bullets as he swings his arm. Like Fatal Feathers that shoot out and plunge straight through him and the armour, carrying him across the Cafeteria and pinning him to the wall, blood pouring down the repaired bricks.

Reese remains on the ground, stammering with horror, her eyes wide as her aura crackles. Jack the Ripper chuckles sinisterly as he walks towards her. He crouches down behind her and he whispers. "Don't be afraid, little one…not every duckling lives to adulthood…tis just the way of nature." He softly says as his arms form a blade and he presses it to her throat and slowly slices straight through, carving her neck open as she jolts in agony as her blood sprays from her. Her body goes limp, and she slumps to the floor face first, her blood pooling across the dark room.

Jack the Ripper rises up and he chuckles as he straightens his top hat on his head. "If this doesn't draw him out, I dunno what will." He chuckles as he leaves the four dead Graduated Huntsmen and Huntresses behind, butchered like cattle – like it all meant nothing to him. He walks out into the moonlight, revealing himself fully with that mad smirk on his face, the black moustache fashioned atop his lip and a scar over one eye.

Flames and smoke rise high above the courtyard, and Glynda lays on the ground, covered in blood from her fatal wounds from the shrapnel. He then turns his attention to some Huntsman on the roof of the Dormitory Block.

Jaymes and Peony.

Jaymes crouches on the pitch of the roof, his knee cracking a shingle under the weight. He peers over at the fire and jet-black smoke pluming up from the courtyard, high into the pitch-black sky. He swallows thickly and flicks his wrist, his gauntlets folding around his hands with a crackle.

"What's it looking like? Down there?" Peony asks, startling him. She touches his shoulder with a sympathetic smile, and he chuckles, swiping his brow.

"Made me jump heh."

"Yeah, I have that effect on people babe." She scoffs, sobering suddenly to look down at the chaos and screaming alarms. "Now, what're we looking at?"

"It's carnage down there, Pea." He licks his chapped lips. The corner of his eye just catches the silhouette of another student clambering up onto the roof to join them. He focuses on Peony. "People think it's a terror attack."

"Well it ain't Grimm. This feels more coordinated." She huffs. The silhouette draws Jaymes' attention at the sharp swing of its wrist.

It isn't a student.

Her blood is warm as it sprays over his face, long metal feathers pinning her body to the chimney stack with a bang of punctured flesh and shattered brick. He blinks at how lifeless she has become in less than a second. She doesn't look the same, so... empty? Like what made her…her…was gone. On instinct he licks his lips to the wetness, the taste of copper on his tongue.

"Hey kiddo! You wouldn't happen to have seen my baby bro anywhere would ya?" The assailant looks up from under the brim of his top hat, handlebar moustached grin curling. Jaymes swipes his shaking wrist across his face, smearing Peony's blood along his features. He yells and launches his electrical whips at the Ripper.

Bright blue and purple light crackle towards him, his huge mechanical fists raising to catch the lengths of energy. Robotic fingers spasm at the charge, before wrapping them around his wrist, tugging and reeling Jaymes down the sloped roof, straight into his grip.

Mechanical fingers tighten around his fist, crushing his Gauntlets, squashing the steel to crush bone and trap his hands. Jaymes screams as the energy whips dissipate, freeing the Ripper's hands to grasp a handful of hair and drag the boy up the pitch of the roof.

"I tell ya, the things I have to do to get his attention. Blow up a school staple kids to walls. Crazy."

"Lemme go!" Jaymes cries, grinding to a halt as the Ripper reaches the top of the roof, staring out over the burning courtyard. He grins at his handy work, enjoying the rattle of gunfire within the smoke. Jaymes, no longer being dragged, looks up, taking in the man's arms. They are intricate metal, pistons within and long rails with needles running up and down their length repeatedly. They begin to print the tips of the fatal feathers, getting longer with each pass, back and forth, lengthening them till they feed through the slits and holes in his tattered sleeves.

It isn't dust…he has 3-D Printers built into his cybernetic arms, meaning he can forge as many blades as he wants, and in any form.

"Is that..." The Ripper grins widely at the single small black bird flapping towards the school. "Oooh please be."

"Let me go!"

"Soon boy." He cackles as the crow soars towards the jet-black smoke. The feathers along his arms print to full fifteen-inch lengths. "C'mon, c'mon."

Suddenly Qrow erupts through the smoke, hand outstretching and the most furious, rage induced look on his face, the likes of which no one has ever seen.

"JACKDAW!"

* * *

**Author Note - Jackdaw Branwen has arrived...**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did, the Graduation, Eryka and Winter...and of course...Jackdaw's arrival. David and I have had this planned for so long and it feels so good to finally do it. By far the bloodiest and most terrifyingly awesome intro for a villain I have ever written.**

**He killed six people and Glynda is doomed...all to get Qrow's attention.**

**He is a monster.**

**Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter - Jackdaw Branwen**

**\- Matt**


	3. Jackdaw Branwen

**Chapter 2 – Jackdaw Branwen**

* * *

**Ozpin**

* * *

Moments before the attack…

The Headmaster of the Academy is sat in his office with a heavy sigh, just wanting to go to sleep with midnight tolling and the moon up in the sky. Beneath him in the courtyard are Glynda and Ironwood, completely unaware of what is about to happen. As Ozpin sits there, the holographic projections of the Councillors are seen, their hands sat on their laps as they speak with him. "Professor, I need an answer." The Valerian Councilwoman says to him as she has her leg crossed over the other, her belly no longer swollen from pregnancy.

"And as I have repeated about six times now…I cannot give you one." Ozpin sighs, and the Councillors all roll their eyes.

"Professor, the people are voting against you in this cause. The Huntsmen Academies have been facing extreme scrutiny after the events of the Vytal Festival. And even before that." The Mistraalian Councillor says as she shrugs his shoulders, before crossing his arms once again. The Atlesian Councillor has his hands tucked firmly into his suit pockets, whereas the Vacuo Councillor – does not look like he is interested in the slightest. His legs crossed and splayed onto his table as he checks his scroll for updates.

Yawning occasionally. "The events of the Vytal Festival were a tragedy, not ammunition for a man's cause."

"This has nothing to do with Killian." The Valerian Councilwoman states as she narrows her blue eyes at him.

"Does it not? Oh, forgive me, it's just so interesting that suddenly everyone has started questioning the Academies ever since he dropped in and manipulated a Schizophrenic Student." Ozpin reminds, and the Councillors all fall silent. "Or have you all forgotten that?"

"I'm sorry, Headmaster. But with no hard evidence to back these claims, your words are null and void. And at the end of the day, you have quite the track record of keeping secrets from the people and the council." The Atlesian Councillor explains, and the Vacuo Councillor finally chimes in.

"Don't even get me started with the whole Fall Maiden Business. You should have informed us on the fact you had a Maiden under there. She should have been in Black Gallows custody." The Vacuo Councillor states, and Ozpin scoffs and shakes his head at how this is the first thing he has said during the entire meeting with them.

"Welcome to the conversation." Ozpin says, and he raises his brow in return at the Headmaster.

"Stop deflecting, Ozpin. You know he is right."

"The Black Gallows? You mean in the custody of a man who wants to control the Huntsmen and Huntresses? Who is to say he won't control her and use her?" Ozpin questions, but then the Valerian Councilwoman drops the hard words.

"She is dead, because of you, Ozpin." She harshly tells him, and he stops, staring at her.

"If you had turned her over to Killian, had her incarcerated to the safety of the Black Gallows – Cinder Fall would have never located her. She would have been safe there; her power would have been safe there." The Mistraalian Councillor explains, staring at the Headmaster, who just shakes his head.

"It's easy to tell me what I _should_ have done…I did what I thought was right at the time." Ozpin explains as he clenches his fist, staring at the Four Politicians.

"And how many innocents died because you did what you _thought _was right?" The Atlesian Councillor grills, and Ozpin stares him right in the eyes, with an anger that is actually quite worrying. The Councillors lean back, and the Valerian Councilwoman says the words.

"Sign the Agreement, Ozpin. It is the right move." She tells him, which is when suddenly there is a massive explosion from outside, and the Headmaster turns his head suddenly. He rushes to the window, as the thick plumes of jet-black smoke rise up into the sky after the explosion. Hearing the gunfire from the people they once called friends, screams and terrified phone calls echoing everywhere. The feed to the Four Councillors is cut off from the blast, leaving Ozpin alone.

He quickly picks his Cane up and he sprints the elevator to get down there as fast as he can.

As the Jackdaw Glides down from the sky, towards the smoke.

* * *

**Qrow**

* * *

"JACKDAAAAW!"

"Here we go!" He launches Jaymes aside, the mechanical gears in his arm thrusting the young man like a toy, causing Jaymes to crash down into the tiles with a yelp. "C'mon QROW!" Jackdaw howls, extending the bladed feathers from his 3-D Printers in his cybernetic arms.

Qrow slams into Jackdaw, hand round his throat as they shoot down the sloping hill of tiles, shingles shattering around their bodies as Qrow keeps his older brother's head scraping across the breaking clay. Jackdaw laughs though, despite feeling everything, his dark red aura crackling as the shingles cut into him, aura repairing every small blemish, one of his bigger mechanical hands grabbing the whole of Qrow's face and flipping them both over, holding Qrow's head down under the breaking tiles in turn.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

The tiles and their wooden beams explode against their tenements as they cut a swath down the roof, before eventually falling off the edge and into the courtyard below. Qrow crashes down into the ground, and Jackdaw lands on his boots, his huge dark jacket flapping from the shockwave of wind from his body slamming down. Cracks rupturing across the cobblestone as he rises back up, and he cracks his neck with a smirk.

"Hey Qrow." Qrow sits up, swiping the blood off his lip and picking up his discarded sword. He grips onto the hilt of Harbinger, glaring at his monstrous Brother as he approaches him. "Still a runt or ya grown some?" He hears from the jet-black smoke all around him. He turns at the sound of a mechanical swish, lifting his blade to deflect the incoming sharpened blades, sparks showering off his sword. Jackdaw leaps out of the smoke, laughing maniacally as he swings his fist down, three feathers scraping against Qrow's raised sword.

The two clash back and forth in the choking smog, Jackdaw sidestepping to avoid a beheading swing, jettisoning a feather from his forearm to spin in the air, catching it in his grasp and using it as a sword to combat Qrow's quick and violent fighting style. Quick frightening parries between the two, and Qrow leaps up and kicks Jackdaw square in the jaw, sending him flying back into the opaque smoke.

Qrow is damn near choking to death, turning to a bird and flying up into the clear air, as a smaller Jackdaw flies up out of the smoke and smacks into the crow, two black birds tumbling through the air, shifting back to human forms while falling, fists landing with harsh cracks, sending the other somersaulting to the ground below.

"Still a runt!" Jackdaw cackles, planting his boot on Qrow's chest and kicking him down into the concrete. Sat in his crater, blood red aura buzzing around his aching limbs, said boot presses down on his throat. Jackdaw grins down at him, resting his weight on that boot as he kneels, mechanised wrists resting over the knee. "Well lookie at you." Qrow seethes, saliva bubbling round his gritted teeth as he claws at the boot on his chest, like a rabid dog. "Not quite the small boy I remember. Still the runt of the litter though."

"Die!" Qrow yells, tears in his furious gaze. Jackdaw huffs, tilting his head.

"Now Qrow, is that really what you say to your brother, who you ain't seen in years?" Jackdaw forms a small feather, taking it from his forearm to pick the food from between his teeth. "Where's the hospitality?"

He presses down on the boot and Qrow groans as Jackdaw leaned down. "I even show up here to surprise said baby brother, and, where is he? Not here? Well... that's disappointing. You know how many kids I had to kill to pass the time till you got here? Gotta be at least twenty."

"ARGH! I'LL RIP YOUR THROAT OUT!"

"And don't get me started on the staff. That bomb went off... " Jackdaw chuckles. "Man, RIGHT in Ironwood's face! BOOM! Even a tin man like that ain't walkin' away."

"ARGHHH!" Qrow screams helplessly, all that rage only able to come out as a trembling roar. Jackdaw picks his teeth and licks them clean, flicking the metal pick aside.

"Where's Raven? Baby sis not here?"

"OF-Argh-COURSE SHE ISN'T! Qrow grabs the boot and tries to lift it off, to no avail. All of Jackdaw's heavy weight is upon him. Red eyes flit to the side with a heavy sigh.

"Nah. She'll be with the tribe, won't she? Could never turn her back on our old ways, but you? You really tried to reinvent yaself, didn't ya?" He grins sinisterly down at his younger brother.

"I'LL KILL YOU, YOU HEAR ME!" Qrow spits, teeth grits. "F-For what you-Argh!"

"Mmm..." Jackdaw swiping his thumb along his nose. "She really rubbed off on you, didn't she? And Raven, well she's got you to be her lil puppeteer, ain't she? Just pulling the strings on her lies, making em dance in those kid's eyes." Qrow stares at him, panting. "She's got a kid. Had. Had a kid, didn't she?"

"Don't... you... dare."

"Yeah. Your niece. Well, Nieces. Raven had one too, didn't she? See! All these years I don't see ya, and she gets down and dirty!" Jackdaw scoffs. "Can't wait to meet em. Tell em all about her real mother, the real Raven. Does Summer's kid know about the real you? Did Summer?"

"They…know enough!" Qrow yells with anger up at his older brother.

"Wow, you've actually started believing your own bullshit! Pulling those strings again, huh Qrow? Pathological ain't ya." Jackdaw scoffs, shaking his head.

A rage controls Qrow, but enough where he focused that anger and yells with fury, grabbing onto Harbinger and slashing it straight into Jackdaw's leg, causing him to tumble off his brother and crash down to the ground. Qrow swings downwards towards his head, only for the sword to stab down into the ground with great force, spreading cracks through the ground. Jackdaw rolls back as he gets up and he extends more blades with a smirk on his face. "There it is…the rage…c'mon baby bird! Show me where that Bandit has been hiding!" Jackdaw challenges with a bellowing voice, and Qrow lunges straight towards him.

Their blades impact, gritted teeth facing one another, red irises reflecting back at their gazes. Qrow grits his teeth harder and harder as he grates the huge blade of Harbinger against his many bladed feathers. Sparks burst from the grating blades as Jackdaw smiles maniacally down at his brother, before Qrow slashes upwards, across Jackdaw's face, leaving a deep slash wound only to fade away thanks to his aura. He bounces back but lands on his feet, sliding across the ground and extending his blades further, launching them with the swing of his fist.

The blades blast from his arm, twisting through the air as the lunar light reflects off the serrated edges of his blades. Qrow's eyes widen, and he jumps in the air, corkscrewing into his Crow Form, dodging the blades as they soar past him. As he passes them by, he shifts back into the real human form he has, slamming Harbinger downwards at him, only for Jackdaw to block his strike, and kick him in his chest. Jackdaw blasts forward and slashes his blades repeatedly at him, four blades on each arm, and Qrow backs up, using his sword to stop his many blades from impacting his aura protected body.

The issue is, with so many blades hitting his sword in ever single swing his brother makes, it makes him stumble, his arm dropping down from the weight of those blades crashing into him. Qrow grunts, before Jackdaw swings upwards, launching Qrow up into the air. He leaps up into the air, the thrusters he has in his boots giving him increased height in his jump. He swings round and kicks him down towards the ground, and he crashes into the ground. Qrow groans in pain as he hits the ground like that, he lifts his head and gasps as Jackdaw lands in front of him, extending the long barrels of those powerful machine guns he prints from his arms. He blasts the artificially forged bullets towards his foe before him, and Qrow dashes out of the way, behind a wooden crate of supplies.

As he waits for the gunfire to pass, Jackdaw suddenly blasts forward and slashes straight through the crate, blowing it to smithereens. The madman slides across the ground with his gritted smile printed constantly underneath that handlebar moustache of his. He stares right into his eyes, then Qrow notices what was in that crate.

Explosives…

Explosives being wired into concrete, and Jackdaw laughs evilly as he stares at his brother. "Surprise." He caws, before Qrow smirks and he transforms Harbinger into his Cannon Mode, and he fires it straight at the explosives. The bullet impacts, and Jackdaw's eyes widen with total disbelief. The explosion erupts and throws them both back, chunks of concrete flying high into the sky from the crater. Jackdaw slides across the ground, but Qrow soars through the smoke in his Bird Form, before emerging as his Human Body again, slamming his Scythe downwards at where his brother is.

Jackdaw rolls out of the way and he slashes the blade of his scythe towards his brother again, hooking his arm and keeping him still. Jackdaw stares into his eyes as Qrow threatens him. "I will stop you." Qrow snarls.

"Oh Bro…you never did listen to old Val's teachings did ya?" He questions. Qrow viciously snarls at him.

"The hell are you talking about?" Qrow growls.

"Guess not. Well – rule number one in combat, never underestimate your enemy, even when you think you have the upper hand." Jackdaw recites from memory, as he suddenly fires a blade towards Qrow, and it crashes into his chest, pushing him back from his brother, and Jackdaw catches the hilt of Harbinger. He swings round and throws it directly at his brother, but Qrow jumps up and flips over the sword, catching the hilt and clicking the button. The gears spin and the pieces of metal shift and rotate round, forming back into the cannon as the blade folds down, and he fires it straight at him. But Jackdaw's 3-D Printers inside of his arms print more metal that forms a kind of shield that stops the shrapnel from hitting him.

Qrow stares at his brother, as if he cannot even recognise him anymore. He didn't always have those cybernetic arms, and while his weapons were always quite unique – they were never like this. "What the hell happened to you?" Qrow snarks.

"I got upgraded bro…isn't that what Huntsmen are supposed to do? To adapt? Well I adapted…and got stronger. So, then I can make you pay!" Jackdaw roars as he blasts towards him and swings his shield against his brother so hard it throws him back and he crashes through the parked bicycles left by the students. They break into many pieces as he hits into them, stabbing his sword into the ground to slow himself down.

"It happened a long time ago! But if you expect me to give you sympathy, then don't hold your breath! Or do…it'll save me the trouble of killing you!" Qrow yells with rage, and Jackdaw chuckles.

"Some things never change. You talk a big game, but at heart you're still nothing more than a pathetic child who can't realise that he is smaller than the one beating him down!" Jackdaw yells, rushing him yet again. Qrow swings his sword towards him, but Jackdaw swings right back, the impact so hard that they both slide across the ground as a blow of air from the impact ruptures.

Jackdaw rushes towards his brother once more, taking those terrifying blades and slashing at his brother repeatedly. Over and over and over again, cutting into him with terrifying precision. He jumps in the air and spins, slashing his feathers made from blades across Qrow's body, hacking through his aura with how many strikes he is dealing to his enemy. As he lands, he aims both his barrels at his brother and fires them, the impact of the powerful bullets throws him across the ground, and he crashes to the floor with a groan. Qrow pushes his sword into the ground to get back up, only for Jackdaw to swing his boot right into Qrow's mouth, knocking him back onto the ground.

Qrow's aura is nearing the red, but he is not out yet, and as Jackdaw goes for another attack, Qrow rolls out of the way and he fires Harbinger into Jack's side. The Ripper is blown across the ground, then he kicks himself up in the air, still flying through the air. He approaches one of the colonnades and he blasts off it at great speed, extending his blades once more, and he slashes towards Qrow. He rolls out of the way and Jackdaw slides across the ground. He rises back up and fires both barrels at Qrow, fully automatic this time, spraying bullets at him, but Qrow deflects every single shell that comes flying his way.

He jumps up and he runs across the Colonnades, running with his Sword behind his back as Jackdaw fires repeatedly at him. He then jumps off and roars as he slams the sword downwards at the ground, the impact sending a shockwave through the ground and making the water in the fountain ripple. Qrow's red eyes widen and he holds up his huge sword, stopping the swinging blades of Jackdaw's wing, colliding into the sword. Qrow grits his teeth and he growls, dropping his sword, causing it to stay caught between the blades. But Qrow rolls across Jackdaw's back and he grabs onto his jaw, and pulls him over with a roar, and Jackdaw crashes down into the ground. He stabs down at the ground, but he kicks his feet against the sword after moving in time, grabbing his Top Hat just as he moves, putting it back on his head.

His glowing red eyes stare directly at his brother's.

The most terrifying thing about all of this though, is that Jackdaw seems to be enjoying all of this. He enjoys the conflict, the terror he is spreading, the taste of another person's blood in his mouth…or is that his own? He can't tell anymore, he has drawn and spilled so much blood in his life that it is getting harder and harder to tell with every single day that passes by. "Gods it's great to come back to this school! Never a dull moment!" Jackdaw laughs, and he runs into the smoke that hides him from his brother's vision. Qrow looks around with worry, because he knows Jackdaw.

He grew up with him…and he knows how he fights. He uses unrelenting force, and aggression – but he does not let that get the better of him. He is still cunning and intelligent, which means that when you put strategy and madness together, you get one deadly foe. However, there is a weakness he has always known, a curse that Jackdaw always makes.

His enjoyment…he likes to savour it – meaning you can use that time to deal some damage back. Qrow stands at the ready, or at least as ready as he possibly can be, listening carefully to the smoke, to the screams, to the gunfire. When the cackle of Jackdaw returns, and he spins round with shock, to see Jackdaw erupting through the thick black smoke, grabbing him by the throat and smashing his face down into the cobbles extremely hard. That alone nearly broke his aura, but that was not what dealt that blow.

It was the metal fists, the fists that he now clenches and punches into Qrow's face repeatedly, cracking the ground with every single strike. Jackdaw bellows with fury and madness as he pounds his younger brother's head into the stone beneath him. Finally, as he grabs Qrow by the neck, he smashes his fist straight into the centre of his face. Qrow crumbles to the floor in pain, his nose broken but when his aura returns that will heal – if he gets out of this predicament.

Jackdaw slams his boot down against Qrow's chest, pinning him to the floor, and then he leans down with a smirk.

The Ripper extends more blades, and he pops one of them out, catching it in his metal fist and he stabs down towards his brother's throat, but Qrow catches his unnatural metal forearms. He pushes it down further and further only for Qrow to smash his knee into Jackdaw's stomach, and the blade sinks right across his forehead as his aura finally cracks and bursts with red energy. The blade digs deep, cutting straight through the skin and spilling blood down his eye.

Qrow gasps in pain, as he takes his fist and punches his brother extremely hard in the side of the head to get him off his body. He gets up as fast as he can, and he transforms into his Crow form, and Jackdaw laughs maniacally. "Yeah that's right, Qrow! Keep running! It's what you do best!" Jackdaw bellows, as he transforms into his Bird form as well, chasing after his brother towards the streets of Vale.

This fight could get even bloodier.

* * *

**Ozpin**

* * *

The Headmaster of Beacon runs out from the base of the C.C.T Tower, looking around at the huge plumes of smoke that rise up into the sky. He holds his cane tight in his hand, hearing all the gunfire, completely unaware of who is firing them. Until he sees a terrified student running for her life, only to get a bullet in the back. She crashes down to the ground and cries out in agony as the blood pours out from her wound. She does not last long as she gasps for air, the bullet had punctured her lung on its way through her, and she is now suffocating, drowning on her own blood.

She reaches out in desperation, before her body turns lifeless, and collapses, her face pressed against the cold floor. Blood pools around her corpse, and Ozpin's eyes widen with disbelief when he sees the man who shot her. It is one of the Construction Workers, the men and women who have been on their side for the past four years. The men and women who joked with them, helped some of the students with their homework, ate with them, drank with them. All of them, had been plotting against them, and now they are gunning down these children, the people that they acted like friends around – like it all meant nothing.

Ozpin turns and his eyes widen when he sees her body, covered in her blood. He sprints to her aid, crouching down and lifting her head as she coughs up claret. "Glynda…just hold on. We're gonna fix this." Ozpin begs her, but she is barely even holding on, her eyes faint and her skin turning pale. Huge chunks of metal and concrete lodged into her body, her blood everywhere…it horrifies him.

But she manages to say a few words before she loses consciousness. "Stop…them…" Glynda weakly tells him, before her head falls from his hands, and her weak breathing continues. She does not have time, they need to get her to a hospital. Port sprints over to Ozpin, seeing him pick her up and he turns to her, with a rage he has never seen before.

"Professor…I…"

"Take her to the nearest hospital." Ozpin orders with a cold voice, his eyes filled with anger. Port holds her dying body in his arms and then looks back at the Professor.

"What about you?" Port asks.

Ozpin turns, and his grip on the cane tightens with a green hue as he readies his aura and glares at the men and women firing their rifles at valiant students. "Go…" Ozpin growls with anger.

As he walks towards them.

Port looks down at Glynda and he turns, running towards the city to get Glynda to the closest Hospital as fast as he can. Whilst Ozpin approaches the Construction Worker aiming his rifle at one of the students. He whimpers with terror, already suffering from a bullet wound to the stomach, blood pouring out. He is only a first year, just like that girl – it's like these terrorists are going for them, whilst Jackdaw went for the Graduates.

This is coordinated.

"Please! I don't wanna die!" He cries out with terror, and the worker smirks as his finger finds the trigger. Until suddenly the blunt cane erupts through the man's chest with a horrific bang, blood splattering across the boy's face. He gasps, and the Worker's eyes widen with pain as he feels the cane forcefully get ripped from his back, bringing him to his knees. Ozpin grabs the man by throat, and he lifts him of the floor, staring right into his eyes. The boy watches with horror, seeing a side to Ozpin none of them have seen.

The old warrior.

The man who has made more mistakes than any man, woman and child.

The man…who will kill those who hurt his kids.

Ozpin crushes his throat and the man falls lifeless from his hand, and Ozpin scowls with fury, all of it bringing back the inner demon he has buried for all these years. The soldier turns, and some of them are wearing Atlesian Jetpacks as they hover, seeing the Headmaster standing before them. "Get inside." Ozpin orders to the First Year, and then he cracks his neck as he scowls at the men and women.

"Ha! Bit outnumbered buddy!" One of the Construction Workers laughs as he aims his rifle at the older man. The green energy continues to course across his body and his aura hardens, before he spins his Cane through his fingers, then he blasts forward at astonishing speeds. "Holy shit!" The soldier exclaims with shock, until Ozpin swings his cane across the face of the man with all his might, shattering his skull inside of his head and rupturing countless blood vessels. Blood bursts from his ears and nose before hitting the ground, dead instantly.

"Kill him!" A Female Worker yells, firing her rifle at Ozpin, but he darts back and forth with great speed, and then he spins the cane round his can and stabs it into the ground, forming a crackling green bubble that catches all their bullets in its field. They keep firing, but then Ozpin bellows with fury as he opens his closed arms, and the pulse shoots the shots right back at the soldiers. One of Jackdaw's Infiltrators gets shredded by the bullets, one of them going straight through his head. Ozpin lunges forward and smacks the cane across the face of another fighter, and as he swings his fist at the Professor, he ducks down and swings his head upwards, right up his jaw. He bites down onto his tongue so hard that he severs it in a spray of crimson claret, and he shrieks in agony.

Ozpin rolls across his back and hooks his cane underneath his head, and he swings him downwards into the ground with all his might, breaking every single bone in his body. His body lays there, not lifelessly, but paralysed – making him wish he was dead. The Female Soldier aims her Atlesian Rifle at him, and she pulls the trigger, firing it repeatedly at him, but he dashes out the way in a crackling green flash, before he swings his staff and smashes it across his face. The soldier he attacked staggers, and then he holds him in front of her bullets, causing her to kill him instead.

The woman frowns and she draws a knife of hers and throws it straight at Ozpin, but he catches it and throws it straight back, lodging it right into her leg. She howls in agony as blood sprays out from the wound, but then he jumps and he runs across the crates that they have been using for cover, pressing his legs against each other he jumps to. He then jumps up, spiralling through the air before he smashes his knee right down into the woman's head, so hard he crushes her skull down to the floor. She is dead instantaneously from the impact, breaking her neck as well as breaking her skull.

Ozpin flinches when a bullet flies past him, not one bullet has even hit him yet, and he turns to see the Jetpack Workers firing his Submachine Gun at him. He then sees him switch to full auto and he sprays the rounds down at him, but he moves with incredible speed. Like a blur he moves out of the way of every single shot. He then dashes forward and sees a cable and he throws it up like a lasso, wrapping it around his waist and yanking him down from the air. He smashes through the crates and Ozpin wraps the cable around his throat, and begins to choke him out, pulling him towards the colonnade, and he takes him by the head and smashes his head down into the ground.

There is quite a terrifyingly vicious look in his eyes as he kills them one by one, not even trying to take them alive. He just wants them all to die, for lying to them all, for killing his students, killing children – for playing apart in the death of a good friend of his, and maybe even killing Glynda if she cannot be saved.

For Yatsuhashi.

For Ciel Soleil.

For Brawnz Ni.

For Reese Chloris.

And for Peony Azura.

So many dead, and they all played a part in it. The darkness that Ozpin has tried to hide for so long is coming out once again, a part of his life he never wanted to return. But they have forced his hand, as soon as they started hurting his children. Another Jetpack Worker blasts around the corner and he grabs Ozpin by the throat, slamming him across the ground – finally one of them has managed to land a hit on the Professor. But not for long, as Ozpin punches his Cane straight through the heart of the soldier, causing him to collapse. Blood covers his cane after impaling two people with it.

It is no sword, but the force he has thrust that thing with…it might as well be one.

Ozpin sprints towards the rest of the forces emerging from the buildings with machine guns in their hands, until he turns to see Coco Adel, Velvet Scarlatina and Fox Alistair arriving with horrified…and enraged eyes. Velvet has tears coating her cheeks and so does Coco. They have found the body of Yatsuhashi, and now they want revenge. Coco lets out an anguished scream of fury as she blasts her Chaingun constantly at the soldiers. One of the Workers gasps and then screams in agony as the bullets shred his arm off, blood spraying up into the air.

Fox blasts towards them and he spins through the air, slashing one of his tonfas across the throat of the worker. These are the first lives they have ever taken, but Velvet is the one that cannot bring herself to fight. Her emotions…she just collapses to the floor, crying as she holds a piece of his armour in her bloodied hands…she must have tried to wake him up. Coco jumps up as she kicks one of the workers in the jaw and she takes her handbag after closing the Chaingun, bashing it against the face of the soldier over and over again with a heartbroken howl. Whilst Fox is stabbing one of them to death with his blades, pinning him against the wall, blood covering his body.

Ozpin stares at them but his own anger fills his heart as he lunges towards Velvet, who does not have the heart for revenge. She can kill Grimm, but Human Beings…that is something else entirely. Ozpin dashes towards a soldier about to shoot Velvet in the throat from afar, and he deflects the bullet into a Crane carrying some of the huge rods of rebar used for rebuilding, and as it falls the rods impale straight through him, killing him instantly. Ozpin stands beside Velvet and he looks down to her, crouching down and she looks at him with tears in her eyes.

He caresses her cheek gently, wiping the tears away with his thumb. "We will punish those who did this. I promise." Ozpin says to her with a smile. Velvet however cannot share the smile, but she does trust him, and she nods her head.

Ozpin turns when he hears the sound of a gunshot in the city of Vale, and his eyes narrow and he clenches his fist.

* * *

**Qrow**

* * *

Qrow soars through the air, cawing as he glides along, looking down at the civilians that are minding their own business, unaware of the attack. Although some do look a bit concerned, they must have heard the sound of the bomb going off in Beacon Academy. There are Bullheads arriving too, Bullheads that look like they are news Airships – until the door opens and Qrow shifts back into Human Form, seeing the other Workers inside, aiming their rifles at him. He gasps and his eyes widen as the Bullhead pursues after him.

Qrow dives down, just dodging the bullets fired, and the civilians scream in terror as the erratic gunfire erupts. Qrow slides down the tiled roof of one of the buildings, his mind racing as he dodges the many bullets, having to see through the red blur of his blood.

_Damn it! He's predicted every move I'll make! They knew which Crow I was!_

Qrow sprints as fast as he can across the street, until he hears the caw of the Jackdaw. He turns his attention to the little black bird following him, and as it passes by one of the chimneys, it has been replaced with Jackdaw himself. He extends his barrels and fires them right at him and he jumps up in the air, shifting back into his crow form, flying as fast as he can to dodge the many bullets that come flying his way. The Bullhead roars over his head and the soldiers keep firing at the little bird, and then Qrow makes a turn towards a familiar Bar.

The Crowbar.

He soars straight at it, then shifts back into Human Form, and he kicks the doors open as he flies through, the doors swinging as he slams his shoulder right into the bar. With his aura down, that impact dislocated his shoulder. He yells in agony as he grabs his shoulder, looking around to see the bar has been upgraded since and is also now a restaurant – meaning there are more people here, and more blood could be spilled if he stays here. He gets up to leave, only to hear his voice.

"Well, well, well. Lookie what we have here boys, looks like our little duckling has fled back to his nest!" Jackdaw laughs as he lands in front of the entrance.

"Shit." Qrow winces, so he vaults over the bar beside the shaking and terrified bartender. He grabs his shoulder and grits his teeth as he relocates it with a loud pop. The crunch makes him jolt and he falls onto his ass, pressing his back up against the wall as he pants erratically. Still holding Harbinger in his hand as he hears Jackdaw making his approach.

Qrow's mind has not stopped racing.

_Why…why the hell have you come back now?_

_All these years you vanished, I thought the Black Gallows had you in their custody. No way in hell you managed to escape…what the hell are you planning?_

As these thoughts bounce around inside of his mind, he presses his fingers to his wound, feeling the hot sticky blood down his face. But his aura is starting to come back, meaning it will heal soon, and he can fight again. But Jackdaw is right there…so he needs to do something…he needs to stall him. "I wonder I wonder, little duckling…what're we gonna have to drink today?" Jackdaw says, as he kicks the doors open and enters, the bartender shaking like a shake-weight. Everyone is silent, staring at both Jackdaw and the bar where his brother is taking cover right now. "SO, BROTHER! HOW MANY OF THESE FINE FOLK AM I GONNA KILL FOR YOU TO SHOW YOUR FACE TO ME?" Jackdaw bellows as he extends his blades from his metal arms, ready to pin all of them to the walls, paint this whole place blood red if need be.

"Zero…I'm right here, Jack." Qrow tells him, and he lowers his head with a smirk. "Y'know…I'd have thought you'd be dead by now. Surprised to see you're still kicking, back at killing innocents again I see." Qrow snarls, and Jackdaw narrows his eyes with a scoff.

"Yeah well, us big boys do whatever we have to do to get what we want. Oh wait, my apologies, you're such a skinny little brat I almost forgot you're in your forties now." Jackdaw scoffs, and Qrow chuckles as he scratches some of his grey hairs.

"Wow, going right for the jugular, huh?" Qrow questions as he slowly regenerates his aura, waiting for the opportunity.

"Must admit though – your skills have improved since we last met. You fight with more aggression, a bit like your precious sister. How is she by the way?" Jackdaw asks him curiously.

"Dunno, haven't seen her in a while." Qrow states.

"Bullshit, Qrow. I've been keeping my eye on Beacon for a while now. You think I didn't see the two of you chatting during that cute little party the kids had after you won that battle? I heard every word. Guess our precious Uncle is back at her camp, guy was always a bit of a creep." Jackdaw chuckles as he walks around the room, stretching his back and popping his shoulders.

_Jackdaw is ruthless, cunning and skilled, but his biggest weakness was always his mouth. All I need to do is to get the bastard to monologue, he won't be able to resist._

"Well, your skills are better than I last saw you. The metal arms are new, how'd you lose your normal ones?" Qrow asks him, and Jackdaw chuckles as he looks at his metal hands.

"Oh these? Well let's just say that the path to improving the human condition is bloody and painful – but I have learned how to endure it. Not like my pretty blonde niece." Jackdaw chuckles sinisterly as he looks at the bar where he is taking cover.

"You cut off your own arms?" Qrow questions.

"Yeah, can't break a man's fingers if he can't feel it." He chuckles with a smirk, truly showing how much worse his mind has decayed over the years. "But c'mon, show your handsome face little brother. Let's get this over and done with, yeah?" He asks him curiously.

"Sorry, brother. I'm quite comfortable over here." Qrow replies, and Jackdaw chuckles as he nods his head, then suddenly extending the barrel from his metal arm.

"Then we'll have to do it this way." Jackdaw says.

BANG!

He fires a round right past the Bartender's head and he screams in terror, wanting to duck down. "If you duck for a second buddy boy…" He says, as the bladed feathers slowly extend from his metal arms. "…if any of you move." He continues as he looks at them all. "I will spill every last drop from your bodies."

Qrow grits his teeth, realising how dangerous all this is getting now. "Don't do this, Jackdaw. They're innocent, it's me you want. Let them go." Qrow demands, and Jackdaw scoffs.

"Little brother, you're in no place to make commands. Take a listen too, because if you try and sneak out…my men will know." Jackdaw states, and Qrow does exactly as his brother recommends. He uses his aura and enhances his hearing for a few seconds, and he can hear the clinking of rifles and the breath of up to twenty soldiers around the Bar.

He isn't going anyway.

"Got it all figured out, huh?" Qrow scoffs.

"This world is unforgiving, Qrow. You and I both know that. A mother duck can have twenty ducklings, but the odds are only two will reach adulthood. The future of our world is hanging in the air right now, and you're trying to protect a group of ducklings where only a select few will reach the end. We both know why you left Beacon. To keep your little ducklings safe, because you care for them. Bad luck's followed you forever. And hell, maybe it was your bad luck that led to the attack, to the fall of the Tournament... Good thing you left when you did... or Beacon might have fallen completely." Jackdaw says as he keeps his barrel aimed at the Bartender's head.

"But surely you know by now…your curse won't save them…not from _me_." Jackdaw states as he stands there, his red eyes staring viciously at the bar.

"Leave them out of this. This is between you and me." Qrow states.

"And dear old Raven. Our bloodline – the Branwen Bloodline – we are a curse on this planet, so many have died because of us. Even Valravn needs to pay the price we all have on our heads." Jackdaw states.

"And what about you?" Qrow questions as he looks at his scroll, his aura slowly coming back into the green.

"I'll do what I do best until fate decides to take me away. It's all I have little brother; every man needs a hobby. It's the only source of fulfilment a man can get in this cruel world." Jackdaw explains, before firing once again, and the bottles shatter by the Bartender's head and he screams in terror. All he wants to do is get down, but he does not want anyone to die.

"Oh yeah? That why you murdered all those kids at Beacon? Killed Ironwood? Glynda?" Qrow questions.

"Yup." He casually answers. "I will kill anyone who gets in my way, anyone who tries to stop me from getting to you, to Raven, to Val. Hell maybe even Yang, she has our blood in her too." He reminds. "And you're no different, you kill too when people stand in your way." Jackdaw states.

"Yeah." Qrow agrees, suddenly opening Harbinger and lifting it over his head and firing straight into Jackdaw, using the reflection of one of the Bottles to see where he is. Jackdaw's eyes widen and he grunts.

"Oh!" Jackdaw grunts, the impact hits him straight in the chest and blows him through the doors.

Jackdaw crashes to the ground with a groan, looking up and his eyes widen when he sees that his soldiers are being decimated suddenly. Then as the fight continues, he sees him – Ozpin – battering them all with his cane. "Well I'll be damned." He chuckles softly as he stares at the Headmaster as he slays ever single one of them with great speed. He looks ahead to see Qrow erupting through the doors and he flies up in his Crow form towards the other soldiers firing up at him, but he dives down and he roars in anger, taking Harbinger and slashing it through their torsos, a spray of blood rising up into the air as he slides down the roof and fires his cannon into the head of one of the other soldiers, killing him instantly.

Ozpin darts across the rooftops and he throws his cane, knocking one of the men out of the sky, and he kicks the Jetpack Using Soldier down into the power lines. He screeches in agony as the high voltage burns him alive. Both Qrow and Ozpin land beside one another, and they see Jackdaw rising back up with his blades extending once again with a man smirk on his face. "Hey there, Professor…I got a detention?" He asks him curiously, following with both Qrow and Ozpin charging towards him.

He smirks and he launches the blades towards them both. One of the blades cuts across Ozpin's shoulder, but he keeps charging despite the blood leaking from his open wound. He spins through the air and slams his cane across his face. Qrow on the other hand slashes his sword at his brother, but then he grabs Ozpin by the head with his metal hand and he punches him in the chest twice before raising them both back up and pounding both into the centre of his ribs. Ozpin is blown back, and he rolls across the floor, before he catches Qrow's sword and glares right into his eyes with a smirk.

Jackdaw pulls Qrow and he punches him into the ground with all his might, knocking him down to the ground. Jackdaw extends his blades and slashes at Qrow repeatedly, but Qrow grabs his sword and blocks them all, sparks bursting out constantly, bouncing off the floor and leaving tiny scorch marks. Qrow jumps and pushes his foot against the wall of the bar and he swings downwards at his brother, cutting across his aura. He then transforms his sword and blasts Jackdaw and he smashes straight through the building. In the darkness he suddenly jumps out, launching more 3-D Printed Blades from his arms like Fatal Feathers.

Jackdaw slides across the wooden ground and he swipes his blades across his brother's legs, but Qrow jumps up into the air and fires his cannon again as Ozpin gets up. The Professor bellows with rage as he lunges towards Jackdaw, grabbing him by the throat and pinning him against the wall. But as Ozpin holds him there, Jack suddenly extends his blades again, dealing some lethal damage to his aura as it pushes him back. Jackdaw kicks him in the chest, and he slides across the floor. Jack the Ripper reloads his cannons by printing more rounds and he unleashes storm of bullets towards him, and he deflects them all with his cane, moving impressively fast.

Qrow zooms towards Jackdaw once again and tackles him, throwing the massive man into a car and he smashes the car door down. Qrow roars, jumping up and stabbing down towards him, but he moves aside and headbutts him. Qrow recoils back, and Ozpin makes his attack. With great speed, he jabs at Jackdaw repeatedly with his cane like a blur, hitting him around twenty times in the span of five seconds, causing him to stagger back from the many strikes, and then he swings forward with a powerful strike that knocks Jackdaw back. Qrow jumps over Qrow and fires his cannon at him again, but Jackdaw crosses his blades over like a Valkyrie would.

The smoke trails across his body, but just as they are about to continue.

The distant howls of sirens echo, and Jackdaw smirks as he stares at them. Qrow and Ozpin both grit their teeth. "As much as I would love to continue this dance…my work here is done…" He laughs sinisterly, transforming into his bird form. Qrow grits his teeth as he fires his cannon at him repeatedly, but the little bird escapes as quickly as he arrived.

Ozpin though…

…he realises what has just transpired.

He has made his presence known.

A Former Huntsman.

And he just committed a lethal terrorist attack that has left fifty people dead.

"He didn't come here to kill you, I think he wanted to try…but he did it to put more of a bad name on the Huntsmen." Ozpin realises with wide eyes.

"What?" Qrow questions.

"He is a Former Huntsman. How's that gonna help our rep after the Black Smog?" Ozpin questions, and Qrow stammers.

Because he is right.

"Shit."

* * *

**Author Note - If the Public Opinion of the Huntsmen wasn't already low after the events of the Vytal Festival, then they have just gotten even worse after a Former Huntsman just committed a terrorist attack**

**This was a great chapter to write, finally showing Jackdaw fight was really fun. Because I was getting used to a whole new fighting style, and I love doing that. He is also quite terrifying because of how lethal he is in combat, he can shred someone's aura down to bare minimum in seconds. And I also enjoyed showing Ozpin's dark side, but that is what happens when someone kills his students and his friends. Poor C.F.V.Y too. And what do you think Jackdaw meant by the Branwen Curse?**

**We shall see. Many questions to be answered.**

**Jackdaw is a terrifying opponent, and I am so happy that he is finally being shown.**

**Please review, follow and favourite! If you would like to join my Discord please PM me!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter - A Threatening Lesson**

**\- Matt**


	4. Black Feathers

**Chapter 3 – Black Feathers**

* * *

**Winter**

* * *

With the curtains open after their romantic night together…

Winter and Eryka lay together in their bed, the furs warmly wrapped around their naked bodies, both their hairs quite messy too. Winter looks at her girlfriend, always finding herself in awe at her beauty as she gently caresses her mostly smooth skin. However, there are parts of her athletic body that not many people know about simply because she usually shows very little skin. She can see all her tattoos on her body, and she has quite a few. Her arms have sleeves of floral tattoos, with roses and vines around her forearms. However, the arms themselves have scars both from fighting and merely from catching her beloved eagle on her wrist.

That big silly Altum Eagle does not always land on the glove, meaning his talons sometimes drag into her skin – leaving some deep scars. However, by the Talon Scars are others, ones that clearly are from knives or maybe even Grimm she has fought in the mountains. The fact her aura is so thin, it means she can get injured faster than normal Huntsmen and Huntresses. But as everyone knows, that has never stopped her – but Winter has been helping her fortify her aura and hoping to unlock her semblance. To no avail so far though, her secret is still completely unknown.

Her beautiful face is not without a few blemishes either, however they are not as noticeable as the arms. She has a small scar on her jaw and one over the bridge of her nose – ones she has collected from fist fights over the years, alongside some scars she is extremely insecure over. Her hands – most women tend to have very delicate hands like Winter and Weiss do, but hers are covered with scarring from the Bare-Knuckle Pit Boxing Matches. A very long time ago, she was not the sweet and fun going girl she is now. Her scarred hands are the reason behind why she wears her gloves so much, she keeps hiding them.

Yet last night, when they were making love to each other, Winter never felt her hands were any different to her own. If anything, they were the same, warm and gentle as they wrapped around her body and pushed through her white hair. But to imagine…what her hands would have looked like back in the days she was fighting in dark underground boxing matches…there would have been so much blood.

One of her sleeve tattoos reaches her shoulder and just goes onto her neck, a large rose that can be seen by many even with her clothes on – alongside two small black birds on the other side of her neck. Something very interesting as she looks at them, her gentle hand caressing her skin where they are. But as her hand goes around her girlfriend, that's when she feels a very different kind of scar. She saw the stab scar on her leg and her abdomen…but between her shoulder blades, on her back – is something very different.

Something nobody has ever seen before.

It is a brand.

And as her fingers gently run across the rippled scarred skin, she starts to picture what kind of brand has been burned onto her lover's back. It feels like it is a bird of some kind, feathered wings splayed out and the beak cawing – almost like a Raven. As she touches her back, Eryka winces and she softly moans, her eyes squint together even when closed, then they slowly open up, her bright blue eyes emerging as they meet Winter's. The Schnee smiles as she looks at her girlfriend. "Hey, you." She softly greets as she caresses her cheek, her thumb affectionately stroking the shaved blue patterned hair on the side of her head. Eryka smiles as she looks up at her girlfriend.

"Hey, yourself." Eryka softly replies.

"I hope I didn't wake you." She softly says to her.

"Ah, it's alright. Been woken up by worse." Eryka chuckles as she gently caresses Winter's cheek as well. She yawns and rubs her eye and the faint freckles under her eyes.

"Oh yeah? Like what?" She asks curiously as she rests her head into the pillow, and Eryka chuckles, planting her elbow against the pillow and her hand supporting her head. She gently bites her blip, pondering through her memories as she chooses the memory that she was specifically hinting at.

"Well, back when I lived in the mountains, during my trials I went through to earn the egg that hatched Dulcis – one of my trials was to learn how to survive in the mountains with nothing but the clothes on my back and a stick." She explains, and Winter's large blue eyes widen with disbelief.

"Damn, that's a bit extreme." She says.

"It needs to be, that's what my Mentor taught me."

"Who was your mentor? You've mentioned him in the past a few times." Winter asks her curiously, touching her blue hair as it falls over her eyes. Eryka smiles and she looks her in the eyes.

"Well…I can't say his name. He asked me not to." Eryka says to her, and Winter raises a brow.

"Why not?" She asks her.

"Well the place I was taught…to focus my emotions and manage my anger? Most people that go there have the hopes of escaping their past lives. Or are being hunted by dangerous people. Or others just came there to restart their lives. He offers people a second chance, because that was what he was offered when he was found by the previous leader. But not just that…he doesn't go by his old name anymore. He…was not a perfect man, and just like the others he chose to be a new man. A man with no true name." Eryka explains as she touches Winter's collarbone, gently stroking a small scar above her breast, a slash from battling against countless Grimm in her missions.

Winter too has her fair share of scars, a stab wound in her back, a burn across her leg and three deep claw marks across her belly. The marks clearly were given to her by a Beowulf, not many beasts could deliver such a mark that would not cause disembowelment.

Winter kisses her hand gently, before smiling at her and nodding her head. "I understand – he would rather not spread his name across the world." Winter nods.

"But…I love you…and I trust you…so I guess I can give you a name of sorts. His title at least." Eryka admits, and Winter blushes softly after hearing her touching words, of how much she really means to her. "He is known as the Protector of the Summit." She tells her.

"Hell, of a name." Winter chuckles.

"Hell, of a man, he was found almost dead, but the people saved him. Some claimed the Mountain did, but he said to me that it was just the heroic doctors that fixed him." Eryka says, then she looks at her with a smile. "And he fixed me."

She opens her scarred hands, staring at the marks of her past, wounds collected from her bare knuckles colliding with fresh faces in those utterly terrifying pits. "Eryka?"

"Yeah, Wints?" She replies.

"Can I ask…what was it he did? To change?" Winter asks her.

Eryka pauses and her eyes ponder, she exhales as she gives her a cryptic answer. "He flew too close to the sun." She answers, and Winter looks at her and chooses to not dig any deeper. She loves Eryka but her cryptic side can be rather annoying because it makes her such a hard conversationalist when it comes down to her past. Winter yawns, then her scroll vibrates on the table. She looks at the clock on the bedside table and raises her brow.

The apartment they have been staying in is far from the battle that has just transpired…meaning they never heard a thing and were still asleep.

"Who's calling at these hours?" Eryka moans as she flops back onto the pillow. Winter sits up, holding the furs to her neck as she sits up. Eryka rolls over with a smirk and she wraps her arms around Winter's waist, kissing her neck seductively, making Winter smile.

"Hello?" She answers.

Eryka cannot hear the words, it is just Winter's change in expression…her blood running cold…that is what makes her realise something is wrong. "What?"

"Wints? What's wrong?" She asks her, stopping her seductive kissing and sitting beside her…then Winter's grip loosens on the scroll and it falls from her hands with horror in her eyes.

* * *

Half an hour later…

Dressed and running out the door, the two of them eventually arrive at the Academy, out of breath as they stare at the flames and the smoke. The stains of blood that scatter the school grounds, the drops of claret from the roof of the Dormitories where Peony was impaled to the chimney stack. The slash marks across the ground and the utter decimation. Corpses everywhere, some of them covered up in tarps where the police begin to take them away. Whilst others have been gently zipped up in black body bags. Winter sees Velvet, Coco and Fox by the largest of the bags, the broken sword beside it as Velvet bawls her eyes out in utter anguish. Coco is trying her best to stay strong, and Fox is showing nothing, just a deep rage that has just built up in his heart the whole time.

The two Huntresses look around in total dismay at the horror…then Winter runs to one of the bags with horror in her eyes. One of them is Ciel Soleil, but the other is just getting zipped up – seeing the metal hand inside. And there is so much blood on the ground, she collapses to her knees and she shrieks in pure anguish over the death of her General. Eryka turns her around and hugs her lovingly, holding her tight and close, kissing her cheek as she holds her there.

Winter cries into Eryka's shoulder, Ironwood was like a father to her in the same way that Klein was. He was always caring for her and extremely supportive, unlike most superiors and most certainly unlike Jacques Schnee. Eryka holds her, then she looks Winter in the eyes, holding her by the back of her neck with both hands. "Look at me, Winter – look at me." She whispers as she wipes the tears from her sobbing eyes. She then kisses her lovingly, and Winter pulls her lips to hers as they share that moment – Eryka just wants her to stop looking at that body bag for a few seconds. When they break the kiss, she hugs her again, her hand through Winter's white hair.

She has never seen Winter break down like this before, she really did care for her General. "It's gonna be okay…we're gonna find out what happened here." Eryka promises as she whispers into her ear. She then looks at her again, and they press their forehead together as Winter hiccups tears in her embrace. All of that training to harden her emotions, but for her General to die like this, from a surprise attack by a single man…that is not how he deserved to go.

He should have died heroically.

Not like this.

Winter looks at Eryka, and the Falconess knows her gaze, she knows when she needs a moment. So, she lets her go, and the tearful Schnee turns to the body bag of her General. She falls to her knees beside him and she presses her hands atop the bag, sobbing heavily by his body. Eryka looks at her and she feels so helpless, seeing her cry like that is completely terrifying for Eryka. Winter has always been able to keep a lid on her emotions, seeing her like this…things must be cataclysmic if she cannot even breathe from crying so hard.

Eryka counts the six body bags and the amount of bodies that are being carried away by the local police force. There are already Reporters here covering the events that have happened here, and her ears delicately listen into the words of Reporter Lisa Lavender.

"A horrible terrorist attack has occurred on the ground of Beacon Academy following the Graduation Ceremony of the students of this school. We are still receiving reports of what sounds like another Huntsman was responsible for these attacks. We will report more when information arises. We currently have twenty-six people dead, five Graduates and Atlesian Headmaster – General James Ironwood is one of the dead. Professor Glynda Goodwitch has been described to be in a critical condition following the bomb attack by the attacker." Lisa reports to the cameras that flash before her, and there are already crowds of people shamelessly preaching the new thing to spread now.

The Puritan Followers – a growing idea that sparked ever since the events of the Battle of Beacon. When Yang broke Mercury's leg, when Pyrrha killed Penny and the attack that followed, coupled with Jaymes Ickford's outburst and the Black Smog attacking…it has sparked an entire idea that the Huntsmen Academies must be improved. New regulations that have proper militaristic code and less like a school for children to go out. And there have been even more claims to support this in history.

_A Train destroying a district of Vale, causing a Grimm Attack_

_Children battling against White Fang and Thugs, causing more collateral damage than good_

_Too much freedom for people with so much power_

_Soldiers being neglected for treatments whilst children who caused attacks get high end augmentations_

The list goes on, and the following is just getting stronger and stronger with more people joining the following. It has actually started to form an entire Political Campaign to add more control to the Academies, to prevent tragedies like this from continuing. At the end of the day, this was clearly Jackdaw's plan, to add more fuel to the fire.

But hearing their words after this horrific tragedy is making her blood boil.

"HOW MANY MORE WILL DIE BEFORE WE HAVE RULES?"

"GONNA KEEP HIDING FROM THE TRUTH?"

"REMOVE OZPIN FROM OFFICE!"

"NO MORE DEAD COPS!"

"IS THIS WHAT MY DAUGHTER DIED FOR?"

It all begins to pile up and Eryka clenches her hand into a fist with gritted teeth, the Protector of the Summit may have managed to cure her of her rage – but not all of it. She reaches down to her bow to draw it, until she hears a voice that seems to mute the many yelling voices of the crowd. "Eryka!" Neptune calls, and she gasps with relief, spinning round to see her little brother sprinting to her. She catches him in a hug, kissing the top of his head.

"Oh, by the gods, you're okay!" She cries out with relief.

"Don't worry, we weren't here, but we heard…what happened?" He asks her with worry.

"Not certain, but by the looks of it – there was a terrorist attack. And it was coordinated." She states as she looks at all the bodies. Neptune turns to see Sun walking over as well, looking at Eryka.

"You alright?" He asks her.

"Yeah. Winter's…we lost Ironwood." Eryka tells them, and Team S.S.S.N's eyes widen with horror from this.

"No…" Scarlet gasps with disbelief, then they turn to see them returning.

Team R.W.B.Y and J.N.P.R.

The smoke flows through the air from the flames where that Atlesian Knight exploded. Ruby stares at the destruction, the blood on the ground. Blake and Weiss both gasp when they see Sun and Neptune, sprinting to their beloved boyfriends. They run into one another's embrace, sharing touching kisses and tight hugs. "Are you alright?" Blake whimpers as she checks Sun's body, looking at his chest where the black filament is still inside of his body, unable to be removed after the wound he suffered from the Praetorian Knight.

"We weren't here, we just got here." Sun tells her, kissing her forehead as he hugs her lovingly.

"Where's my sister?" Weiss whimpers after looking after her boyfriend. Then her eyes turn to her sister who cries over the bag of General Ironwood. Weiss' eyes widen with concern, and she goes to walk over to Winter. Eryka holds her arm out to keep her from going any closer.

"Give her a second, alright?" Eryka asks her.

"She's my sister." Weiss reminds, pushing past Eryka and walking right up to her big sister. She crouches down beside her crying sister and gently touches her shoulder. The tearful Winter Schnee turns her head with anger in her eyes, until she sees her sister. In a similar way to how Eryka is able to – the anger that Winter can channel can be cured only by the girl he loves, and her little sister. Weiss immediately squeezes her in a hug, and Winter accepts it, her arms around her sister as well.

Ruby stares at the bodies as she stands beside her sister, looking at Jaune as he looks at them. Pyrrha covers her mouth with heartbreak when she sees Jaymes crying over the bad that has Peony inside. He has her weapon beside her, but he does not even look at it, he never even got to say any kind of goodbye to her. She was just murdered right in front of him, her blood dried and stuck to his face even now.

Nora and Ren walk through the destruction, something that has become all too familiar to them. She walks with him towards Team C.F.V as they grieve the death of Yatsuhashi. Nora crouches down beside Velvet and she gently squeezes her shoulder. With tears covering her cheeks and her eyes bloodshot from heartbreak, it hurts their hearts to see such a sweet ball of life to be broken down like this. Ren looks at their pain, and it is all too familiar to him, remembering what he felt when his father was killed in Kuroyuri by the Nuckelavee. It is a pain he never wants to see again, but he always will.

Not matter how hard he tries.

"I'm so sorry." Nora apologises.

"He…he tried to fight him…" Coco sniffles as she looks at the bag, for they saw the hold in his chest and his crushed shoulder. But they knew him too well, and he would have tried to stop Jackdaw from winning. But at the end of the day, Jackdaw Branwen has a skill level far beyond anything they have ever faced, and his weaponry is utterly unheard of.

"He will not die for nothing. We promise you." Ren assures.

"We will all make sure he doesn't. The monster who did this…he _must_ die." Velvet growls with tearful anger. Very rarely do they see Velvet Scarlatina like that, filled with pure hatred and rage. As Ruby walks with Yang, she looks down and sees the hoverboard on the ground next to one of the bags. They can remember her – Reese Chloris – she was part of Team A.B.R.N, and they can see the rest of her team sat nearby, also crying over her death. She died…in terror…she never deserved to die that way.

The way Jackdaw murdered these people, he treated it like it was all a game. Like not one of their lives mattered at any point. Ruby closes her silver eyes, and slowly clenches her hand into a fist, gritting her teeth with anger. Yang looks at her fist, seeing this rage building up in here, and a faint silver glimmer underneath her closed eyelids. Her power is something she still has not yet learned to master, she has not actually used it since the first time. No event has ever caused it to manifest - it seems to be linked to her emotions in some way.

"Ruby…" His voice speaks, and her eyes open and she gasps, turning to see him stood there with his flask in his hand. Qrow looks at her with tired eyes and looking serious. She runs to him and hugs him lovingly, burying her head into his chest. Winter lifts her head to see Qrow standing there as he hugs his two beloved Nieces. Eryka walks over as well as he stands there.

"Uncle Qrow…I'm so glad you're okay." Ruby sighs with relief.

"I didn't know you were here." Yang says.

"I wasn't…but I knew it was him." Qrow says with a growl in his voice as he goes to clench his fist, but he stops and loosens his aching muscles.

"Huh?" Ruby asks him with worry.

"You…knew him?" Yang asks, and he looks at them all. Ruby, Yang, Nora and Ren stand before him and he sighs.

"You could say that." Qrow says, looking away from them and to the many body bags that have been collected after Jackdaw's attack.

"Who is it?" Yang questions, but Qrow does not answer, he just touches the necklace…and the three bird tattoos on his neck. A Crow and a Raven…and a scratched-out Jackdaw. He must have scratched, or burned it away, because the scarring has almost completely erased the tattoo. But the memories cannot be burned away.

"Wait…where's Glynda?" Ruby whimpers with worry, and Qrow sadly sighs, looking at her.

"Come with me."

* * *

**Ruby**

* * *

They follow Qrow into the nearest hospital, where they see Port sat outside with his head in his hands. He looks broken from the news that has just hit him, and stood by her bed is Ozpin, tears in his eyes as he talks to her. Teams R.W.B.Y, J.N.P.R and S.S.S.N follow them, and they see her in there. She is pale, and her heart monitor is weak, her body fatally wounded from the shrapnel that was thrown into her in that massive explosion. The blood has stopped, but she has lost too much for them to save her. Ruby's silver eyes widen with heartbreak when she sees her dying in that bed.

Professor Port stands up and he looks at the students, even seeing Team C.R.D.L and C.F.V following them in to see Glynda one last time. "The doctors…they did what they could. All they have managed to do now, is make sure that she goes peacefully." He tells them, and they all look at the Professor with tears welling, and their hearts break. Ozpin stands by her, and he slowly turns to walk away from her, wiping the tears from his eyes, opening the door as he looks at them.

"You…should say your goodbyes." Ozpin recommends with broken breath, before he walks down the hallway to have a moment alone. Qrow stands there, but he does not enter the room – he just stands outside with his head held low. Ruby is the first to walk in with her hands close together, with her team beside her. Glynda coughs as she looks at them.

"Wow…I didn't expect a party…" She jokes softly as she sees the many students coming in. Cardin stands as the tallest, with tears in his eyes, no matter how hard he tries to keep them at bay. They all stand there, and Glynda smiles and softly chuckles, glancing to the many chairs in there. "Come here for one last lesson? With dear old me?" Glynda softly chuckles with a raspy voice, so they all…sadly…pull the chairs and they sit down so they can spend this moment with their teacher.

Ruby sits down next to her, and she looks at her with tears welling up in her eyes. "I'm so sorry…" She sniffles sadly to her.

"Oh please, none of that." Glynda groans with the roll of her eyes, smiling at them.

"We should have been here." Weiss says as she looks down at her knees.

"You graduated…I only regret that not everyone who was as lucky as you could have been away. Velvet, Coco, Fox…I am so sorry, about Yatsu." She softly says to them with sadness in her green eyes. They have managed to stop crying a bit, but only by a second as they sit by their dying teacher.

"I don't know what we'll do without him, miss." Velvet says to her.

"You'll…move on…I know you can. You're stronger than you know…stronger than we ever could have been." Glynda promises with a smile, and Cardin shakes his head.

"You should be proud of yourself, Professor." Cardin says, and she smiles as she looks at him and his team. Never in her life did she expect these bullies to become the honourable men they have become now.

"Mm…I have lived a life…not a perfect one, but no life is. Be pretty boring if it was…what matters is if you…make the mistakes right." She says as she looks at him, then at Velvet. He looks at her and he smiles. The two of them have fixed the damage he caused all those years ago and are actually great friends now. "I am so proud of you, Cardin. I must admit…I thought you were a proper dick when we first met." She chuckles, making them all chuckle, especially Cardin.

"Well…I didn't do much to help my case." Cardin admits.

"But you made things right…you saw your mistakes…you all did…and you made sure you made it right. That takes courage, strength…heroism. The three things I have always believed a Huntsman should have." Glynda explains with a smile, looking at Qrow standing outside with his arms crossed. "Even people from dark upbringings can do great things." She says as she looks at him, both Yang and Ruby look at their Uncle. They have always known that he had a pretty shrouded childhood, but they have never really known for certain.

Ruby looks down at the ground, and Blake holds Sun's hand, resting her head on his shoulder. Glynda looks at the Monkey Faunus, and the scar on his face and the one hidden by his buttoned up black shirt. Blake looks at her with sadness in her eyes, but not just over her dying, but more than that. "What is it?" Glynda asks her, and Blake sits up beside her boyfriend, sighing shakily.

"Ever since the White Fang…all I ever wanted to do was the right thing. I believed we were working towards equality, I then thought fighting them was the right thing. But…now a Huntsman working against us? I'm starting to struggle to tell the difference between right and wrong now…" She stammers, since Huntsmen and Huntresses are supposed to be among the most noble warriors in the world. People who always fought for good and would stop the evils in the world – and then Jack the Ripper attacked.

Those qualities…he did not have a single one of the ones that Glynda mention ed.

Instead of being courageous he ran.

Instead of using his strength for good, he used it for chaos.

And he burned his heroism into pure villainy.

What kind of Huntsman could commit such acts?

"And I thought I could throw myself into the role of a Huntress, fight for good, help both Humans and Faunus…because I thought I would be treated like everyone else. But this man…I don't know what to do now." Blake states, Sun gently squeezes her hand as he looks at her, supportively caring for her.

Glynda chuckles though at how melodramatic Blake always is over things. "Always so dramatic." Glynda chuckles softly as she looks at her. "Listen to me…you saved Vale – three times. Fought together when nobody else could or would, you spat in the faces of the Black Gallows and showed them how heroic you really are. You are all…great people…and do not let this attack change you. The man who did this – The Ripper? He is a monster…a monster…of our making, not yours." She states, and Ruby looks at her with concern.

"What do you mean?" Ruby inquires.

"We rather…mucked up the world with how we…did things. Maybe the Council were right about her, but I don't know. All I know for certain – is that Jack the Ripper is nothing like you." She promises as she holds Ruby's hand gently and lovingly like a mother-figure would. "The world is changing, and Huntsmen and Huntresses are soon going to change. And we will never be able to go back. Our past…our mistakes…they are catching up to us, and I am afraid that you will be caught on the receiving end. So…please…follow these new rules when they are founded. The events today…they will enforce the new idea across every Academy. As much as you want to rebel and…_mail yourselves_ through the rules…" Glynda chuckles, remembering Ruby's silly idea that Ozpin told her about when they were going to Mountain Glenn.

Ruby giggles but she is fighting the tears.

"…sometimes you have to play by them." She says as she smiles, looking at Jaune and Pyrrha. "No more fake transcripts…no more charging head first into perilous situations…the world may be your oyster but there are terrifying beasts out there in the sea. And when I'm gone…I do not want to see any of you in the afterlife. If I do…I will give you detention." Glynda jokes, making them laugh at the idea of making it all the way to heaven, only to be received with the yelling voice of Glynda.

But in a way…they would welcome it.

"You're…you're not gonna die." Ruby sniffles.

"Honey…" Glynda softly says as she squeezes her hand. "I'm sorry…but I was never going to last forever. No Huntsman or Huntress dies in their bed…but I want all of you to be the first to do it." Glynda says to them all. Ruby wipes the tears from her eyes as she looks at their loved teacher. But then she begins to cough in pain, blood leaking from her mouth. She looks at the blood on her hand, and then at them as Ruby wipes the blood away. "You are all…the best students…I have ever had the honour of teaching." She says to them.

Ruby cries as she gently hugs her, and Glynda holds her close, kissing the sweet girl's cheek. "I'd…like you to go outside now…I…would rather you didn't see me like this." She requests, and Ruby looks at her with tears in her eyes. Yang stands up and she holds her sister, being the strong one. Glynda smiles to all of them as they all reluctantly begin to leave her as they head towards the doors.

Her last words…will always live in their hearts. "Goodbye…and good luck."

They sit outside her room, waiting for the sound as Ozpin sits by her bed, his head and arms over her lap as he is actually crying. Then they hear the sound they never wanted to hear.

The Flatline.

She's gone…

Ruby breaks down, covering her bawling eyes as she cries and Cardin grits his teeth in anger, slamming his elbow into the wall with rage, the only way he can get his grief out. Ruby cries beside her team and Pyrrha buries her head into Jaune's shoulder. Sun grits his teeth in anger, and he walks around the room with his hands behind his head.

Now Jackdaw has killed twenty-seven people.

Ruby then gets up and she storms out, running down the hall and Yang gets up, running after her. "Ruby!" She calls out, then Qrow walks into the room where Ozpin covers Glynda's passed away body with the bed sheet, Winter and Eryka following him inside. Port closes the door behind him, and they look at Ozpin. Seeing his shaking fist and the tears that roll down his cheeks as he stands beside her.

"What do we do now?" Eryka asks, whilst Winter wipes the tears from her eyes, but Ozpin turns and glares right at Qrow. He knows this is not his fault – but this is still his brother, so he must be the one to track him down.

"Find him…and kill him." Ozpin orders.

Outside, Ruby runs out into the falling rain, and Yang catches her, as she cries out in anguish, tears streaming down her cheeks. Yang, also teary eyed, strokes her baby sister's hair lovingly as she holds her. "Sshh, it's okay." Yang whispers, and Ruby cannot even form words as she cries.

"S-She…she's g-gone!" Ruby sobs, now losing yet another mother figure. But as they stand there, Yang feels her scroll vibrating, so she sighs and pulls it out, opening it just to cancel whoever is calling her.

That's when she sees him.

A hacked in feed, of Jackdaw Branwen, with a dark background and his eyes glowing red with his top hat on his knee, slicked back jet-black hair and his black handlebar moustache. It is not a phone call though…it is a recorded message.

Then the two of them look around with horror as the holographic screens used to advertise the Vytal Festival and the Graduation Day suddenly have that same feed hacked into them. Every single media player starts displaying this message, his voice echoing like some kind of god. "I hope I made a good first impression on you." Jackdaw greets with a smirk, his chilling voice making Ruby's heartbreak turn to fury, gritting her teeth and her silver eyes glow furiously.

"You…" Ruby snarls with anger.

"Shame all those kids had to die…but only the few strongest ducklings survive to adulthood. So, their deaths had to come." He states with the casual shrug of his shoulders. "But I have not come here to flaunt…I have come here to teach. That is what this school is for, is it not? Or is it for tearing kids apart, breaking their legs and triggering attacks that get countless innocents killed? Hard to tell the difference these days." Jackdaw challenges with a cunning smirk on his face.

Yang's tension on her scroll tightens but she closes it before she crushes it, but they can still hear and see him on the screens around them. "No…today I teach you the first lesson. The lesson of Truth."

* * *

"Isn't it funny how the truth can be such a fickle matter? Throw in some manipulation of the facts or merely omitting certain details and boom! Your truth has become a lie, but no matter how hard you try to hide it. How far you dig to bury the truth from the world and those you love, they will find it. It is inevitable, the only thing in life worth having is the truth."

"People you call family, they may trust you with their lives, but can they trust you with their truth? That's a matter deep in the flesh. Families can be cut as easily as skin, and you must cut deep to find the truth, the real truth."

"I now speak directly to the black feathers. You know who you are, for you will find them where you lay your head. Those who find a black feather awaiting them, can leave the school and come for me. Anyone else so much as steps towards an exit, tries to call outside of the school, so much as thinks about contacting anyone outside these walls, will meet an explosive and fiery grave. My men posed as construction workers for four years now. They ate with you, drank with you, partied with you. They rebuilt your school from the ground up and laced it with explosives to raze it all over again."

"Anyone without a feather tries to leave, anyone tries to disarm or meddle with the bombs, and Beacon becomes ashes."

"Know this… children of Beacon. I have stabbed deep into the heart you call home. It bleeds, gushing red. And you. The red hood and the golden locks. Come claim the truth."

"Class dismissed, children."

* * *

**Author Note - Jackdaw has been planning this ever since Act 1...**

**Sorry this chapter was shorter, I wanted it to kinda focus on the aftermath of Jackdaw and Glynda's death, ending with Jackdaw's First Lesson. I loved how this turned out, so heartbreaking to see Glynda die but I wanted her to go in a very beautiful and in character way. She did not fear death in the end, she was ready and went peacefully. Although now Jackdaw has a lot of pissed of Huntsmen and Huntresses coming after him now.**

**The question is - who are the Black Feathers? He hinted at two...but there may be more...**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter - The Chimes of Valravn**

**\- Matt**


	5. The Chimes of Valravn

**Chapter 4 – The Chimes of Valravn**

* * *

**Killian**

* * *

"Hey mom…hey dad…"

Sat by their gravestone in the middle of a Mistraalian Graveyard is Commander Nathaniel Killian, his legs crossed like a child and his head hanging down as he closes his eyes. Warm sun shines upon his skin and his raspy breath cured by the dust pumped into his lungs thanks to that mechanical device attached to his neck to keep him alive. The mysteries behind what that device are still unknown, especially what caused him to need this advanced respirator. And why he must use the dust to stay alive…

But he does not even seem to be overly concerned about his health, only being here by the body of his long-lost mother.

_Eveline Killian_

_Patrick Killian_

_Loving Married Couple and Parents, cruelly taken away from this world too soon_

Killian never forgot what happened that day, it was the very thing that started his resentment for the Academies and how they work. How could he ever support the same people that caused this Mass-Murderer to escape the way he did, and not only that…manage to escape time and time again? He sits there and he scratches his stubble of black hair around his mouth. "Sorry I haven't come by for a while…work's been pretty stressful lately." Killian tells their stone as he looks down at the grave that both his mother and father were buried together in.

There is really a part of him that expects to get an answer, but the other half knows that he will never get that luxury. No matter how hard he armours that heart of his, there is still that human being still inside of him, the person who lost his parents when he was merely a child. "I don't know…how you would view me…for what I have become. I don't know if you would be proud of disappointed in me, end of the day I don't even know either." Killian sighs as he scratches the back of his neck.

Still he sits there, hearing the chirping of birds in the trees, the distant whistling of the wind in the massive mountains that rise through the clouds in the distance. Very, very distant screeches of Eagles echoing from some of their hunting grounds, finding the dirty rodents that crawl through the emerald green vegetation beneath. Just like him, hunting the few, the dangerous people in the world alongside the good who just want to get on with their daily lives.

He stares at her name on the grave, clearly, he was closer to his mother than his father. His father was not a bad man, but he was always at work, meaning he and his son rarely managed to form a strong relationship.

"I...uh…can only imagine the stuff you would say to me now. You should talk more, go outside more, socialise…and I try. I've been going to this Veteran's Home recently, seeing the soldiers there. Helps me…talk with people who get me, y'know? The Huntsmen and Huntresses don't understand, although since that day, things have been getting better. More of the Academies have started to follow our idea. More discipline, more regulation…Beacon and Atlas aren't being as easy. At least Ironwood has a lid on it…to some degree." Killian scoffs as he taps his fingers atop his knee.

The insects buzz around the flowers constantly, and he waves one of them from his face. "It's a damn lonely place without you guys though…and thirty years…it doesn't get any easier." Killian sighs as he looks around at the many other graves. Quite a lot of them are new around here, not as much weathering from the rain and the wind. Most likely from the amount of people who were killed from the Battle of Beacon, the live feed from the Vytal Festival caused attacks across the world in every single Kingdom.

Mistral was the one hit the worst, even more so than Vale, because of how wide spread it is. Entire Villages were wiped out by Grimm attacks and they struck the walls of the main city. It was only recently did the destroyed Villages get cleared of infestation thanks to the Mistraalian Military and the Huntsmen. The graves are all different size as well, some of them are huge for the wealthiest, looked after – whilst the older or the poorer are covered with leaves and practically forgotten. Killian's parents may not have been very wealthy or powerful, but he would come here every single week to clean it up, or whenever he could.

The most chilling and heartbreaking graves are the smallest of them – children.

He looks at some of the child graves with wreathes of beautiful and colourful flowers at the foot of them…even after all the horrifying things he has seen in his career, it is the death of children that still haunts him. He sits there, and as soon as he stares at the grave, flashes of the events of his career hit him. Entire villages and settlements completely wiped out by the Hordes of Grimm; children killed by them…but the one that still terrifies him. Is the settlement that was wiped out by a mass suicide in order to not die an agonizing death at the teeth and claws of the Grimm.

The bodies…they still burn his memory.

Killian sighs, closing his eyes as the pictures of his past keep flashing into his eyes, he turns back to the grave of his parents. "Dunno how the two of you did it…managed to keep it all together." Killian sighs, before he pushes his hand against his knee and rises back up. "But I know that I will never stop fighting. I can't let any more innocents suffer because of Ozpin and the way he raises these warriors. They are too dangerous to keep fighting without proper authority behind them…otherwise innocents will keep dying…just like you did." Killian promises, as he kisses his fingers and touches the top of their grave, sighing softly.

"I'll see you soon Ma and Pop." Killian says to them with a smile, before he turns and walks away from them. He leaves their grave behind and a crow lands atop it, softly cawing as it looks up at the sky, fluttering its little black feathers.

Every year feels like it is a decade for Killian, every day that passes feels like a month as well…

He walks towards the Veteran's Home – named _Garland's Hope_ – named after a brave General during the Great War many years ago. General Garland was a powerful warrior who lead his forces in the fields of battle, and he never lost a single one. But the hardest battle he had to face was never on the field, it was actually after the war ended. He suffered from terrible Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and he kept seeing his fallen foes everywhere he went. His husband helped him through as much of it as he could, but Garland learned of many other soldiers who were suffering just like him. Garland decided he could best learn from his suffering with others, and he formed the first Veteran's Home, that his group named after him and his hope for finding a cure for their nightmares.

It has spread across Remnant and is now a home for all soldiers from all walks of life to recover from their time of war.

Killian opens the door and he looks around, seeing all the people in there from different battles – and yet they are all fighting the exact same one. He walks past one Veteran with a peg leg, and he sees another with a deformed arm, and he overhears the conversations. "How'd you lose your leg?" The Veteran asks.

"Beowulf. Got dragged off from my team and he bit it right off, it hurt so bad. My team found me…but I still see the damned thing every single night. Feeling its claws and teeth where my leg was. Doctors brought me in, and they just gave me a peg leg." The soldier explains as he taps the peg on the ground, and he sighs as he stares at it.

Killian looks at him and then at the other Veteran with his deformed and amputated arm. There is a similar problem with the poor soldiers that end up here, most of them are amputees from multiple different ways. Some of them lost their limbs from the Grimm or some of them from Rogue Huntsmen. But none of them ever get given the Cybernetic Augmentations that Huntsmen tend to get. It is one of the many reasons that the Puritan Followers use against the Academies, most of them are family for the Veterans and want them to get the augments that they deserve.

There are more problems surrounding the Academies than just the Huntsmen, but also the funds given to the Huntsmen over the soldiers who die. Most families are only given a small expense, one that can hardly help them deal with the costs of their death and most certainly cannot help ease their grief.

"What about you? What happened to your arm?" The Veteran asks him, and he looks at the arm, where it has bulged up around his elbow.

"Misfire from a Huntsman. When Mistral's Walls were attacked by the Grimm I was on the front line, we were fighting them as best we could, but the Grimm kept coming. The Huntsmen eventually turned up, and one of them was using some kind of…Spear that transformed into a Rocket Launcher. He fired it at a Beringel, he hit it but didn't check who was close to it. The explosion blew my arm apart, and my arm mutated from infection." The soldier explains, still feeling the Phantom Pains from where his arm once used to be. The Veteran shows his sympathy, and Killian walks onwards.

As he walks past, he slows down and he sees a poster on the wall, that sums up what the soldiers who come here need to move past.

_You can fight a man, kill a Grimm, survive a wound._

_But the real fight?_

_It is against the Demons that follow you._

The Poster shows the soldier on one knee and his rifle in his hand, using it like a cane, with a shadow looming over him. "You like it?" A woman asks him, he turns and sees a very attractive Middle-Aged Woman approach him. She has long dark brown hair and brown eyes, with tanned skin and a scar on her neck – she also has the build of a soldier too. She is quite muscular on top of her athletic curves, wearing a camo shirt and some tan shorts…showing her prosthetic leg.

Like the others – a cheaply made plastic one.

She also has a few medals on her breast pocket, her hair is quite long, reaching down to the middle of her spine. Killian also notices another scar, one on her shoulder, but he cannot see her back, but it looks like it must go down it. She smiles as she looks at Killian. "You new here?" She asks him.

"No…I…uh…I've been here before, a couple times. I don't remember seeing you here." Killian says to her as he looks back at her.

"You must've shown up on the calmer days. Veronica Chamberlain." She greets, opening her palm to shake his, and he accepts, shaking her firm hand – yet he can feel some of the calluses of war, the recoil of a rifle. "I handle the talks, a lot of the Veterans who come here…they just want to hear stories from people like them, y'know? It's why I made this poster." Veronica says as she looks at the poster on the wall, and Killian looks at it with her, he nods his head.

"It's moving…and pretty accurate. Judging by your gear…you were military too?" Killian asks her.

"Mhm." She agrees.

"What Division?" He inquires.

"Mistraalian Special Forces, Reconnaissance mostly. You?" She inquires – and Killian looks at her and he decides to partially tell the truth.

"Black Ops, Commander." Killian answers.

Veronica passes a surprised expression to Killian. "We don't get many Black Ops fellas around here."

"Well, we have our own demons following us. Just some of the ones we have are not the same things as most of the people who come here." Killian says to Veronica; she chuckles and nods her head.

"I can imagine, I've heard stories about what the Black Ops do…I won't pry, since that's the last thing I would want to do for someone coming here. Sometimes its best to just let the past die. Focus on what comes next." She says with a smile, turning to some of the people that are talking.

"Does it work? The talks?" He asks.

"Sometimes. It depends on the problem; we get people on some days who just need to talk to people. Others find peace doing some target practice. I've always found that being around people who understand you is always the best way to fix people after a war." Veronica explains as she points to a couple. "Did you know that these two never met until our sessions? His girlfriend was Bomb Disposal in Vacuo and he was a Sniper who served for the Valerian Special Forces. He was blinded from a flashbang by an ambush of Bandits, and she helped him – despite being bound to a wheelchair after a failed defusal." Veronica explains, and Killian looks at them.

The happiness in their faces, despite the horrors that they have seen that have left scars. "He told me he wants to propose to her soon. I think they will be happy together." Veronica says, and Killian smiles.

"Good to see some happiness around here…but these people…they deserve better. Better prosthetics and compensation for their pain." Killian says.

"Tell me about it." Veronica scoffs. "Damned Academies…sucking the Government's Military Funding dry."

Killian glances at her, noticing she clearly has similar views on the Academies as he does, then he notices her touching her leg as she sits down, the cheap plastic prosthetic that looks like it was merely a hand-me-down. There are even some scratched out signatures on it, ones that a woman like her would never have. It also looks like it is a bit too small for her, since she had manufactured an extension so then she can balance herself. "Did they just give that to you?" Killian asks her, as she sits down, she scoffs, and she taps the hollow plastic leg.

"Yup, it belonged to around five other soldiers before me. All five of them took their lives from the same problems I had. It was like they didn't care enough to give me my own leg." Veronica says as she stares at the cold lifeless hunk of plastic on her leg. Killian looks at it and he gently squeezes her shoulder.

"But you're still here." Killian reminds her, and she nods, smiling.

"Yeah…I am." She agrees, which is when Killian turns his attention to the news broadcast on the television across the room. His eyes widen and Veronica notices her new friend's colour drain from his face. She turns as well, and her eyes widen – she may not approve of the Huntsmen, but the news broadcast…even she cannot argue that what happened was a tragedy.

_Terrorist Attack in Beacon Academy_

_"__A Rogue Huntsman – infamously known as Jack the Ripper – has been confirmed to be the killer that caused the attack. He slaughtered these people in droves, children and General James Ironwood from Atlas Academy. And more recently, Professor Glynda Goodwitch from Beacon recently passed away from her injuries. This is a terrible tragedy, but it still raises the question._

_Does Professor Ozpin need to be removed from Office for the way he has been handling things? This is not the first case of a Huntsman becoming a killer, betraying their code and spilling blood across the world. People who are a part of the new movement – the Puritan Followers – have spread their ideology far and wide and this event has given more fuel to the fire. Government Officials have increased numbers of signing the new Agreement._

_Jack the Ripper has since gone missing after the events of his attack, but he left behind this one message. Viewer's beware, the following footage is quite disturbing._

The feed from Lisa Lavender cuts back to the threatening message that Jackdaw left behind.

_"__Isn't it funny how the truth can be such a fickle matter? Throw in some manipulation of the facts or merely omitting certain details and boom! Your truth has become a lie, but no matter how hard you try to hide it. How far you dig to bury the truth from the world and those you love; they will find it. It is inevitable, the only thing in life worth having is the truth."_

_"__People you call family, they may trust you with their lives, but can they trust you with their truth? That's a matter deep in the flesh. Families can be cut as easily as skin, and you must cut deep to find the truth, the real truth."_

_"__I now speak directly to the black feathers. You know who you are, for you will find them where you lay your head. Those who find a black feather awaiting them, can leave the school and come for me. Anyone else so much as steps towards an exit, tries to call outside of the school, so much as thinks about contacting anyone outside these walls, will meet an explosive and fiery grave. My men posed as construction workers for four years now. They ate with you, drank with you, partied with you. They rebuilt your school from the ground up and laced it with explosives to raze it all over again." _

_"__Anyone without a feather tries to leave, anyone tries to disarm or meddle with the bombs, and Beacon becomes ashes."_

_"__Know this… children of Beacon. I have stabbed deep into the heart you call home. It bleeds, gushing red. And you. The red hood and the golden locks. Come claim the truth."_

_"__Class dismissed, children."_

The report returns back to Lisa, who still looks quite shocked by the message that the madman had left behind.

_"__A very worrying message, and one that has the people of Beacon Academy extremely terrified. Police have surrounded the Academy to prevent any students from leaving, and whether or not these mysterious Black Feathers will be answered is far from certain. We will keep you informed on any further updates as the situation unfolds."_

The news continues to go on, leaving Veronica absolutely horrified for the poor children that were killed. The Huntsman Academies might have brought her and her people a great deal of pain for the favouritism that the students get over the military…but they never deserved what happened here. This was a Terrorist Attack, plain and simple, opinions on the matter will not change the horror of it.

All they can pray for now is that this monster…

Veronica turns to speak to Killian, only to see that he is gone. He has gone outside with his fist clenched in anger and pulling his scroll from his pocket and texting a number as he stands there. He waits for the response and as soon as the call is linked, he is filled with anger. "What the hell is this, Watts? I thought we agreed it wouldn't happen during such a populated event? Graduation Day?" Killian growls with anger, and Watts chuckles softly on the other side of the call.

"He got the job done. That is Ironwood and Ozpin's little bird taken out of the picture. And the world is free of a few more Huntsmen and Huntresses. Thought that was what you wanted?" Watts questions with a scoff in his voice as he stands outside of Salem's Sanctum halfway across the world. The distant screeches of Nevermores echoing in the distance.

"No, I did not ask for _this_! I wanted there to be as little bloodshed as possible and killing Ironwood and Glynda does not solve anything! It just makes things harder." Killian states.

"That so? Why did you threaten him then? After the battle?" He asks him.

"Oh, for crying out loud, it was a spur of the moment thing. I was pissed – I never wanted the man dead though. And with him dead, that will leave Atlas vulnerable and could stir up panic. Worse than that though, both he and Glynda could have kept the situation calm as we added the new Regulations to the Academies. Would have been less messy." Killian explains as he walks across the field, unaware that Veronica is standing by a window, seeing him walk away on his Scroll.

"Jackdaw did as he was commanded, to damage the Academies and their reputation further. I hardly see the problem." Watts states.

"Oh, I dunno, maybe the fact that killing an Academy's Headmaster – one who was actually on the council and held two seats – who could have signed the deal like Leo and Dorothy did? Atlas would be secured and all that would have remained would have been Ozpin. And if Glynda could have had time to see things more clearly, she could have convinced Ozpin." Killian explains as he walks around, sweating with anger. "Instead, both of them are dead and a bunch of students – which now will mean more grieving families. Don't get me wrong, I want Ozpin stopped as much as you. But I have told too many grieving families about dead loved ones. I would rather that happen less." Killian states as he stands there.

"You almost sound like you're on their side, Killian." Watts scoffs.

"Don't twist my words, Arthur. You know where I stand, as long as we keep the casualty level as minimal as possible." Killian explains as he slows down, pacing back and forth. Watts falls silent, which is always quite a disturbing feeling since he is Salem's Second Adviser, and most probably her favourite.

Then finally he speaks again. "Fine, continue your work Killian. If you can get the Huntsmen Academies on our side, then it will make Salem's job at ruling the world much easier. End of the day, the people are not safe as long as Ozpin is leading." Watts explains, and Killian sighs.

"Good, nobody else needs to die." Killian states.

"But remember, you have until the end of the summer to get this done. If you don't, then we have no choice but to start the Inhumane Necessity." Watts tells Killian, causing the Black Gallows Commander to pause in his tracks.

"No…"

"I beg your pardon?"

"The Inhumane Necessity is a Last Resort, we agreed." Killian states.

"It is. But I'm afraid we're running out of time, and Salem's patience is wearing thin." Watts reminds him, sending a cold chill down Killian's spine. "You have until Fall. If your plan does not work, then the Inhumane Necessity is our only option." Watts states.

Killian stammers as he stands there.

"Really forcing my hand here, aren't you?" Killian scoffs.

"Then you better get cracking." Watts tells him, and he hangs up on his scroll, leaving Killian with that statement on his mind. He tightens his grip on the scroll and he looks around, before contacting his men.

"This is Dark Eclipse. Bring the Shadow of Broken Promises to Beacon Academy A.S.A.P." Killian orders. "Lock it down, nobody leaves without my say so."

* * *

**Yang**

* * *

The mood is universal here at Beacon, as everyone is recovering from the deaths of the poor people.

Yang is standing outside of the Dormitory Block, her eyes watching the flashing red and blue sirens of the Police Force that are standing guard outside. They have been watching their every move and making sure that nobody tries to leave the Academy Grounds. End of the day, Jackdaw's threat could well and truly be legitimate due to the people he had under his command. The fact they never ever suspected those Construction Workers is actually quite terrifying. She presses her hands to her face and rubs the exhaustion from her eyes. They saw the aftermath of his attack, but it was Glynda's death that really hurt the most. She rubs her eyes and then she walks away from their repaired Dorm Room. It is exactly the same, the bunk beds to the books – but none of them want to enter it.

The Academy feels alien to them now that Glynda is gone, but even the death of Ironwood has struck a painful chord in them. He came back and he fought beside them, like he was one of them. For an Atlesian he was nothing like they were stereotyped to be, he was caring and selfless…and he deserved to die in a more heroic fashion. Not being murdered in a surprise Terrorist Attack by the hands of a madman.

Yang walks away from the Dorm Room, seeing the Press Interviewing Professor Port and other staff members of the deaths, and some of the wounded students are being tended to by the Ambulance Crews who arrived on the scene. Tape surrounding the bomb zone and investigators look at it. Yang has overheard the explanations of what that Droid was – it was one of the Atlesian Knights that was corrupted by the Black Queen during the First Battle of Beacon. Jackdaw must have modified it, planted a bomb inside it, because the glitch they saw was actually recorded by some of the engineers who studied the bots after they were infected. Some of them were showing abnormal behaviour – but nothing like that. No kid's voice coming through the auditory systems before, that was something else.

Yang heard the stories of the droid, a few people saw it, because there were still some people in the buildings nearby, wounded from the blast. And not only that – they are in luck. Yang can hear Cardin speaking with his team about it. "Did you hear? One of the Construction Workers is still alive, he hasn't woken up yet." Cardin tells his team.

"You kidding? Why the hell is his heart still beating?" Russel growls with anger.

"Qrow says he wants to interrogate the bastard. Hate to say it but I'll happily beat the crap out of him." He states.

"I'm with ya on that." Russel snarls.

Yang keeps walking, heading straight for the Food Hall where the rest of her team are currently at. She passes by the detectives that investigate the scene, marking the spots where Glynda and Ironwood, and others around the roof where Peony was killed. The feathers collected down on the ground where they took her body down. She approaches the Food Hall, finding more Officers inside alongside her friends. The rest of her Team stand there, helping clean up the mess. Sun and Neptune are also using some flannels to wipe up the blood from the wall where Yatsuhashi was pinned.

It is messed up, having to clean up their friend's blood like this. Yang walks over and she gently ruffles her little sister's hair. "Hey…" She greets.

"Yang…this is horrible…" Ruby sniffles, staring at the boot imprints on the ground where Jackdaw must have landed. The hole in the floor where he stabbed Brawnz through the throat, bloodstains covering the ground. Scrapes across the floor as well where blades were constantly being swung. And like the location where Peony was killed, the feathers that Jackdaw launched are piled up on the floor. Some of them covered with blood still, and all cracked and damaged due to his armour. But it still did not save him from the deadly swing of his Fatal Blades.

"Gods…this is horrible." Blake softly says.

"What do we do now? The Police Force has cracked down on securing the area. Nobody is allowed out. Hell, they have brought some Trucks with food to keep us fed until the situation is secured." Weiss explains, pointing to some of the lorries that have arrived. At least they have decided to do that for them, especially after some of the flak that these Academies have received in the past few years.

Even after everything.

"I'm not sure, that Jack the Ripper guy made his message pretty clear. Not sure what he meant by those _Black Feathers_." Ruby says as she turns to her team, that spark of leadership igniting once more.

"You think he was speaking literally?" Yang inquires.

"C'mon, you heard the way he was speaking. He's gotta have some sort of spin on those words. You think he has backup?" Ruby wonders.

"Wouldn't surprise me. If he could get his men to disguise and work as Construction Workers the whole time, the odds of him having some other allies is not that unlikely." Blake states, then they all turn to hear the voice of Jaune, calling something very worrying out.

"Guys!" Jaune calls, so they turn and walk other to what both he and Nora had managed to uncover. Everyone approaches the wall, damaged from the battle between Jackdaw and the four who were in here. The crack caused some parts of the wall to crumble, and thus revealing something very startling. "Look…"

"Explosives…" Weiss gasps with horror, seeing the Dust Bombs mixed into the cement that they put on the damages after the Battle of Beacon. They look around with widened eyes, knowing that this means that every single patched area of the school has explosives laced into them.

"The Ripper wasn't lying." Ruby whimpers.

"We can't disarm it, they'll blow." Jaune states as he pushes his hands through his blonde hair. Weiss looks at the bombs…and she can see a familiar symbol in them.

"It's Atlas Tech." Weiss comments.

"She's right." Winter says as she looks at the bombs, walking in from behind them with Eryka by her side. She has recovered from her breakdown of grief, and she approaches the bombs inside of the wall. "But I don't recall any recent shipments, even before the Battle of Beacon. Only the ones that Torchwick stole." Winter comments.

"Anything before?" Eryka asks her.

"Possibly…I will have to run through the files. Data history, anything. He would have been planning this for a while though – must have known we would survive the attack." Winter explains.

"Or planned on it in case we did." Sun says as he jumps down from the ladder that he was using to clean up the blood on the wall.

"The guy is prepared; I'll give him that." Eryka scoffs, and Ruby glares at her with a bit of disgust, but Eryka does not even respond. End of the day that is Eryka's way, she tends to find some respect for her enemies – at least then you are not surprised by every terrible thing that they end up doing.

Yang goes to take out her scroll but then she stops, remembering that their scrolls have been taken away from them by the Police. And that is something they can completely understand, since all it would take is someone going to call their mother for it to set all the bombs off. Yang however cannot stay in this building for much longer…it hurts to just see the place of which so many of her friends were killed at. "I'm gonna go get some air." She sighs, walking to the doors and she pushes them open, walking outside, seeing more of those damned Puritan Followers preaching their words constantly.

She crosses her arms and leans against the wall, until she hears the sound of someone in heels approaching. She turns her head and looks at her, seeing this woman approach. What she does not realise is that this same woman was in Vale the day the Second Battle of Beacon hit, when the Black Smog attacked Vale, she was pregnant and saw so many people die. Now however she is thinner and has a four-year-old child. Her hair tied behind her head; she turns to look at Yang. "It's terrible what happened here." She says to Yang.

"Yeah…" Yang sighs as she looks down at the floor. "Still taking it all in, y'know?" Yang asks her.

"Some people say that it takes one traumatic event in their lives to help them see the world more clearly. A Terrorist Attack or a Grimm Attack…it makes no difference either way." She says, and Yang raises a brow as she glances back at the woman. "But now you know…"

"Excuse me?" Yang questions, pushing herself off the wall.

"Now you know how it feels. To be helpless…begging that the heroes would come and save you…when they are just hiding in their towers." The woman says to her, and Yang is totally bewildered. She reaches into her purse and pulls out a family photograph, showing it to her. She points at three men, one of them younger than her, another much older and one the same age.

Yang looks at the picture and then at the woman. "These two? They were my brothers…and my youngest brother Paul? He was killed by Grimm when they first invaded these streets. My twin and my Uncle though? They were killed in the second attack…right in front of me…eaten alive." She describes, and Yang closes her eyes with sadness, and she is about to say she is sorry – until the next words that come out of her mouth.

"And their blood is on your hands, Yang Xiao Long." She states, and Yang's blood runs cold.

"What?" She questions softly.

"We were all watching the Vytal Festival Feed when you did what you did. You broke that boy's leg for no reason, then that Nikos Girl ripped the other girl apart. You both have their blood on your hands for what you did…but don't worry…I know none of that means a thing to you." The woman says to her with resentment in her eyes, staring Yang directly into her soul. "You Huntsmen and Huntresses…you claim you fight for us…but look at them all. All those men and women? They have lost family, children and friends because of what you did. You and Pyrrha Nikos caused that attack."

"Ma'am…I…"

"I have met so many brave soldiers, soldiers who cannot walk again – and they give _you_ a cybernetic augmentation? Why should you be treated any different?" She questions. Yang cannot even find the words as she glances down at her yellow and black cybernetic arm. "These Academies…you all get such special treatment, whilst the heroic men and women who serve get nothing in return for their actions."

"No…" Yang softly says, only for the woman to interrupt her again.

"How many more must die until you start following the rules? My brothers and my Uncle are dead…and for that? I blame you." She says.

The woman turns and walks away from her, leaving Yang with that picture in her hand, and tears well up in her eyes.

Because she feels so hated…

…so alone…

* * *

**Raven**

* * *

Directly after Jackdaw's attack…

There was a cold snap to the air. It bit at the skin, rose goose flesh and stood hairs. Either the whipping winds whistling through the camp caused the effect on the flesh, or it was the creeping whispers climbing up Raven's spine.

"Valravn."

"Valravn!"

"Vaaaaal...ravn."

She stood with her arms crossed, jet black locks whipping round her neck with each harsh gust. She blinked at the tall tent before her, the dark innards laid bare through the opened flap. Wooden wind chimes clattered and clinked with a dull echo above the tent entrance. A deep inhale within drew a sharp breath from her, and the long exhale aimed at her spat rolls of silvery smoke along the sand.

"I need to talk with you... Valravn."

"To speak the name... till the crows fly home, and the Ravens lay flayed... food... for the Jackdaws."

"Quit the riddles, Val." Raven snapped, placing one hand on her hip, the other on her sheath. "Step out here."

"VALRAVN!" another sharp whisper ripped up her spine and even drew a gasp from her. The winds whipped around her, storm clouds gently swirling in the dull sky above. All the moving drafts shot across the sands, into the tent, to the red eyes peering back from in the dark. The wind chimes grew louder and louder, until they stopped, and the winds died.

"You can't hide anymore, Val." Raven said slowly, her rage now under some sort of restraint. The writhing clouds above began to dissipate, and beams of sunlight shot down into the camp.

"Hide? In the camp the jackdaws wish to blitz? Do you feel it too? That chill in the air? To hide in the gaps between your enemies toes? Under the shadows of their beaks? Feathers separated spiral to the ground... but together?"

Suddenly a barrage of black cawing ravens erupted from the tent, flying out at Raven in a cloud that blocked the sun's rays. She yelped and shielded her eyes, looking up over her arms as the tall, spindly, almost skeletal old man leaned out and stood from the tent entrance.

"...They let us fly!"

In the smog of cawing birds, his beady red eyes peered back at her through the white tribal mask, similar to hers. Like a Native American headdress, the mask had a tall and frightening mane of black feathers. Raven stood tall and firmed her lip as the spiralling birds began to dissipate and dissolve into single black feathers. Eventually, only she and Valravn stood.

Many whispering voices, all repeating the name "Valravn" echoed over each other in her head whenever she had too long exposed to Valravn. She blinked slowly to soothe her aching temples.

He stood on long metal stilts, kept balanced by his eight-foot-long staff, musical as the wood chimes at the head clattered with each step he took. Long black and red robes wrapped around his wiry frame as he paced around Raven.

"Enough theatrics, Val. Jackdaw. My brother and your nephew. He's back."

"Mmm. Dust disturbed does eventually resettle."

"You not nervous?" Raven scoffed, hands on her hip and sheath. "He'll come for you too, you know? Come for us all."

"Sniff the winds. Tint of copper carried on the wings of air." Valravn chuckles, shaking his head and rattling the wind chimes around his neck and adorned on his headdress. "He's already drawn Qrow's blood."

"What?" Raven stiffened as Valravn turned to his tent. "Hey! What'd you say?"

"Qrow's blood taints the air, Jackdaws feathers carved Beacon to dirt. My ravens say as such. They feast. On the carrion of huntsmen anew."

"Is Qrow dead?" Raven snapped, pacing up to the retreating Valravn. "Val! Answer me!"

Valravn paused as his head slipped into the tent's shadows. He exhaled, and shoots of spiralling silver smoke vented from small holes along the mask. He turned, red eyes glowing back.

"Blood spilt is blood spilt. But a soul? That stays inside." Valravn chuckled grimly, backing into the tent with a creepy slinky motion, that bone white mask and red eyes staring at her even as it slipped into the shadows. Raven panted; eyes wide as the whispers of Valravn faded from her head.

* * *

**Author Note - Enter Valravn, the Old Uncle of Raven, Qrow and Jackdaw Branwen**

**Valravn is a character that David and I utterly love, his design and his character. Also we did loosely base him off the Norse Mythological Entity Valravn, but very loosely. It is more the Illusions and Whispers, if you have played the game Hellblade then you know what I mean. The Branwens are by far one of my favourite parts of this story, alongside the stuff that surrounds the Huntsmen Academies and the Puritan Followers. The woman's conversation with Yang and the Veteran's Hospital are some of my favourite examples. And I am so happy to start showing more of Killian's character, I wanted to show him as more of a human being than just a soldier. And Veronica Chamberlain is cool.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite! Sorry for shorter chapters, I aim to basically write as much as a chapter should have, because I know nobody wants to read a boring chunk of slush and words. Rather keep the story moving, y'know?**

**If you would like to join my Discord please PM me! If the code does not work then please let me know, a few people have asked to join and I have given the code and never appeared, so I don't know if the code is working or not. :)**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter**

**\- Matt**


	6. The Interrogation

**Chapter 5 – The Interrogation**

* * *

**Pyrrha**

* * *

Sitting down in the Locker Room, the very same place she first spoke to Jaune, she holds Milo in her hand. She finds this need to constantly clean her blade. She can hear the repetitive pounds of Cardin's Mace being slammed downwards. Over and over again, his teeth gritted and anger in his eyes as he sits there, filled with heartbreak and rage as he wants to just kill the people who killed Glynda and Ironwood. Peony and Yatsuhashi. Everyone who died, for absolutely nothing whatsoever, and she also has that same anger.

But she does not want any blood on her hands, she just wants to bring Jack the Ripper to justice once and for all.

On the other end of the spectrum though there is the stress that the Puritan Followers have been forcing upon them, with these horrible things that they have been spreading constantly with every day that passes. The previous four years have been quite difficult with the pressure that this group has been putting on their shoulders.

Pyrrha closes her eyes, and remembers back to a time between the end of the Black Smog and the arrival of Jackdaw Branwen.

She was training with her father, fighting alongside Jaune, both swords and shields in hand as they sparred with Anaximander. And even though they have grown taller since the first time Jaune met her massive father, he still towered above them. His sword and shield in his grasp, identical to Milo and Akoúo, only his carried more prestige with the golden accents alongside the crimson steel upon it as well. His shield also, more gold than crimson like Pyrrha's. He stood before them, his feet far apart and body at the ready.

Jaune and Pyrrha both rushed forward, slashing their blades at him, but he slid across the dirt, swinging round to slam his sword into the blade of Crocea Mors. Jaune's firm grasp stopped the impact with a metallic crash, but due to how much larger and stronger Anaximander was in comparison to him, the impact nearly knocked Jaune onto the floor. As he staggered back, Pyrrha jumped up, pushing herself off a crate and spinning through the air, slashed downwards at her father. He then spun around and pushed the sword upwards, transforming into a Spear that threw her up in the air, crashing back down into the ground with a bounce.

Anaximander chuckled as he spun the spear through his fingers. "Nice try, now come on. Enough of this playful banter, show me what you've got." Anaximander challenged as he paced across the dirt that lies across the floor. Pyrrha rolled onto her back and she blew out a breath, the exhale flicks the red hair from her eyes. She then stared at her father as he approached her, staring down with his arms behind his back. "Or have you given up already?" He asked her, knowing exactly how to push his daughter's buttons.

Pyrrha scoffed. "Not even the slightest." Pyrrha replied, pushing her back and her hands against the dirt, sending her feet straight into his chest, kicking him back. Anaximander grunts as he staggered back, but then a smirk of enjoyment brands his face as he stood before his daughter, watching as she jumped back up to her feet, pulling Milo and Akoúo back to her grasp with her Polarity. They land right into her hands, her emerald eyes staring him down. Anaximander turned, seeing Jaune with his shield raised and sword aimed his way behind him, using the Phalanx Stance that the Nikos Spartans always used.

"Nice stance, Arc. Let's see what the two of you have learned." He chuckles, spinning the spear through his fingers, watching both of them. They both make their attacks, charging at the same time, instead of one at a time. Jaune thrusts forward with his sword, but Anaximander bats the blade aside with his spear, and swings upwards to deflect Pyrrha's shield launched towards him. It bounces across the floor, but as her polarity surrounds her shield it comes flying right back, launched right into the side of Anaximander's face. He grunts, then Jaune made his attack, jumping and slamming his knee into the side of his face, causing the older Nikos to stagger across the floor.

Standing nearby with her Data Pad on her lap was Juno, watching them train, a smile on her face as she sees how happy her daughter is. She has so much respect for Jaune and cares a lot for him because of how happy he has managed to make her little girl.

Anaximander guffawed with enjoyment as he sparred with the two of them, blocking Pyrrha's incoming strike with his shield, a deafening metallic bang erupting from the impact of her fist colliding into the armoured shield. He swung against her, knocking her back, she spins through the air and lands on her feet, throwing her own shield towards her father, but he moves aside. Only for Jaune to open up his shield, bouncing her shield right back into the back of Anaximander's head. Pyrrha charged towards her father and she leapt up into the air, spinning her leg round and kicking him in the head.

She landed before him, and he smirks, she goes to attack, but he grabbed his spear and swung it across her leg, before spinning round and launching it at Jaune, pinning him to the wall by his hoodie. He steps down on Pyrrha, beating her despite the fact that – if you go down, you stay down. Pyrrha stared up at him with disbelief. "What? You cheated." Pyrrha strains.

"Nay, I adapted." He corrects, taking his boot from her chest and offering his hand to her. Jaune pulled the spear from his hoodie and he walks over to them.

"Adapted?" She questions.

"You must learn to adapt, my dear. It is incredibly important, especially in combat. Say you are fighting a foe whose skills do not match to your own – but they are a fast learner? Suddenly they can defeat you by predicting your every move. And you cannot expect your enemy to follow the rules of combat, sometimes you need to expect anything." Anaximander explains as he walked around them, leaving the two of them close, seeing as he picks up a rag and wipes the sweat from his forehead.

They were not stupid, they could see what he was getting at a mile away.

"You're talking about Killian, aren't you? What happened last year?" Pyrrha asks him, since this was a year after the events of the Black Smog.

"I am…I believe you, both of you." Anaximander explained as he sat down, so the two Hunters sat down beside him. "And I am proud of you." He says to Pyrrha as he rubs his thumb gently across her cheek to get the dirt from her face. "But the world is changing once again, and this time I am afraid that the Huntsmen Academies might not exist by the end of it. The things that Killian achieved last year…he managed to turn a large portion of the population against the Academies and Ozpin." Anaximander explained.

"All we need is to show them what kind of a man Killian really is." Jaune stated, but Anaximander shook his head.

"No, Jaune. I have lived a long life, and I have seen politicians rise and fall. But Politicians always answer to someone, and it is always the people who work in the shadows. Politicians are merely faces for people to link the changes of their lives to. But it has always been the work of people like the Black Gallows. You need to understand that they do things that nobody else is equipped to handle and have information on matters that we could never understand." Anaximander explained, even he has no idea of what kind of things that the Black Gallows know.

"But the people will rise up when they know the truth. That he used Jaymes like a weapon to prove his own selfish points." Pyrrha presumed.

"People will follow strongest group, not the weakest few. And I'm afraid that a few students and teachers from an Academy that has been infamous for its mistakes over the years…would not carry much weight." Anaximander explained to the two of them, who feel so small at the mere idea of that.

But he is right, Beacon is not the only part of Vale that has been nailed down with scrutiny but the Bureaucracy of Vale as a whole. Arrogance has always been the number one word used, alongside Atlas but they at least understand the way in which things work. Vale has ignored these signs for years and refuse to use the same Kingdom Defences that Atlas and the Black Gallows provide.

It caused the Battle of Beacon the first time around, and if they set them up after – the Black Smog might never have been able to break through as easily as they did.

Pyrrha touched her red hair. "There's a change in the wind now, and I do not want to see the two of you be blown away. You must learn to plant your feet, find a new area to dig deep into. Adapt – change with the way things change, whether you like or agree with it…or not. And besides, Killian's rule may not be as bad."

"He wants to take away our individuality." Jaune reminded.

"He did – but he came back after the Grimm attack worsened and helped save Vale. Do you really think he did that for no reason at all? Risked his men like that? He is a Commander – Black Ops as well – but he is still a human being. I personally believe he realised his mistake and went back to change it, I doubt he has changed his end goal – but maybe his methods are changing." Anaximander explained to the two of them, before he gently squeezes their shoulders. "You're strong…and I want the best for both of you."

Those words still stick with her now, as her memory fades away, and she sits there with Milo still on her lap as she waits. She came inside because she wanted to do something, all this sitting around and waiting for something to change will do nothing for them. But as she sits there, she knows there is another reason. She could not be around the crime scene any longer, the body bags being taken away to the morgues so then they can be prepared for their funerals. It is not something you ever get used to, which is why she had to get inside. But the other reason, is something that is a new development.

A new Repair Team has arrived at Beacon to fix the damages left behind from Jackdaw's attack. But after what the Construction Crew before them did, killing up to twenty people with their Atlesian Weapons collected from the crashed Airships from the Battle of Beacon, everyone is on edge. She has seen members of Team C.R.D.L drawing weapons and yelling at them, demanding that they stay back. Normally Pyrrha would see that as an overreaction, but considering what the Construction Crews did to them, after everything, it has left a bad taste in everyone's mouths.

Their fear of the Construction Crews though could cause another problem, yet another side effect of civilians not knowing the full story. She saw some civilians snapping pictures of Dove aiming his sword at one of the Repair Crew Members, which will probably appear on the news soon.

_Huntsman threatens civilian after attack! New rule needs to be placed soon!_

It makes her blood boil, whether or not Killian's rule could fix the problems the world has been facing for years, it really does not seem like it is worth it in the grand scheme of things.

The pounding of Cardin's Mace continues, her eyes glance to see him sat across the locker room from her – the only other person in here. He keeps slamming it down again and again into the floor, denting the tiles with his other fist clenched, tears welling up in his eyes. He was doing it before she even entered, he must have been in here for half an hour. Glynda's death hit Cardin pretty hard, because he always had a lot of respect for her – and she didn't deserve to die the way she did. Killed by an explosion thanks to a madman, hellbent to spilling blood everywhere he goes.

Pyrrha huffs, pulling Akoúo into her hand and she fits it onto her clip, on her back, and she holds Milo in her hand. She approaches Cardin and looks down at him, she also has that same detached expression on her face. "Come on." Pyrrha says to him, and then he stops pounding the mace into the floor finally. He looks up at Pyrrha with confusion in his eyes.

"What?" He asks.

"Come with me. Spar with me, I know you need to take your anger out on something." Pyrrha says to him, pointing Milo down the hallway to the same arena that she destroyed his team that one time in a sparring match. He stops and he sighs, pushing his body against the mace to get up.

"Fine." He says, walking past Pyrrha and heading down the hallway. Pyrrha lets him pass, then she looks down the hallway to hearing the sound of Professor Port nearby…crying. Glynda's death has hit everyone extremely hard, losing Ironwood was difficult and so were their friends…but it was Glynda that stabbed the deepest. She looked after them, helped them become the warriors they are now.

Pyrrha closes her eyes, then she wipes a tear from her eye, following Cardin into the arena. Normally filled with other students observing the fights, to learn from them and see their failings – now it is just empty. No teachers watching, no screens up, just their own meters on their wrists. That was a new development that the Academies created, in case the Huntsmen either lose or have their scrolls broken in some way – these bracelets project a holographic screen of their aura level. That way it is always on show no matter where they are or what position they are in.

Cardin stands inside of the Arena with his Mace in his grasp, whilst Pyrrha draws Milo and Akoúo. She stares him down as he stands there, and they circle one another. "I know you're angry, Cardin…but we're here for you, just talk to us." Pyrrha requests, but Cardin roars with anger and he sprints straight at her and he swings the mace at her with great force, slamming it down into the ground. The Fire Dust Crystal inside of the Mace detonates, blasting flames towards her. Pyrrha jumps back, flipping through the air to avoid the explosive impact of his huge mace. As she twirls in the air she lands on her feet, staring him down, before throwing Akoúo at him, but he punches it out of the air, swinging it horizontally at her. She slides under the swing and slashes Milo across his aura protected legs.

Cardin howls, taking his Mace with both hands and smashing it down at where she is low to the ground, missing but as she goes to kick him, he catches her heel, and he throws her across the room. Pyrrha slams against the wall and grunts, falling onto her front, looking up to see Cardin charging towards her, and he continues to vent that anger that has been building up inside of him, jumping towards her and slamming that mace down at where she was. Pyrrha rolls out of the way and with her polarity she pulls Akoúo right back and she jumps as it returns, kicking it towards him. It bounces off his head and returns back to her palm.

Pyrrha flips through the air, as elegant as an angelic ballerina, and she lands down on her feet, lifting her head fast. Her tail of red hair bounces from the movement and she transforms Milo into its Rifle form, firing a few rounds at Cardin. He spins his Mace through his fingers, deflecting the bullets that came shooting towards him, before he swings the mace at her, blasting an arc of fire towards her. She cartwheels away from the attack of fire, and she throws Akoúo towards him again, and he smacks it out the air and rushes towards Pyrrha again.

Pyrrha rushes towards him as well, she jumps and slams her knee up his jaw and she kicks him in the chest with both feet, flipping back before dashing forward again. She slashes and jabs with Milo in its spear form, before she spins on the spot and extends it into Spear form. She thrusts forward and slams the spearhead into his chest, knocking him back. He tumbles across the ground with a grunt, and he goes to swing the mace again, only for Pyrrha to shoot it from his hand, firing a round through the spearhead as it opens up. He watches it fall from his grasp and bounce across the floor, rolling until it stops against the wall.

Pyrrha sprints towards him, pulling Akoúo right back as she goes for another attack, but Cardin quickly grabs his mace and swings round, slamming it into Pyrrha's chest. It sends her flying back and smashing across the arena wall, until she rolls to a stop. Cardin punches one of his pectoral plates, and he runs at her again, sweating from both excess and anger. He jumps up and slams the mace down at where she was. She rolls aside and she bounces off the wall into him, tackling him and she pushes her knees into his arms to hold him down.

She leans down and stares at him.

She stares, then they both chuckle…because they both just noticed their aura level.

They just hit the red.

"She would've warned us by now…" Cardin scoffs, and Pyrrha rolls off him. She pushes her armoured knee against the floor as she looks at Cardin, sitting up and wiping his tears away from his eyes.

"She'd probably be berating us right now as well. Wrong foot placement there, keep your weapon up here." She lists with a soft giggle.

"What I would give to hear that woman's voice yell at me one more time." Cardin chuckles with a heavy sigh, shaking his head. "It's not right."

"I know…and I'm angry too." Pyrrha says as she looks at her shaking fist. "The man that did this – Jack the Ripper? He needs to be stopped, but if we give into our anger…he's just gonna win." Pyrrha reminds as she looks at Cardin, and he sighs, nodding his head.

"Thanks for the pep talk." Cardin says to Pyrrha, and she gets up, patting his shoulder.

"Any time." She assures, walking away from him.

* * *

**Qrow**

* * *

Sat on the edge of the Fountain in the Courtyard is the Branwen Brother, his wounds healing still from his battle against Jackdaw Branwen. He grunts as he rolls his aching shoulder, something that has still been giving him some problems since his fight and when he went crashing into the bar like that to get into cover from Jackdaw's arrival. As he sits there though, Winter walks over and she sits down next to him.

"You alright? Haven't actually asked you yet, since you fought him." Winter asks curiously.

"I'll live…" He groans, rubbing his shoulder which still has some pretty nasty bruising. His aura may have done a good job with healing the serious damage but there is still some residual pain left over, which makes sense after all.

"I gathered that, I meant _how you're doing_?" She repeats, and that helps him figure out that she means mentally. He looks ahead, she does not know for certain that he is related to the Ripper but she can tell that he shook the old Huntsman up. "You know him, don't you?" Winter asks.

"You could say that." Qrow sighs.

"Who the hell is he?" She asks him.

"No, I'm not getting anyone else involved. Too many people have been involved already. Just stay out of this, alright?" He asks her.

"Alright…alright…" Winter sighs.

Qrow sighs. "Sorry…still a bit raw is all." Qrow apologises.

She turns to the two coffees that she brought with her and she offers one of them to her. "Coffee?" She asks him, and he looks at her and smiles.

"Thanks."

"I hope you like it without sugar, I forgot it for Eryka." Winter says.

"Eh, I don't mind either way." Qrow shrugs.

"Prefer it with Vodka?" She presumes.

"Nah, doesn't taste as good as I hoped." Qrow replies, then there is a beat where Winter noticed the little story behind that statement.

"Wait…"

"Long story." Qrow assures as he waves it aside, and Winter sighs. Qrow drinks some of his coffee and he looks out at the City of Vale, seeing the Airships with the _#RemoveOzFromOffice_ on them. "This whole thing is a mess."

"I know…Eryka and I went out for dinner last night, she said it took her ages to find one that accepted her Huntress Badge." Winter explains with a sigh.

"Same, most bars kick Huntsmen and Huntresses out now. Or some stores don't let us in, hell walk down certain roads and you just get dirty looks." Qrow replies as he remembers some of his experiences.

"All it takes is some bad publicity…and bam…whole world is taking up arms against you." Winter scoffs as she rolls her blue eyes, and he nods his head.

"It's gonna get a lot worse before it gets better, you know that right?" He asks her.

"That's step number one in the Atlesian Specialist Programme." Winter chuckles, which makes Qrow chuckle as well.

But then their eyes flit up to the sky and they both stand up when they see it.

"I hate it when I'm right." Qrow sighs, as they both watch the bright flash in the sky. The sky seems to be torn open, black energy pouring out from the opening and they see it – the Shadow of Broken Promises – the Black Gallows Flagship. Jet black and larger than any Atlesian Airship they have ever seen. As it floats in the sky, Winter grits her teeth and she draws her sword, but Qrow does not. He just walks forward, seeing a bunch of Black Gallows Wasp Gunships descending from the ship and headed their way. And a few Dropships alongside them as well, already setting up defences to keep the students inside to prevent the bombs from going off.

The lead Wasp descends to where they are, blowing the dust across the ground and the landing gear folds out. It approaches the ground and sets down, the thrusters shut down slowly with a hum. And then the rear door opens, and there he stands. Commander Nathaniel Killian, and he walks out of the Wasp, but Winter casts a Glyph behind her and grits her teeth with her blade in her grasp. "Got some nerve coming back here, Killian." Winter snarls, she never forgot the stunt he pulled four years ago.

"And you have some nerve to draw your blade on a Black Gallows Command-"

Before he can even finish, Dulcis suddenly dives down and starts screeching and slashing his claws at his face to hurt him. Killian waves his hands around to get the Eagle from his face until he just resorts to drawing his Revolver and pointing it at the bird. He had no intention to shoot the bird, just to get it to leave him alone. That's when he also sees her, Eryka sprinting towards them and firing an arrow. Qrow spins round and he manages to catch the arrow before it could get to Killian. He then stops Eryka.

"LEMME AT HIM! I WANNA SHOVE HIS HEAD UP HIS OWN ASS!" Eryka yells as she lunges forward, her aggressive desires quite literally makes Killian flinch.

He's had many threats thrown his way…but never that before.

"Get back!" Qrow orders as he shoves the blue haired Hunter back, but she draws her bow once again, trained on his head, she could kill him now, but that could start something else. "The hell are you doing here, Killian?" Qrow questions.

"Coming by for a visit and observe the beauties, the hell do you think I'm here for. There was a damned Terrorist Attack by Jack the Ripper. We've been trying to keep that bastard in our cells for years and no matter what we do he keeps getting out. I'm done playing it nice, he can't be broken – I'm here because I wanna put the animal down." Killian explains, and for once he is actually not lying.

For once – he is on the same page as them.

"As admirable as that is, he isn't here." Qrow tells him.

"I know, but there is another issue, one you know cannot be avoided. The bombs – we cannot risk anyone leaving the Academy or breaking the Ripper's rules until we locate and kill him. Then we can figure out where the controls for the bombs are and we cut the connection. Needs to be done at his base." Killian explains.

"Then why come in person? You think we suddenly forgave you for the stunt you pulled four years ago?" Eryka questions, pacing back and forth like a dog, Winter having to stand in front of her to keep her from attacking Killian again. At the end of the day there are simply too many of the Black Gallows Stockholm Troopers here, meaning that they will not stand a chance. And there has been enough bloodshed.

"I know what I did four years ago, and I know it was wrong. I am not here to argue that I was right, because I was not. My end goal may not have changed but believe it or not my methods have. I do not want any more bloodshed, because that just breeds more conflict. And conflict will breed catastrophe, it has happened more times than I can count. And I do not want any of you to die, I am making it my mission to get this campaign done with as little blood as possible…this terrorist attack…changes things." He sighs as he looks at the Ambulances leaving the scene.

He then looks back at them. "Is it true? Ironwood and Glynda are both dead?" He asks them.

"Yeah." Qrow answers.

"Expect me to believe you didn't have a hand in this? You threatened the General when you left!" Eryka yells.

"Eryka!" Winter desperately attempts to calm the Vasillias Sister.

Killian stares at her with…disgust at the idea of that. "You think I would work with that monster…he killed my parents when I was a child. I want him in the dirt as badly as you, don't you dare think you can judge me for my past misdeeds." Killian snarls, his fist clenched as he stares Eryka down. Eryka returns the same glare, but she finally backs down, and she looks at her girlfriend, nodding.

As he stands there though, he looks past Qrow to see Ozpin, walking towards him with a tightly clenched fist and gritted teeth. Killian steps forward as he sees the Professor storming towards him. "Professor, we are not here to cause harm. I am merely here to make sure the bombs don't detona-"

Ozpin punches Killian in the jaw, extremely hard, knocking him down to one knee, he grunts as he grabs his jaw with a groan. Ozpin glares down at him with his fist shaking, aching as well. "Get the hell out of my Academy, Killian." Ozpin demands, but then the Raven Talon Class Stockholm Troopers aim their rifles at him, staring him down.

Winter can actually be seen grinning at that, until she straightens herself out and stands to attention, trying not to giggle at seeing Killian getting knocked down a peg.

"Alright…I deserve that." Killian admits, spitting some blood from his mouth as he gets back up.

"I should put you down right now for what you pulled. People died, one of my best teachers was killed, because of _your_ transgressions!" Ozpin yells, and that actually seems to worry Killian. But not out of fear for his own life, he stopped fearing death a very long time ago. It is more seeing Ozpin this unhinged, he has never shown anger before, but this is fury.

"He did. And I remember all their names. Bartholomew Oobleck. Rouge Daniels. Chandler Greene. Charlotte Lazuli. Cappi Bross. And many others, and I could go on with all their names. I know I committed terrible crimes to prove a point, acts that I regret dearly now. The Puritan Followers may have the same goal in mind as me…" Killian explains, turning his head to the crowds of people still pushing their message to this tragedy, and he shakes his head in disappointment. "But this is no way to go about change." Killian states.

"Change? You're planning to take away the individuality that makes our society great!" Qrow argues.

"Not…exactly. As I said, I have changed a few things. You will see when I present the students with the Vytal Consensus." Killian says to them.

The Vytal Consensus, the new Regulations to be put in place in all Academies, at first Killian's idea was to make them like the Spartans. All indoctrinated under a single rule, but it is clear that he has changed his mind on some of these things. The question is – what is the Vytal Consensus like, and will it be better or worse than what they already have?

"Keep them out of your business, Killian. I don't want my students being involved with you any further. You scared them enough four years ago." Ozpin snarls.

"Scared them? If I scared them, then I'm sorry but they are not prepared for what's out there." Killian says as he points at the world behind him.

"Yeah, cuz you're pussy." Eryka softly says.

"Now that's just blatantly childish." Killian says to her, shaking his head.

"The students are doing as we ask, and the Police have already set up a perimeter with plenty of food and supplies to last them until this is over." Ozpin states, he really wants him gone from this Academy. But then Killian walks towards him, and shoves a document into his chest, so Ozpin reads it.

It is a Warrant, from the Unified Remnant Council.

"I have permission to be here, Oz. And like I said, I don't want any further bloodshed. Hasn't there been enough?" He asks him, and Ozpin glares at him, throwing his document on the floor. Qrow and Winter both look at Ozpin, because now he is being the dangerous one. The Huntsmen already have a shade over them thanks to Killian, but this could just make it worse.

"Forget your Warrant. I am not letting you in this Academy." Ozpin states, and Killian sighs, looking at his men.

"Do you really wanna do this?" He questions. "I know you have a prisoner, I personally want information out of him. I did my research on him." Killian assures.

"He's ours, we will handle it." Ozpin states.

"Oz…just let him in. He's right, we've had enough violence." Qrow tells him, and Ozpin glances at him and then back at the Commander. Ozpin wants to take him out so bad, but then he looks at all the Stockholm Troopers with their advanced weapons trained on him. So he reluctantly steps back. Ozpin is starting to lose it, and they can all see it. "He's been struggling with Glynda's death. Jack managed to get into the school with no trouble whatsoever. You can't blame him for being pissed."

"I don't…even though that right hook hurt a bunch." Killian groans as he massages his jaw. "But we all know that what that message was…it was no idle threat. We cannot risk anyone breaking those rules. So you need to leave the hunt to me. As much as you want to kill him…we can't risk it."

"He wants me, Killian." Qrow reminds.

"I know, but we don't have to follow the same hunt. It's bound to lead into a trap." Killian states.

"Maybe, but my Semblance will counter his." Qrow states, and Winter glances at him, really starting to get more and more curious over who Jack the Ripper is to him.

"Maybe, but what of my men? People around you? I respect that you want to help Qrow, and I am sure he would let you leave. But I do not want to risk my men's lives because of your semblance. And the Ripper…and I mean no offence…is smarter than you." Killian explains.

"None taken, he always was." Qrow agrees.

Killian looks at Eryka and Winter and he walks past them, Qrow beside him. The Huntsman does not trust the Commander as far as he can throw him, but he might as well cooperate with him. The two of them walk towards the Dining Hall where the Fatal Feather Blades from Jackdaw were left behind. Qrow looks around and he then just looks at him. "You never said his name."

"No." Killian answers.

"But you know who he is?" Qrow asks him.

"Jackdaw Branwen, you and Raven's older brother." Killian answers, looking right at him.

"Why didn't you tell Winter and Eryka then?" He asks them.

"That's your business, not mine. It's your place to tell them and the kids. I'm not an evil man, Qrow." Killian tells him as he approaches the door. "But I'm no hero either."

"Then what are you, Killian?" Qrow asks him.

"I don't know…whatever the world needs me to be." Killian answers, which really begs the question. If he truly believes that…then why is he working with Salem? He is not a man that can be tricked easily, so either Salem is tricking him extremely well, or Salem's motives are not as simple as _destroying the world_.

Only time will tell.

Both he and Killian enter the Dining Hall, police tape still up and the investigators scanning the scene, the Huntsmen and Huntresses no longer inside. Killian looks around at the damage, and the marks on the wall where blood was once staining. A blood stain is a scar that can never be removed, those trained in the art of investigation can always see it instantly. "This is where he killed the four Graduates?" Killian asks.

"Yeah, and outside on the Dorm roofs was where Peony was killed. And outside was Glynda and Ironwood." Qrow comments, and he sighs.

"So much life wasted…for nothing." Killian growls, and then he looks around some more, and his eyes widen when he sees the Fatal Father Blade on the floor, on top of the many others left behind across both Beacon and Vale. He walks towards them and he crouches down.

"I've never seen him use those. He used to have bracers with blades in the shape of feathers on them, like Vambraces. But these were different, he had 3-D Printers built into his metal arms. He must have an ally, he was never much of a tech savvy guy." Qrow explains as he shrugs his shoulders.

"Definitely…" Killian says as he runs his fingers across the fine metal. "…because this is Grave Dust." He tells him.

"Huh?" Qrow asks.

"Grave Dust. It was an experimental Artificial Dust that could be controlled by someone who was coded to it. It was initially designed for medical reasons, prosthetics, augments, helping the disabled, that sort of thing. But…things happened…and it was turned into a weapon. Before we shut the production of the crap down." Killian explains, and he picks up one of the blades, and then turns to one of his soldiers.

"O'Neil. Do you have one of those Magnetic Pulse Pistols?" Killian asks him, and the soldier nods his head, drawing it and handing it to him. He sets it down on the floor and turns the magnetic pulse down to the lowest possible setting. It creates a light thrum and shakes the dust apart, and it piles down onto the floor. He hands it back to the soldier and he pulls out a vial from his pouch, one of many intriguing oddities. He collects a small sample of the stuff in three vials. "How the hell did he get his hands on Grave Dust?"

"Why's it called that?" Qrow asks, and the answer…is not as descriptive as he was expecting.

"Well look at it." Killian says, and Qrow stares at the grey dust. "The colour…it looks like a gravestone."

"Oh…that's it?"

"Yeah…the eggheads who created it were many things, but creative at coming up with names? Not so much. They literally named a Sonic Pulse Cannon – a Loud Gun." He scoffs, and Qrow just stands there, feeling so disappointed.

Kilian looks at the vial and he taps his finger against it.

"I need to speak with this Contractor you have captured."

* * *

**Killian**

* * *

Inside of a dark room is the Contractor they are holding prisoner, he groans as he sits with his arms bound to the spine of the chair. His bandaged stomach giving him immense pain and his broken hand giving him equal pain. Battered and bruised he is lucky he is not dead, or maybe he will really want to be dead. Outside of the cell are both Killian and Qrow. "So…who's good cop and bad cop?" Qrow asks him, and Killian chuckles.

"I don't think it works that way." He says to him. "Let's say you're bad cop, and I'm worse cop. I have my methods."

The idea of it really does give Qrow a chill, because he is Black Ops, meaning he is able to whatever he wants and nobody would bat an eye because that is his job. Killian opens the door and he walks in, then Qrow follows him. The door closes and they both glance at each other, Killian puts his arms behind his back as he walks around him. Qrow approaches the Contractor, staring right into his eyes and he grabs him by the hair, yanking him downwards, making him cry out. "We're not gonna screw around with you today buddy, if you don't tell us what we wanna know, it's about to get real painful for you." Qrow assures as he stares into his eyes, his fist clenched with the ring on it.

The Contractor scoffs, and decides it would be a good idea to spit in Qrow's face. He slightly flinches and he sighs, wiping the saliva from his face. "Screw you." The Contractor snarls, so Qrow sighs, shaking his head.

"You're really not grasping how dire your situation is, are you?" Qrow asks, before he swings his fist hard into his head, making a hell of a clapping sound. His chair rocks to one side from how hard he hit him. His nose breaks from that punch with a crunch, and red blood squirts from his face, leaking down over his mouth and he coughs. He spits the blood onto the floor and looks at him.

"You didn't even ask me a question…" He coughs.

"I know – that's just punishment." Qrow assures.

"Where is Jackdaw Branwen?" Killian questions as he walks around him with his arms behind his back.

"What is this? Some kinda good cop bad cop crap? Guess what, ain't working jerkoffs!" The Contractor yells.

"Not exactly." Killian assures. "Now answer the question, or my partner here…well…you can probably guess."

Qrow cracks his knuckles.

"Look buddy, I don't even know who that is, so you better try again." The Contractor spits, until Qrow punches him in the face again, then punches him in the stomach, and he screams in agony as the pain ruptures through his whole body.

"You think we won't kill you? That little attack you caused killed a bunch of my friends. I would carve you up and not lose a night's sleep." Qrow threatens, then he looks at Killian. "Actually, hey, you gotta knife?" He asks him curiously.

"Huh?" The Contractor whimpers.

Killian nods and he unsheathes his combat knife, spinning it through his fingers so the hilt is pointed to Qrow. "Much obliged." Qrow says, crouching down and pointing the knife underneath his nail. "Now I'm running low on patience…so answer his question." Qrow threatens.

"You mean the Ripper? He never gave us a name, guess he wanted to stay safe." The Contractor stammers.

"Oh yeah?" Qrow asks him as he digs the blade underneath his nail, and he bites his lip as he feels the agony of it puncturing the skin. "What's the Ripper's plans then? Where's he gone?"

"I don't know!" He cries out, then Qrow pushes the blade deeper and pushes it up, slowly peeling the nail from his finger. He shrieks in agony as the blood pours down his finger, rocking around in his chair erratically.

"You do, you are the contractor. The Ripper would have communed with you above the others. You were the one who gave the weapons out, right?" Killian presumes.

"Dunno what your talking about…" He screams seconds after saying that, as Qrow twists the blade, ripping his nail from his index finger. He screams in agony from that, blood pouring down his finger.

"Alright…" He sighs, stabbing the knife down underneath his kneecap, taking it a step further. He screams in agony, feeling the large blade scraping against his kneecap. Blood begins to stain his trouser leg as he cries out, and Qrow twists the blade slightly, making him scream again. "Remember when I said my patience is wearing thin?" The Contractor cries pathetically from the pain, so Qrow smacks his face to get his attention. "Hey, it's polite to look at someone when they're talking to you."

"Y-Yes…" The Contractor whimpers.

"Yeah, well I wasn't kidding. So tell us, where'd he go?" He asks him curiously. "Still in Vale? Gone to Mistral? Vacuo? Atlas? The Moon? Where'd he go?"

"I…I dunno…I swear it…he said he was seeing someone called the Spider!" He cries out, and Qrow grits his teeth, pushing the blade deeper and twisting it.

"Who is the Spider?" Qrow questions, but then the Contractor spits in his face again.

"Your mother asshole!"

Qrow rolls his eyes and he goes to pop out his kneecap, until Killian taps his shoulder, pulling a chair out. He leaves the knife in there, and Killian pulls the blade from his punctured knee. He wipes the blood on the Contractor's shirt. "Look man…we just wanna find him…it's important." He says with a sigh.

"You're not gonna…he will find you…"

"Maybe…but I think you could help me. But if you can't…well…" He sighs, reaching into his pocket and he pulls out a few pictures he collected from his research. "Amy…that's her name isn't it?" He inquires, showing the Contractor a picture of a little girl. Qrow stares at the Contractor as he turns pale, Killian's method is by far more terrifying. Because he is using his family, because that little girl must be his daughter.

"You know…" Killian says, taking the photos down and setting them on his knee. "The Vasillias Cartel pays a great deal for people that a Trafficker needs selling to. Slavery is worth a damn lot…and man…you'd be surprised how many go for little girls nowadays. Messed up and scary people in the world." Killian explains, showing how well he knows the dark sides of the planet. "Some of the slavers…the poor kids they have…they're never the same. Some of them braindead at the end, then they just feed them to the Grimm to keep them from overrunning their camps. Messed up stuff." Killian lists, and the Contractor begins to cry. "If you don't tell us what we wanna know…I'll make some calls…and I will make sure your little girl ends up with the worst possible slaver." Killian promises him.

"P-Please…I…"

"No? Okay…I'll make the call right now." Killian says, getting up and pulling out his scroll. Qrow goes to stop him, but notices it is not even on – it is a scare tactic.

And it works.

"Okay! Okay!" The Contractor wails, and Killian pauses, looking at him. "Her name is Little Miss Malachite…" He whimpers. "I don't know what he wants…he mentioned Roman Torchwick…but that's it!"

Killian looks at Qrow and he nods his head. "See? That simple." Killian says, and the man sobs constantly.

"Please…please don't hurt my baby."

"I won't." Killian assures, reaching into his bag, and pulling out that vial of Grave Dust, one of three. "Grave Dust…you know…they say that a small whiff of this stuff can kill a man in minutes if they don't have a magnet on them." Killian says, looking down at the man, walking over to him.

Then he blows the dust into his face, and a very small amount of it goes down his throat, and Qrow's eyes widen. "What…what have you…" He whimpers in terror.

"Oh dear…that sucks…" Killian sucks his teeth, and Qrow stares at the man with disbelief an dhow he could do that. "If you have any last thoughts…I'd have them now…I think your larynx is probably being dissolved right now."

The Contractor tries to scream but he can't, the Grave Dust is doing its work to him, breaking down his body from the inside out. Killian turns and he walks out of the room, being followed by quite the shocked Qrow Branwen. Qrow spins round and grabs Killian, pinning him to the wall. "The hell was that?"

"Cutting off loose ends." Killian replies.

"The guy had a daughter!" Qrow argues.

"Yeah, and now she is safer without him." Killian says, shoving Qrow away as he walks down the hallway away from him. Qrow clenches his hand into fist with anger.

"WHO ARE YOU TO MAKE THAT CHOICE!?" Qrow bellows, and Killian just keeps walking away. Qrow looks back, and with horror…he can see the Grave Dust completely consuming him, his skin turns pale and he crumbles away into dust on a chair.

Grave Dust is lethal.

He then looks back, seeing Killian walk away.

It is like…there are two different people inside of him. The human who knows he did wrong and wants as little bloodshed as possible…and the monster inside that the Black Gallows forged.

Killian does not show mercy to his enemies.

* * *

**Ruby**

* * *

Ruby and Yang, both completely unaware of what just happened to the Contractor…

Walk through the halls of the Dormitory Block towards the one they have always been in. "What do you think we will do now?" Ruby asks Yang with a worried voice.

"We stay together, no matter what." Yang assures, and Ruby opens the door, and they walk inside. They both look around, then they both gasp when they see her.

Raven Branwen…

…sat on Weiss' bed with her Odachi on her lap and a Black Feather in her hand. The two of them stare at her…

…and she says one thing.

"Yang…Ruby…we have a lot to talk about."

* * *

**Author Note - Hello there Raven...**

**As you can see, the Black Feathers are a bit more literal than most people assumed. The Black Feathers are placed upon the beds of those that Jackdaw has chosen to leave the Academy Grounds, but for what reason? Find out next chapter. I loved writing the Pyrrha and Cardin stuff at the start, and of course seeing Killian arrive was great. He deserved that punch, and I love Eryka just flat out trying to kill him. But at the same time, it is like there are two different Killians in one body, the one that is more reasonable, and the Black Ops Operative.**

**And - despite what everyone thinks - yes he has changed. He regrets his actions and wishes he could have done things differently. Killian is by far one of my favourite characters because of how he has these two different versions of himself. And that Grave Dust is some frightening shit isn't it?**

**Next chapter will be diving into something people have been asking about - the Vytal Consensus - and what the new changes will be if it goes through.**

**Please review, follow and favourite!**

**\- Matt**


	7. The Vytal Consensus

**Chapter 6 – The Vytal Consensus**

* * *

**Raven**

* * *

Yang's lilac eyes meet her red ones, and they are almost carbon copies of one another, except for the weathered skin on Raven's face, the scar on her neck, the three Corvid Birds tattooed on her neck too – and of course – the black hair and blood red eyes. The two of them stare at each other, and Ruby's eyes are wide as she looks at the mother of her sister, her sword resting on her lap. Yang stammers as she stares at her mother, the woman she had not met until she was rescued by Neo that night.

"M-Mom?" Yang nervously greets as she stares at her mother who sits atop Weiss' bed, setting the whetstone down on the cover beside her leg. Her hands press against it and she glances to Blake's bed where they can sit so then they can talk. "What are you doing here?" Yang questions.

"About what happened, that's why." Raven tells her.

"You're her…" Ruby softly says with disbelief, and finally Raven looks at Summer's Daughter. Despite the old flame she once had with Taiyang, she does not seem to have any kind of resentment to the daughter.

"I am…take it daddy rarely spoke of me?" She presumes.

"Never…it was Qrow who did." Yang answers as she stares cautiously at her mother, sitting down on the bed beside her sister, twiddling her metal and human fingers together, keeping her eyes locked on the warrior before her. The Bandit-Style Clothing that clads her muscular yet slender frame, necklace wrapped around her neck and hanging just above her breasts.

"Oh brother…I thought we agreed…anyway, it doesn't matter anymore. The Ripper has made himself apparent in your lives now, and he wants you…I don't know why, but he does." Raven states as she shrugs her shoulders, and Ruby raises her brow.

"Um…huh?" Ruby questions, so Raven just responds by glancing at the feathers that she took from their beds and set them down on Weiss' study.

"Those were on your beds, Ruby." She says as she looks at Ruby, then a smile graces her face as she looks at Ruby and tilts her head. "My…you really are a spitting image of your mother."

"Don't change the subject, why are you here? I get Jack the Ripper wants to kill us, most likely me – right?" Yang presumes.

"I know not why he wants you – but I have a feeling it has something to do with these feathers." Raven states as she stands up from Weiss' bed and she walks over to the feathers, the one she threw is hardly even straight. She was always quite the perfectionist, every pencil had to be straight and her sword was always clean and sharp. Seems even that was bothering her, as she straightens out the feather beside its partner.

"Yeah we gathered that – _I now speak directly to the Black Feathers_ – that's what he said, right?" Yang presumes, and Raven turns to her, and she walks around their room, sliding her fingers across the bunkbeds, chuckling as she looks at them.

"I can't imagine these were easy to set up…using books to keep them balanced? Smart…" Raven chuckles as she looks at the books that supported their beds together.

"Please stop changing the subject, mom. Just tell us what the hell is going on!" She begs.

"I will – but I need to know you will help me. Qrow knows what needs to be done, and I have a feeling Eryka will help too." Raven explains, causing them both to start raising questions about Neptune's sister.

"Eryka?" Ruby questions.

"Jack the Ripper…Qrow…and I…we share a long history, one I cannot divulge here, especially not with the Black Gallows present. I need to know you're gonna be on my side, because this will divide things." Raven explains as she approaches her sword and she looks at the red blade, before turning back to the two young women sat on Blake's bed. "But you need to know the truth."

"What truth? You're not making any sense!" Yang argues as she gets up.

"Will you please just come with me? I will explain everything when we get there." Raven begs, taking her sword and swinging it downwards, opening up a flickering red and black portal beside her, one that makes her long black hair blow from the incoming wind. They both stare into the mysterious darkness of her portal, and they are both left quite shaken from it. Yang stares at her mother and narrows her eyes.

"I don't know you…you were never there…you left us." Yang snarls, and Raven stares right back.

"I…had my reasons." Raven states.

"Yeah? Well I don't care! I have my own life now, people I care about, and this is my home. We will figure out how to take down Jack the Ripper our way. We don't need you." Yang snarls, and Ruby looks at her sister with concern. Raven scoffs and shakes her head as she sheathes the long red blade of her Odachi.

"Daughter…"

"Don't call me that, you don't have the right." Yang growls.

"Sweetheart, I have the scars. Trust me, I have the right." Raven scoffs as she looks right at Yang, and that makes Ruby cringe. But Yang does not back down, she stares right back into her mother's red eyes.

"You may have carried me…you and my dad may have been together once…but you left him. Left all of us. Why don't you stay that way?" She grills, quite harshly, and Raven stares right back and she sighs, looking down at the floor. She turns to the portal and goes to leave, but then she stops and looks at Ruby.

"I won't try and convince you, but if you want to change your mind, I am actually visiting your father tonight. Funnily enough, I check on all of you, every single day. Every year I talk to him…so if you wanna come with me, make sure you do it tonight." Raven says, then her eyes meet Ruby again. "But if you want to know the truth about your mother, Ruby…" Raven begins, and Ruby's eyes widen when she hears her say that. Raven sighs, looking at Yang, before turning back to Ruby again. "…then you have to get it for yourself. Doesn't mean you can't get some help along the way though."

Raven goes to leave, but before she does, she has yet one more statement. "By the way? Your Dorm? Is filthy." She says, as the portal closes behind her, leaving them alone. Ruby looks around and she giggles, Yang raises a brow at her.

"Weiss would have a fit if she heard her say that." Ruby giggles, and that also makes Yang chuckle as well.

"Yeah…c'mon…I suddenly wanna go get something to eat." She says, and Ruby bounces back up.

"I'm with you."

* * *

**Jaune**

* * *

The Arc Boy walks through the Academy, it has gotten more cleaned up but he can still see the scars of Jackdaw's attack. And the new Construction Crews are continuing to fill the holes and clean up the rest. Most of the holes are bullet holes from the criminals who attacked, and as he walks he can see Qrow watching Killian walk towards Ozpin's office and he looks pissed. What Jaune does not realise is that this is directly after Killian and Qrow interrogated the Contractor, and Killian killed him. Qrow eventually follows him up there, whereas Jaune just walks towards one of his sources of motivation.

He approaches the statue of Legendary Huntsman – Thaddeus Rex – with his sword held up in the air and the Beowulf beneath him, and the woman also beside him, fighting as hard as she can. Jaune looks at it and he looks at the plaque beneath his statue.

_King Thaddeus Rex_

_Hero and Saviour_

_Shining Example for every Huntsman and Huntress_

Jaune sits down in front of the statue, looking up at him with such awe, admired by how much of an amazing human being Thaddeus was. The things he accomplished in such a terrible time, a time where war killed everything it seemed to touch, and that was not even mentioning the Grimm.

He lowers his head down and then he mutters. "What would you have done?"

He stares at Thaddeus as if he was expecting the statue to look down and answer him, like some sort of Genie. But of course it does not, the statue remains as cold as ever, stood in the same pose as always. "I mean…should I have done things differently? If I was here…would we have been able to stop him?" Jaune asks as he stares at him, until another voice surprises him.

"I wouldn't dwell on such things, Mr Arc." Ozpin recommends, causing Jaune to jolt and turn round sharply, seeing Ozpin approach with his cane in his hand. He looks at the statue as well, before he sits down next to him and exhales, resting his cane atop his lap like Raven did when she just spoke with Yang and Ruby. Jaune looks at the Professor, noticing that he has calmed down quite a lot since he last saw him, and he is acting more like the Teacher he knew studying at this great place. "Only tends to harm you, more than it helps."

"I guess…I just…keep thinking that maybe we should have been here." Jaune says with a heavy sigh as he taps his fingers against his knees.

"You were celebrating your Graduation, I would have been a bit disappointed if you decided to stay at school for that." Ozpin chuckles, patting his back as he sits beside him. Jaune looks back up at the statue of Thaddeus Rex.

"Professor…" He begins, and Ozpin turns his head to him.

"Yes, Mr Arc?" He replies.

"I've read a few history books, ones about Thaddeus – but…I never really knew about where some of his titles came from. There aren't may texts about it." Jaune says, and Ozpin chuckles, nodding his head in appreciation of his curiosity.

"Well luckily for you, I have read my fair share too." Ozpin chuckles, making Jaune chuckle too. "Some of his titles came from different Kingdoms, the Settlers of Vacuo, the Spartans of Mistral, the Defenders of Vale…and the Pioneers of Atlas." Ozpin lists, and those names all work very well with what the four armies were called at first, before they became the Kingdoms themselves.

"It's still weird to imagine Atlesians being Pioneers, y'know? You'd think they've always been as advanced as they are now." Jaune says.

"Indeed, but every empire has a beginning. And an end…" He says as he looks at the statue and the plaque beneath his feet where the Beowulf was falling.

Ozpin glances at Jaune, seeing that he still has those worries in his mind, worries Ozpin has always been able to see in him. He pats his knee and he stands back up, looking down at him. "You drink coffee?" He asks him, looking up at the setting sun. "It's about to get dark out, don't want to be sat here in the cold, do we?" He says to Jaune.

"Um…yeah…sure…" Jaune awkwardly says as he gets up, and Ozpin walks with him towards the empty cafeteria, opening the doors and they both walk into the cleaned up crime scene. They have collected all the evidence they need and it has been fixed up, so they approach the doors to the kitchen, but Ozpin turns to him.

"Take a seat, I'll bring the stuff out." Ozpin assures. Jaune does exactly that, he sits down in the huge Dining Hall alone as Ozpin goes into the kitchen to boil the Coffee and bring the milk and sugar out on a tray. As Jaune waits, he looks around, then he catches the wall…and even though repairs have been made…the marks can still be seen. Very faint blood stains that cannot be washed away, and for a split second he could actually see the body of Yatsuhashi being zipped up in a body bag. He looks away, feeling such shame in his heart for not being here, not being here to help them.

_We were too busy getting drinks…celebrating everything…whilst people were dying._

The door opens and he turns, seeing Ozpin approach with the steel tray of coffee ingredients and he sits down on the other side of the table, the two mugs with coffee already in. "You take sugar?" He asks him.

"No thank you." Jaune says to him, so Ozpin just puts a sash's worth of sugar into his coffee, mixing it together with the teaspoon and Jaune does the same, taking a sip of the hot liquid. They both set them down and he leans back.

"So…why do you keep feeling like you need to be like Thaddeus, Jaune?" He asks him curiously, and Jaune looks at Ozpin. "Believe me, Jaune, it's not that hard for me to figure out. You go and stare at that statue every single day, ever since you came to this Academy."

Jaune still remains a little quiet, as if it is something to be embarrassed about, but as always Ozpin has a way of making anyone feel like his equal. But at the end of the day, they are now. "If you're afraid of people judging you for being a leader with confidence issues then you needn't worry. That feeling will never go away, I cannot count the amount of Huntsmen and Huntresses of long careers who come back to my Academy seeking guidance. Hell…you saw me after…Glynda." Ozpin explains to him, and Jaune looks at him, he would be the very last individual you would imagine losing their cool, but he is still a living human breathing the same air as he is – meaning he can lose faith just as easily.

So Jaune finally gives him the answer. "I just…I always felt like I could never do anything right. My parents always shielded me from the world, I bet if they could make me a suit of armour made of pillows they would've. They said – _don't worry if you have to come home, if they don't accept you…_They had that little faith in me…Pyrrha was the first person to actually believe in me, but when I saw Thaddeus Rex there and I learned about him – I just wanted to make Pyrrha proud. To show her…that she wasn't wasting her time." Jaune explains to Ozpin, and he nods his head.

"You do know how madly in love she is with you, right?" Ozpin asks him with a chuckle, making Jaune blush and chuckle too.

"Yeah…I know…but…"

"You want to prove it, instead of hear you are great. You want to show it." Ozpin finishes his sentence for him, and he nods his head. Ozpin chuckles as he leans back. "Well, as I said, I have learned a great deal from history books. And Thaddeus Rex was a man I was very curious of, because of how he managed to band together all these farmers and low lives…and create a Kingdom. A Kingdom that would fight for what was right, obviously others disagreed with him on that front, but…even still." Ozpin chuckles, and Jaune chuckles at that too.

"There's always an asshole." Jaune says.

"Indeed." He agrees. "However, in the past there were once four different dialects. Valerian, Atlesian, Mistraalian and Vacui. All of them saw him differently, and the Great War became more complicated as the years went on. But from my translations, the name – Rex – had many different interpretations." Ozpin explains to him, and Jaune raises a brow in curiosity.

"Really?" He asks.

"Oh yeah." Ozpin answers. "You see, the warriors in all four of these Kingdoms had immense respect for the man in vaguely similar ways, being an enemy or not. The translations always were – Saviour or Hero, Warrior or King, God or Messiah…and Adversary." Ozpin chuckles, and it surprises Jaune at something.

"Just Adversary? No secondary translation?" He asks.

"No, it was always I found quite strange, but then I realised that it must have been from the words of his foes. At the end of the day, your allies could see you as the greatest Hero, Warrior or King…but your enemies will always see the Devil inside you." Ozpin explains, and Jaune looks down at the floor. He thinks on that, because it is a great point.

"Every man's hero is another man's villain." Jaune states.

"Exactly. At the end of the day Jaune, we do not really get a choice in how the world views us." He says, and Jaune starts to notice that Ozpin is linking this into the Black Gallows and their deal. "In the past few years we have been seen as the enemy…but maybe…that could change."

"You're talking about Killian, aren't you?" Jaune asks him.

"I don't trust the man as far as I can throw him, but what he has presented up there…it is not as bad as I was expecting. He really has dropped the whole idea of forming a single military skill – I guess he realised that creating an army of machines would be easier." Ozpin chuckles, making Jaune chuckle as well. "But Machines can be hacked, and if your enemy learns that their enemy was taught under one doctrine…they can be easily defeated."

"I guess." He says with a sigh.

"What Killian did was unforgivable, but his new deal could help us be seen as the people who protect the innocent once more." Ozpin says to him. "You asked me what Thaddeus would do? I think he would have done anything to make sure that the greater good were safe…even if it meant siding with the Devil." Ozpin says, and Jaune looks at him and he sighs. The two of them continue to drink their coffees.

But Jaune knows.

He needs to see this deal.

* * *

**Qrow**

* * *

He stands inside of Ozpin's Office, with many others around him, Winter and Eryka for starters are beside him, the two of them sending some very furious looks in the direction of Killian. Who is also not alone, a couple of Obsidian Glaive Class Stockholm Troopers, and the four Councillors.

Of names they do not disclose – the Valerian Councilwoman, the Vacuo Councillor, the Mistraalian Councillor and the Atlesian Councillor.

Also in the room are Weiss and Blake, Pyrrha, Nora and Ren as they wait for the last three members of their friendship group. The Vacuo Councillor huffs a groan as he stands there, until a flicker reveals that they are just a holographic projection. Makes sense though, since Ozpin did have a conversation with them only a day ago now. "Are we gonna get this thing started, or what?" The Councillor questions, but Killian sharply glances at him.

"We will wait until the others are here. I am not going to start without them." He reminds, and the Councillor rolls his eyes as he stands before them all. He does not give the Graduates much of a great impression as he stands there, tapping his foot. Ren and Blake turn when they feel the elevator coming up the tower, Blake heard it first but Ren could feel the vibrations thanks to his aura and his awareness of their surroundings. The elevator opens up and it reveals Ruby, Yang, Jaune and Ozpin inside.

"Ugh, finally. We have a full boat, let's get on with this." The Vacuo Councillor says with a sigh, making the Valerian Councilwoman roll her eyes as she stands there with her arms crossed over her chest.

Killian turns and stares straight at him, and that glare even through a hologram makes the Councillor back down. Killian turns to them all, and before him on Ozpin's desk is the thick book of which they are here to discuss. "Miss Rose, Miss Xiao Long, Mr Arc…thank you for making it." Killian respectfully greets with his arms behind his back as he looks at them as they walk into the room.

"Not sure what the point of it all is." Yang huffs.

"The _point_ is to maintain National Security, young lady." The Atlesian Councillor has the nerve to insult her in such a way, and Yang clenches her hand into a fist.

"Please, enough with the confrontations. I believe we have had enough violence and threat for one day, don't you?" Killian asks everyone in the room, holding out his hands. None of them have forgotten what happened four years ago, but they also know that he is right. They have had enough chaos for one day, and they might as well stop drawing out the inevitable conversation about the Vytal Consensus.

Ozpin stands in the corner with his back leaned against the glass, his arms crossed as he looks at them. "I asked you all to be here, because something needs to be done about the Academies." Killian explains as he walks around the tables.

"Because you hate us?" Nora scoffs.

"Hardly. I admit my methods are rash, especially what I tried to do before." Killian admits as he holds his hands up. "And I was wrong."

That was something that they did not expect to hear Nathaniel Killian say – the fact that he was wrong. "And not only that, the idea of having every Huntsman trained under the same regime…like the Spartans…was admittedly ridiculous. Because you would be as effective as the Atlesian Knights, which were hacked. The same could happen if a force is able to counteract the same attacks an entire military do. What I saw you all do, when you fixed the mistake I made – it impressed me. I might not have seemed it at the time, but I was. You showed me that all these people from different walks of life, trained in different ways, could unite and defeat an enemy I thought was unstoppable." Killian praises them, and that is another thing they did not expect to hear from him, especially after how he left four years ago…until…

"But my praises aside – facts are facts – and I will say it plain. The Academies need to be put in check." Killian states.

"Oh yeah? Where'd you get that idea?" Yang challenges, and Qrow rolls his eyes with a sigh, because of what she just did and said.

"Thank you, Miss Xiao Long, for proving my point." Killian states as he turns on the holographic projector on Ozpin's table.

"I wasn't –"

"Yang, sit your ass back down." Qrow tells her rather sternly, she looks at him and she sighs, sitting back down on the chair and she crosses her arms. The Atlesian Councillor scoffs as he looks at the Blonde Haired Brawler.

"And Ironwood gave her that arm…instead of selling it to Industrial Facilities to build on a wider scale." He scoffs as he stares at her, the resentment from the Councillor stabs deeply into Yang. She had been given those looks before, but she never realised how many people really hate her for that.

_He…sent the prototype to me?_

"That is one of the many reasons behind why we feel this is necessary, the Academies have been run with the highest budgets and almost no supervision by the Government. And at the end of the day, the Students who come out of these Academies are living proof of why that cannot be accepted anymore. Miss Xiao Long, you are the smallest problem in this, but there have been many cases over the years." Killian explains, and then he opens up many documents of _Rogue Huntsmen_ over the years.

_Name: [Redacted]_

_Other Alias: Jack the Ripper_

_Age when Rogue: 17_

_Criminal Offences: Murdered up to sixty innocent people in outlandishly fiendish ways, leaving hardly anything behind after he lost his mind from a lack of mental stability tests._

Ruby and Yang stare at his face, the same face that they saw on that message he left behind, and they may not know it yet – but that is Jackdaw Branwen. Then more names start to appear.

_Name: Raven Branwen_

_Other Alias: Blinded Raven_

_Age when Rogue: 22_

_Criminal Offences: Abandoned her post at Beacon and returned to her Bandit Tribe (which was known by Professor Ozpin but redacted from every file he had on her name) and started butchering innocents in droves, stealing everything left behind with her great skill and power_

Yang's eyes widen when she sees her mother's face, she was literally a darker haired version of herself…and she became a monster. She even had freckles at one point as well. But the pictures do not stop there.

_Name: Jonathan Arterius_

_Other Alias: None_

_Age when Rogue: 20_

_Criminal Offences: Murder, thieving and rape across Remnant, using his powers taught at Haven Academy for his own purposes_

_Death: 35 years old, shot to death by Black Gallows after refusing to be taken into custody_

Ozpin keeps watching the names go by, every single one bringing back memories, and every single one have done immensely horrific crimes. Some of them go back decades, but the point has been made very clear.

Killian stops showing the faces of these killers and criminals who started in these Academies. "We have been able to trace the source of their violent deeds from the Academies, due to the nature of training missions. Throwing children into hazardous situations on their first day can trigger something in a damaged mind, as it did with many of the people here. And constantly being around people…well let's say that caused problems as well." Killian explains as he walks around the room.

"We need to improve the security and the Recruitment Process for the Academies, it is too easy for dangerous people to learn how to use their powers for bad things." The Valerian Councilwoman explains as she looks at the names that come by.

"Exactly, look at Cinder Fall, Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black. A thirty year old killer, a skilled thief and the son of an infamous Assassin managed to jump onto the Recruitment Process and nobody even noticed. They didn't even have to use false identities." The Atlesian Councillor explains to them, and Ruby lowers her head before giving a short glance at Pyrrha, who flinches at seeing her Mug Shot appear on the screen.

"I get that and all, but I turned out alright." Qrow states.

"Yes, however that is another issue we have to improve with the Selection Process." Killian states, and Qrow stops, and Killian looks at Eryka too. "Where Eryka was refused down to her weak aura, you were accepted despite the fact of your Bad Luck Charm." Killian states, and they all look at Qrow at hearing about that. Qrow looks at Eryka and she actually looks quite jealous of that fact.

"I…"

"And that Semblance is uncontrollable – and yes I did manipulate him – but the same issue lies with Jaymes Ickford." He states, and Pyrrha glares at him with a clenched fist. "I may have hidden most of those files, but he still managed to get into Haven Academy. He was only refused to return because Leonardo Lionheart felt he was a threat, and most likely hoped he died during the Battle of Beacon. And yes…I checked his report, it said as much." Killian explains, and that sheds a dark light across Haven's Headmaster too.

Ozpin clenches his fist with anger at the coward's disregard for the safety of his own student. "A Paranoid Schizophrenic may be able to get help, and we can offer that – but what happens when someone uses him? Like I did?" Killian asks them, and they all realise that despite how messed up and evil what he did was – anyone could have done it.

They all sit there, and they cannot even say a word at all this, because sadly – the hardest truth is usually the right one. The Academies must be improved if they are fix things. "And…the students and their missions have gone unchecked for too long." He states.

"What?" Ren questions.

"The Government would feel more comfortable if we had detailed reports on everything that your teams find, especially on Recon Missions." The Atlesian Councillor states, giving Ruby a hard glare. Ruby knows exactly what he is getting at.

"You're talking about Torchwick aren't you?" She presumes.

"Indeed I am, Miss Rose. Ozpin may have bent his own rules because he has a favoured opinion of your team, but you were still expected to lead a _Recon Mission_. Not a full scale assault on his men, you were outnumbered and outgunned. And then caused an attack on Vale." He lists, but Ruby is having none of it.

"I was captured!" Ruby argues.

"Yeah, what were you expecting us to do? Let her get killed by Torchwick?" Weiss questions, standing beside her partner.

"Then maybe your leader shouldn't have brought a pet dog into a Recon Mission." Killian reminds, staring her down, and Ruby stares right back with stern silver eyes.

"Oobleck said –"

"Did he say _bring that cute pet corgi on this mission, Ruby?_" Killian asks her, and she stammers. "No. He didn't."

"That doesn't change the fact we were saving our friend. As soon as we did, Torchwick took off and went to start the attack anyway." Blake says as she stands up as well.

"After she was captured, if that dog was not there – per Oobleck's debrief – you would not have fallen into Mountain Glenn's Secret City." He states.

"And never have learned about it?" Yang adds with a scoff, Killian sighs, shaking his head.

"Maybe if you did some more recon, you might have learned that one of the towers collapsed a few decades before you arrived there. And when my men investigated it…" Killian explains, showing the footage of them finding the tracks of the White Fang entering the tunnel. "…it was easily accessible."

The team sit down, realising that they simply did not look hard enough. "Which brings us to you." Killian states, staring at Ozpin. "You put First Year students on a mission that was set for Third Years, or Professional Hunters." Killian states, and Ozpin inhales through his nose as he stares Killian down. "You have been putting these kids in situations that would have gotten them killed for years. And I may risk my men's lives on countless occasions…but not in their training days." Killian states as he points at them, because they are now at the age and skill that they could have handled that mission perfectly.

"I did what I had to do." Ozpin states.

"And caused multiple people to die and many more to get injured in the attack that followed." Killian states, and Ozpin sighs, looking down at the ground. "And more than that…"

He shows them all the footage from terrified civilians of the Battle of Beacon, but also the side effects that they never even thought about. The attack on Mistral that wiped out countless villages overnight, the massive attack on Vacuo's walls the same night, and Atlas under siege from Airborne Grimm. "Countless lives were lost that day, because you were too blind…too blind to see the Devil who snuck its way into your school."

Ozpin stares right back. "Oh I see him alright." Ozpin assures.

Killian breaks the stare-contest between him and the Headmaster, and he finally gets to the good news, the reason he has brought them all here. "All of these things – lead to the creation of this." Killian tells them, and he pushes the thick book across the table towards them. They all get up from their chairs to look at the red cover that says the name that he speaks. "The Vytal Consensus."

Pyrrha opens it up and she looks through the document inside.

"This is a new agreement for the Academies, because we know how invaluable your services are to the world. So, instead of simply changing everything like initially planned, we are gonna…bend things. We are tightening security with Black Gallows forces in control of recruitment, making sure that incidents like Cinder Fall do not happen again. And lessons will be sure to help students learn to use their powers for the good of others, not for fame, or money or power. But simply in the defence of innocence." The Atlesian Councillor explains as his holographic avatar walks around the table as they read it.

"Increased Security will also mean that the Academy is always protected as well." The Vacuo Councillor states.

"Most importantly, all Contracts from now on will be issued directly by an Office that Regulates the important ones from the standard Chicken-Hunt." The Valerian Councilwoman explains – a Chicken-Hunt is exactly as it sounds, in their experiences most contracts that come through are either jokes to get pictures with badass warriors or simply tiny problems that could be solved by someone else. "This way we can make sure that only the most important and Huntsmen-Worthy Contracts find you, and the smaller ones are handled by Standard Military, which will now have increased funding."

"We won't be able to choose our own contracts anymore?" Ruby questions.

"Correct, we will assign teams – or individual Hunters, depending on your choices – contracts that are closest to your locale. This way contracts can be solved faster, since there are plenty of Hunters to go around in every single Academy across the world." Killian explains, and Winter looks over the document as well as Pyrrha slides it over to her.

"You will also have an upgraded pay from here-on-out. Unlike before where you made money with the Contracts, you would be paid every week for your employment. You will no longer have to worry about Contractors swindling you out of money like we have seen in the past, and you will have a steady income." The Valerian Councilwoman explains to them.

"And believe it or not – you will have more freedom too. You will now be able to purchase property whenever you wish, the old rule was that Hunters would remain at the Academy until they reach twenty five years of age. Now? You can purchase property, start families, whenever you wish." Killian explains to them, which raises a question in Yang's mind…if Raven was twenty two when she left…does that mean she was born in Beacon, not in their home?

Pyrrha and Jaune look at each other, since this has been something they have talked about in the past. "So…we could buy a home somewhere…and when we are assigned a contract, that's when we go out?" Blake asks.

"Precisely." Killian nods his head.

Jaune looks at it all, and he realises that Ozpin really wasn't lying, because the Vytal Consensus…actually makes a lot of sense and seems to be more beneficial than problematic now. The only troubling part is the lack of control over their choice of Contracts, but even then, they always seem to be the ones closest to wherever they are at the time. Ruby however does not seem to like it.

Neither do Yang, Nora, Ren, and Eryka.

Or Qrow for that matter.

Whereas the others seem a bit more accepting. "I understand this may take some time for you to make a choice. That is why I am leaving this copy of the Consensus in the Graduate Common Room, everyone will have the chance to sign. Talk it over…you have until the end of the month." Killian says to them, and he walks away from them – the Councillors disappear as well.

Before Killian enters the elevator he sighs and turns. "I am sorry…" Killian says, and they all look at him. "For what I did – I do not expect you to forgive me – but I am." Killian honestly tells them, as he turns and walks away, leaving them to make this choice. Qrow sighs as he reaches into his internal pocket to swig some alcohol from his flask – only to find it empty.

"Ah crap…" He groans.

"C'mon…let's go to the bar in the Entertainment Building. Gotta have something good in there." Eryka sighs.

"I'm gonna join you." Winter says as she follows Qrow and Eryka out.

Leaving R.W.B.Y and J.N.P.R with the Vytal Consensus to talk about.

* * *

**Ruby**

* * *

The Graduate Common Room, a large soft room with multiple bright colours everywhere, beanbags and soft chairs scattered with a large television on the wall for gaming. Alongside a pool table and a bar, however Qrow, Eryka and Winter went to the one for the adults to use.

It was peaceful until Yang's anger fills the air.

"I can't believe you guys! Like, seriously? You're actually mulling this over?" Yang spits, hands on her hips. Jaune, sitting at the coffee table, huffs as he sets the thick stack of paper down.

"Yang…" He pinches the bridge of his nose. "… We're not ruling out being against it, I just think – like him or not – he made some good points. And there are some things in these documents that – not gonna lie – sound like they'll help our futures."

"I agree with Jaune." Pyrrha says, sitting in the seat beside him. "We should seriously consider these documents."

"Oh of course you agree with him." Yang rolls her eyes, Pyrrha frowns at her.

"What's that supposed to mean? Just because I am dating Jaune, doesn't mean that if I don't agree with him I'm not going to stand up for what I believe. I expected better of you, Yang."

"Let's not… " Jaune lowers his voice. "… Let's not fall out, okay? Yes, we all feel differently about this. But Yang, seriously. This could be good for us. All of us."

"Yeah, or it could be bad." Ruby adds from the beanbag in the corner. "We could end up with so much red tape, that we can't help people because of it."

"Yeah!" Nora chimes in from the kitchenette in the corner, stirring the spoon in her tea. "What if a town get's attacked by the Grimm, and we need to get there pronto! What if it takes so long for those pen pushers to give us the go ahead that those people die! I-It'll be Kuroyuri all over again. I-I can't… I" Nora hyperventilates, Ren calms her with a soothing touch of his hand, draining the colour from her body as he uses his Semblance on her so her stress fades.

"Yes, but… " Blake pushes herself off the wall, uncrossing her arms. "The contracts are issued to the nearest huntsmen or teams. Meaning at least someone will get there, possibly quicker with some actual order to things. Not just a bunch of hot heads steaming in ready to kill monsters. But… I dunno." Blake hugs her arms with a huff.

"No, you make a sound observation, Blake. Yang on the other hand needs to calm herself down and look past her nose at this." Weiss frowns at the blonde brawler. Yang scoffs, sitting heavily in a wheeled desk chair, sliding back across the room.

"How long you gonna play both sides, Ice queen?" Yang snaps. Weiss growls at the mention of that resented nickname she has.

"Don't call me that. I am merely stating that you haven't properly read this yet, you haven't calmed down long enough to read it. We on the other hand, have." Weiss gestures to her side of the room; namely Jaune, Pyrrha, Blake and herself. "So I think…" Weiss presses her fingertips on the papers and slides them across the table into Yang's lap. "…You should shut up, and read."

Yang looks down at her lap, blinks, then picks up the papers and slaps them on the table.

"I've read enough to get the gist, Weiss." Yang scoffs. "This here? This signs away any freedom we have in making any sort of call. Right, wrong, I don't care. Huntsmen were supposed to protect when nobody else can, cos their hands are tied by good ol' politics."

"… Yang." Jaune huffs, leaning back in his chair and spinning it slightly, rubbing his face with a groan. "You're not seeing this clearly. I get it, I do. We'd have to be debriefed every mission, and yeah the idea of that sucks… majorly. But… if it helps in the long run? Gives us the official go ahead to do stuff without any sort of backlash later on if things go sour… well I think that's worth signing."

"And also…" Weiss adds. "Have you seen the protests outside? The Puritan Followers are getting more organised by the day."

"It's like the White Fang all over again." Blake whimpers from the corner, afraid of what may happen.

"And if signing this brings peace to all those people who feel we need to be regulated?" Weiss picks up the ballpoint pen on the table, clicking it once. "Then I'll sign it in a heartbeat. Because being a Huntress means sometimes giving up the things you love, to protect the weak and innocent."

She lowers the pen to the dotted line, but in a flurry of petals, the pen is gone, and in Ruby's hand.

"Not if you don't have a pen." Ruby waves it in the air.

"Ruby! This is serious!" Weiss snaps, holding her hand out. "Give me the pen!"

"NO! We're not done talking!"

"I am! I've made up my mind!" Weiss stalks towards her, but Ruby runs around the table. "Give me the pen!"

"NO!"

"RUBY!"

Jaune huffs, shaking his head and looking to Ren. "Ren? Thoughts on this buddy?"

Ren sighs tapping his spoon on the edge of his cup, before walking over to the table, sitting besides Yang. He taps his fingers against Yang's boots on the table, making her move her legs from in front of him.

"My thoughts? I'm with Nora, Ruby and Yang."

The room freezes, Ruby holding the pen as high as she can while Weiss reaches for it.

"You are?" Ruby raises a brow, allowing Weiss the chance to snatch the pen. Ren sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I am. I've seen it before. When Huntsmen tied down by politics fail, not because they weren't strong. But because they had so much red tape to manoeuvre, that they couldn't do their jobs properly. Every little thing, they have to consider. Do I risk killing that Ursa, but damage the heritage building behind it? Having to answer to a room full of councillors and politicians, being made a guilty party in protecting the innocent, all because it didn't please their agenda and rules. No. I can't be what I signed up to be with all that red." Ren finishes, sipping his tea. Jaune and Pyrrha blink at him, nodding.

"I… yeah, I get what you're saying. But Ren, buddy… Times have changed, ARE changing. We don't get with those times? We'll get lost in the past, and something else that fits to their quota will fill the spot. At least this way we can still help people."

"But not as many, right?" Nora scoffs, sipping her tea. Jaune blinks at her, then sighs.

"Yeah… Yeah I guess so. I dunno."

An awkward silence befalls them.

Then Yang stands up and she slowly pulls the Black Feather from her back pocket, holding it by the end and they look at it with confusion. She sighs as she stares at the Corvid Feather in her grasp. "I'm starting to think she was right."

Ruby's silver eyes widen with disbelief at hearing Yang say that, after how she spoke to her mother earlier. The others on the other hand look at her with confusion. "Huh?" Jaune grunts as he looks at the blonde. She looks at them and Ruby pulls her feather from her pocket too with what seems to be shame.

"When we went back to our room? We found these feathers…and my mom was there." Yang reveals, and their eyes widen and Weiss jolts up from her seat with total disbelief.

"Your mother? Who saved you from Neo?" Pyrrha asks for confirmation and she nods her head.

"Uh-huh…she found us…and she wants to go after Jack the Ripper. At first I didn't agree with her…but who else can do it? I mean look, he wants us to follow him." Yang states, and Jaune gets up and shakes his head.

"No, don't you see how stupid that is? That's what he wants! He'll lead you into a trap!" Jaune argues as he walks towards her.

"But we can do it!" Ruby argues.

"Gods! How can you even think like that, Ruby? You keep this secret from us and now you wanna chase after a crazy Mass Murderer?" Weiss questions in a raised voice, but that just makes Ruby want to argue even louder.

"You want us to just let him go? After what he did to Glynda? To Yatsu? To Peony? To Ironwood?" Ruby lists with a raised voice, and Yang argues with Jaune at the same time.

"I am not about to let Killian and a bunch of stuck up Politicians allow that bastard to escape!" Yang yells.

"Killian is Black Ops! Let him do the dirty work!" Jaune argues. Until Ren and Nora set two Black Feathers down on the table as well, and they now all stare at them with disbelief as well.

"We…saw them on our pillows." Nora admits shyly as she looks at the ground.

"Oh gods…no…you are not going after him. He will be waiting for you, leave this to the professionals." Jaune begs.

"We _are_ professionals now, Jaune." Ruby reminds.

"We are _FAMILY_!" Weiss snaps, yelling so loud that her voice cracks, tears in her blue eyes as she stares at Ruby and Yang, then at Ren and Nora. "You…don't walk away from your family. That's what you said to me once." Weiss stammers, and Ruby closes her silver eyes with grief, looking away from Weiss.

"But…we can't…we can't let him get away." Nora softly says.

"So what? You wanna go against Killian and the Black Gallows? You won't stand a chance against him, and who's to say that won't add more fuel to the fire? It's the last thing we need right now." Jaune huffs as he walks away from them.

"He's right, this isn't like before. This isn't Roman Torchwick, this isn't the White Fang or Adam – this is the Unified Remnant Government we're talking about here. You will all become criminals if you do this. Please…just…think." Blake begs them as she walks over and Ren looks at them and he sighs, picking the feather back up and putting it in his pocket.

"The Ripper must be stopped – but…I also see your point." Ren states, and Ruby looks at him with tearful eyes.

"Gods…I need some air." Yang says as she walks towards the doors. They split apart from the tense argument, Ruby follows her with Ren and Nora behind them. All of them carrying their feathers in their pockets. As they walk outside, they look around, to see Qrow leant against the wall.

"That didn't go well." He chuckles.

"Uncle Qrow?" Ruby gasps.

"You four…you got the Black Feathers, huh?" Qrow asks the four of them, and they look at each other, and then at Qrow. Until they see Eryka beside him, also with one in her hand.

"You too?" Yang questions.

"Yup…found it in my bag. Winter and I…have a disagreement on what to do next. We don't agree on the Consensus." Eryka states and Ruby sighs.

"I also know, Yang – you spoke with my sister, didn't you?" He asks her, and Yang raises a brow.

"How…did you know?" Yang asks him with confusion.

"I know my sister…she has always kept her eye on you, made sure you were safe. She isn't stupid, the Ripper marked you, all of you." Qrow says to them all, and they know that this means they can leave the Academy without setting off the bombs. "But…that means we will have to go rogue if we do."

"Rogue…" Ruby whimpers, she never wanted to end up like those monsters…

…but sometimes you need to fight fire with fire.

Ruby looks at Yang and she knows her sister would follow her anywhere, and Eryka is already onboard. So she turns her silver eyes to Nora and Ren who look at each other…and then at them. "He can't get away with this, and he will just trick the Gallows." Ren states.

"We will be playing by _his _rules. Best way to do that, is go to the person who knows him just as well as he does." Eryka says as she looks at Qrow.

Yang blows out a shaky breath. "My mom…she said she would be at my dad's tonight." Yang states.

"Then that's where we go. But we will have to do it at night." Qrow tells them.

"I don't like this…they will hate us for this." Ruby says to them. "…but…we owe this to Glynda. To everyone that the Ripper killed." Ruby growls, nodding her head to her Uncle.

It is decided.

Ruby, Yang, Nora. Ren, Eryka and Qrow – are gonna have to go rogue.

* * *

**Hours Later…**

* * *

Midnight has arrived…

Team R.W.B.Y approach their respective beds with their weapons leant against the desk in the corner. Ruby and Yang both climb up the bunkbeds to their top bunks, and they lay down on them, sighing as they lay there. There is a thick sense of tension in the team after their debate over the Consensus. Ruby fits her arm behind the back of her head, but her and Yang are both thinking about what they are gonna have to do tonight…going rogue…against their own team…it will not be something that will sit right.

Ruby turns when she sees Weiss peek her head up and she looks at Ruby. "Ruby?" She softly says as she looks at her.

"Hmm?" She replies.

"It's gonna be okay…we'll talk in the morning, okay?" She asks her, and Ruby nods her head with a small smile.

"Okey-doke…" Ruby softly says and Weiss smiles.

"Goodnight." Weiss says as she gets back onto her bed to go to sleep, and Blake smiles, tucking herself in.

"Goodnight." Blake also says, and Ruby sighs.

"Goodnight." She says, looking up at the ceiling.

They wait until the two of them are asleep, and they look at each other. They both slowly and carefully slide off their beds and quietly land on their bare feet, not making a sound. They pick up their boots and Ruby grabs her bag in the corner, with Crescent Rose too. Yang does the exact same thing and they stay close, hearts pounding as they approach the door.

Ruby carefully opens the door…but she stops, looking back at Weiss and Blake as Ren and Nora do the same.

"I'm sorry…"

* * *

**Author Note - Teams have been forced apart, the question is who is in the right?**

**I loved this chapter, Raven at the start, the Thaddeus Rex stuff with Jaune and Oz, the Vytal Consensus and of course the debate about it.**

**I hope you enjoyed! Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter - Rogue**

**\- Matt**


	8. Rogue

**Chapter 7 – Rogue**

* * *

**Ruby**

* * *

When going rogue against the Government, the shadows become your best friend.

That is something that Ruby, Yang, Nora and Ren will need to learn tonight, but luckily they have Qrow and Eryka with them – two warriors who have had to use stealth on many occasions. They stay close to the ground as they drop out the window from the dorm room together, meeting the two Hunters outside, weapons at the ready in case this goes south. Nora holds Stormur Skeggox close to her body, looking around slowly as she feels the cold night air against her skin, and Ren holds Stormflower tight, the green blades sharpened and magazines filled up with dust bullets. Ruby holds Crescent Rose in rifle form, her red hood pulled over her head and Yang with her orange balaclava over her mouth and nose.

They need to be extra careful, due to how colourful they are, something that Eryka thought of, since she is now wearing a hood over her head with her bow in her grasp. "You four ready?" Qrow asks them all, as they hear a Black Gallows airship slowly patrolling the skies of Beacon Academy, so they take cover behind a building in the darkness. The ship floats over their heads, most likely scanning the area, making sure that there are no individuals trying to break the rules.

"Yeah…but we still need to get past the Black Gallows." Yang whispers with Ember Celica at the ready in case this goes bad.

"Don't worry, we've got eyes in the sky." Eryka assures, looking up at the starry night to see the black silhouette of an Altum Eagle gliding overhead, which is when her eyes glow gold and she sees through Dulcis' eyes. Not a Semblance, but merely an ability she learned when bonding with such a rare and devoted creature. As he glides, he looks around, able to pick up the locations and movements of the soldiers from all the way up there. "Crap…" Eryka softly says, and Ruby looks at her with worry in her silver eyes.

"What's wrong?" Ruby inquires with concern.

"There's a lot of Black Gallows soldiers around the area. They have lots of defences set up too…even some tanks." She states as she looks around, and Qrow raises a brow with worry.

"What the hell? Why would Killian bring tanks to keep people in?" He questions, and Eryka returns back to her own eyes as she holds her bow tight.

"I dunno…The guy may have Remnant's future in mind but he's a little too paranoid." Eryka states, in which Ren chuckles.

"Well…we are trying to sneak out when he specifically told us not to. So maybe he's not wrong on that front." Ren points out, making Eryka shrug her shoulders in agreement since he is also one hundred percent correct on that part. Qrow touches the side of the building and he peers round slowly, seeing that the soldiers are still on patrol, then they suddenly spin round and aim their rifles in a particular direction.

"Out! Now!" The soldier yells with an intimidating voice, then the suspects emerge with hands over their heads, and the soldiers all sigh and lower their rifles. They are two third years – a couple by the looks of things – who seemed like they were wanting to have a little fun. Clearly they must have forgotten the curfew that the Black Gallows have set into place over their heads right now. "Having fun?" One of the other soldiers asks the scared couple.

"I-I'm sorry…we…"

"It's alright. Get back to your dorms." The soldier says with a heavy sigh, turning away from them with his rifle in his hands, shaking his head as they remain on patrol. Qrow scoffs as he leans back against the wall, turning to the others.

"Who was it?" Nora asks.

"Two third years – wanting to lose their virginity together by the looks of it." Qrow chuckles, and they shake their heads, well except for Eryka who just chuckles.

"I like their style." Eryka chuckles, and Ruby shudders.

"Gross."

"Hey, kiddo. One day you'll have a boyfriend – or girlfriend – either way is fine." Eryka shrugs as she crouches down beside her, and she shakes her head like a little kid.

"I'm good." She assures, and Yang just rolls her eyes at Eryka before she returns back to the mission at hand.

"What about you, blondie? Anyone special in mind?" Eryka asks her curiously.

"Nope." She answers bluntly.

"Fair enough." Eryka replies, and Qrow just gives Eryka a deadpan at her choice of moment to discuss the love life of these Graduates.

"How's it looking out there?" Ren asks, getting back onto the more appropriate subject at hand right now. Qrow peers round, but the Black Gallows are still in great force inside of the Academy Grounds, and will shoot on sight if they try and leave the grounds.

"A few more minutes until we have a window." Qrow answers with a soft yet gravelly voice, rubbing his aching knees from being crouched down for so long. The Agents of the Black Gallows continue their patrol with their glowing red visors so bright that they can be seen from all the way over here, right by Oobleck's old Building where he would teach them history. Ruby looks at the wall and she closes her saddened eyes, seeing the memorial plaque on the wall to honour him.

_Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck_

_Loved Doctor by all, and even better teacher_

_(And lover of coffee)_

\- _Never Forgotten in our hearts_

She forces her silver eyes away from the plaque, focusing on her surroundings as Qrow waits to move. Qrow's red eyes watch the patrolling Soldiers walking across the courtyard, and then they turn down one of the pathways. He looks at them, and finally they can advance with the thanks to his nod that he gives them. Staying low to the ground, they move across the courtyard, footfalls almost silent as they traverse the cobblestone ground, avoiding the puddles from a recent rainfall.

They pass by the alleyway that the soldiers just entered as they look around, their rifles in their grasp as they shine lights down different paths. Each of them quickly roll past the alley, avoiding it and any possible detection at all costs. Yang keeps close to her sister and her uncle, with Eryka, Nora and Ren behind her, their weapons still at the ready. Qrow pushes his shoulder against the wall of another building, peering round the corner to see more Raven Talons walking through across the pathway, more of them around the colonnades. "There's soldiers everywhere…we need to make this quick." Qrow whispers.

"We can't risk going for a car, they will have the car parks on tightened lockdown." Eryka states, then Ren notices something and he narrows his eyes. Across the courtyard and near the entrance to Vale is an Forward Operating Base that the Black Gallows deployed. And stationed there right now is a Black Gallows wasp, one that they could steal.

"There's a Wasp over there, we could take it." Ren suggests, and Nora gives Yang a glare.

"Shame Raven's not here…y'know…could've opened a portal for us." Nora teases with a grin, but Yang is not in a joking mood, as she just gives Nora a pretty hard glare. That defuses Nora's attempt to annoy Yang, and the blonde haired daughter of the Branwen sister stares ahead.

"It's risky, Ren. They will hear it take off, and they probably have a tracker onboard." Qrow explains, which is when Eryka comes up with an idea.

"Can we break the tracker? Or scramble it?" Eryka suggests, and they all look at each other.

"We could, but we'd have to find it. And I don't know how long that Wasp will stay there." Qrow explains, giving Yang the chance to grow a grin on her face.

"Then we'll make sure it stays there." Yang states, cracking her knuckles. "One way or another."

"We can't risk detection, Yang. They have tech and weapons that could reduce us to ash in seconds. Do not underestimate these guys, they could put down Huntsmen in seconds. It's their job." Qrow reminds, and the mere idea of that is quite scary. It also does raise the question of the point of having Huntsmen in the first place if there is already something stronger to control them – but perhaps that is why. To have that weapon to use in case things get bad, a contingency plan.

"Then we do it quiet. Any Raven Talons get close, we knock them out quick and hide their bodies in the dark. As soon as we can, we take off and escape, maybe even find some launch codes so then we can get out of there without being chased." Ruby suggests, and Eryka nods her head.

"If the pilot is close to the ship, we can force him to let us fly off." Eryka states.

"You think a Raven Talon would? These guys…I dunno…They call them Stockholm Troopers for a reason. They are people who are completely loyal to them, they would die first." Ren states, and Nora looks around as they keep discussing it.

"I can get him to talk, don't worry." She says, and Qrow sighs, scratching his stubbled jawline.

"Let's just go, and pray that this doesn't go to hell." Qrow states, and the six of them move forward to begin this little stealthy operation they have come up with. Qrow rushes ahead of them with Eryka beside him, leaving the younger Hunters where they were, waiting for his and Eryka's call. Eryka slides across the stones, pressing her hand against the wall, peering round the side to check the area. She nods her head to them as she stands tall, patrolling the area some more as she keeps her bow nocked, making each step precise and silent.

But as she keeps moving, Qrow grabs her by the shoulder and pulls her down behind a crate, just in time as well. Because the heavy metallic footfalls of something new emerges. Towering above them, standing nearly eight feet tall, is a Robot. Unlike the inferior Atlesian Knights, these things are more rectangular in shape, heavily armoured and bulky machines with massive guns in their hands, alongside a few gadgets in places. And inside of a glowing visor, it has a single spherical camera-like eye that looks around, glowing red as it scans the area. "Sector Secure." The computerised voice of the robot says.

These machines – known as Trojans – are extremely deadly, things that Qrow has seen before in his time out there in the wilds. The Trojans are known for being a challenge for any Huntsman, let alone a student and especially not when there are five of them walking around the outskirts. Qrow keeps his hand up to Ruby and co, trying to come up with an idea of how to distract the Mechanised Soldier. Every footstep causes the floor to vibrate, and they can hear the metallic groaning of every single movement of the jet black robot. It paces back and forth, scanning the area repeatedly to make sure there are no signs of company.

Eryka exhales, looking at Qrow. "What do we do?" She asks him, and Qrow peers round the crate, and he checks inside to see what is inside of it. Just some food supplies that were left behind, so he picks up a bag of chips and he stares at the machine. Luckily they already have some food in their bags for the journey, they thought of that part. He takes that bag and throws it, ducking back down, and as soon as it hits the ground, the Trojan spins round. The machine aims in the direction of the sound, instantly switching to high alert as it investigates the scene.

They cannot risk making a sound, these things have extremely advanced hearing for robots, better than their sight allegedly. The camera may be good, but it does make them easier to sneak past, because it can only look one way. The four keep low as they make their way to their older friends, crouched behind the same crate. "Those are new, right?" Ren asks.

"No, I've seen the Gallows use them before, but never in this force though." He states, and they quickly advance past the robots that patrol the area, the one that investigated the packet crouches down and picks it up. It turns and returns it right back to the crate, since it scanned the bag and knew which container it would have come from due to the code on the bag. Nora holds Stormur Skeggox tight, ready to bury the blade of her axe straight into the power core of one of these bulky machines that walks around the area. For each one, they wait, wait for an opportunity to get past them, and then they rush to the next piece of cover.

As they hide behind another crate, they duck further down, as a huge Armoured Personnel Carrier, with up to twenty Black Gallows Stockholm Troopers inside, drives right past them. The engine growls like a Goliath, the huge bullet-proof tires roll across the cobblestone and eventually tarmac as it heads down towards the deployed bases. Yang looks up at the sky, her eyes focusing on the Shadow of Broken Promises overhead. She can just make out the outline thanks to the odd glowing red or white light in the sky from the internal compartments.

That and there are some drones hovering around the area, returning back to the bases to be recharged. They must have had those little drones on and investigating the Academy at night. They really do have this place on lockdown. The soldiers keep marching up and down the streets, some of them Raven Talons and others are Ebony Sabres, the heavy weapons soldiers in those huge mechanised suits. They can be seen exiting them as they go to the Barracks to get some rest for the night, and the Night Shift Patrolmen are now out here, Airships patrolling the skies as well.

But luckily, they do not know that they have a breach on their hands yet. As the six of them move past the Trojan Bots, Ruby looks at the wall and she moves ever so carefully, her heart pounding. This is the moment of truth, if these feathers really will let them leave the Academy Grounds without being blown to kingdom come. She slowly and carefully crosses the border marked by the bombs, and luckily there is no detonation beep. Just silence, meaning that they are all safe. The feathers must be loaded with some kind of beacon that informs the bombs that these people are allowed to pass.

Using the shadows as their ally, the Rogues rush ahead, sticking to the darkness as best as they can. They head down towards the deployed base that the Black Gallows set up. Entire buildings dropped down from Airships so then they can act as temporary operating stations for their men when in tricky situations. A great idea, allows for faster base building times and more time to lend to their men on missions. That and it is very convenient, can build a base pretty much anywhere.

Ren lifts his pistols as he walks forward with Eryka and Nora beside him, moving ever so softly, Qrow, Yang and Ruby behind him with their weapons raised. They still stick to the shadows, avoiding the light.

As they walk towards the Wasp, suddenly a Soldier emerges from one of the buildings in front of them to check on the files. They hear the other end of his conversation through the voice distorter used in the helmet. "Heard the Wasp over there is in need for some repairs. Where's the engineer at?" The soldier asks, and over the radio they can hear the response.

"Not sure, he should be back by now. Maybe he got lost." The other soldier says on the other end of the radio. The soldier stands there, and they gasp as a spotlight shines upon them, so they duck down into the shadows. The Airship hovering over gleams the light around the area as it searches for any trespassers, but luckily it did not spot him. As the Airship passes, the others remain ducked down into darkness, whilst Eryka gets up and she swings round and kicks him in the face. So hard that he collapses to the ground with a heavy thud, and she drags him into the darkness to avoid detection. "That was close…" Ren softly says to her, and Eryka winks as she shoves him up against the wall, tapping his nose like Nora does to her boyfriend on occasion.

"Nicely done, Eryka." Qrow says to her, and Eryka nods.

"He'll wake up with a hell of a headache in the morning." She chuckles, but then, she gets an idea as she looks at his body and the armour. She looks at Qrow and she chuckles. "Wait…Qrow you could fit in this."

"Huh?" He asks her.

"The helmets use voice changers, right? Hide identities of their soldiers? Make them all operate as one entity?" She asks him and he nods his head.

"Then why don't we just use that as a reason? You get in the armour and get to the cockpit." She suggests.

They all look at each other before looking at Qrow, since it could work. Killian's whole logic of having every soldier be taught and fight the same way will now be shown as the flaw it really is. Since anyone could just take the helmet and armour and get aboard. "Alright…give me a second." Qrow says as he drags the soldier's unconscious body into the building. The rest of them wait outside as Qrow changes his clothes into this armour, and they all look around.

To say Ruby feels absolutely terrified is the understatement of the century, she has never done anything like this before. The stunt they pulled with Torchwick years ago, not telling Ozpin, Glynda and Ironwood about what they had learned was one thing, but going against the Unified Remnant Council is something else entirely. They will hunt them to the ends of the Earth. As Ruby thinks about that, she gets living proof of that fact, and the photograph on the table is living proof of that. It is an old Wanted Poster from four years ago, when the world was hellbent on tracking Neopolitan down and bringing her to justice.

But nobody ever found her, still hasn't.

Little do they know she is currently in a Black Cell right now, in Killian's custody. Yang gently taps her sister's shoulder, seeing her touch her belly for merely seeing her face gave her a few faint phantom stabbing pains from that night. "Hey…you okay?" She whispers. She can still remember how scared she was, when she was pushed face down, and felt Neo's hand grabbing her hair and yanking her head back, to cut open her throat like a butcher. It was the most scared she had ever been in her entire life. She is scared now, but not in the same way…not in the _I don't want to die like this _kind of way.

There was so much blood…so much pain.

But Ruby shakes her bad memory away and turns back to her supportive sister. "Mhm…just…remembered is all." She says and Yang does not decide to press any further, seeing her touch her stomach and the picture of Neo was enough. The loving sister gently puts her arm around her, kissing the top of her head as she holds her close. She will never leave her side, they are sisters forever, and will never leave one another's side.

Qrow finally returns, his normal clothes all folded up and he shoves it into Nora's rucksack, and they look at him as he holds the helmet in his hand. "How do I look?" He asks.

"Like a scary Black Ops dude." Yang answers.

"Awesome. Wish me luck." Qrow says, as he puts the helmet on, and his voice is all distorted into the same one that all Black Gallows soldiers have. Even women, they all sound the same because of these helmets. A massive flaw in their design, in an attempt to make their soldiers more equal – they have made them even riskier. Qrow moves just like them, rifle in his hands as he approaches the Wasp, and he looks at the pilot who is inside.

"Talon, what's your business?" The Pilot questions as he steps forward.

"Engineering, heard the Wasp needed some repairs?" Qrow asks as he stands there.

"Oh, about time you showed up. Go on, have a look. Got your tools already in there." The Pilot says as he steps aside, and Qrow walks right past him, he quickly looks around and then he punches the soldier in the back of the head so hard it drops him. Qrow waves them over, so they rush to his position, running into the open Wasp as Qrow rolls him out, and Eryka drags his body over to the shadows, hiding him there. They all enter, and Qrow closes the rear door.

"Wow…I can't believe that actually worked." Ruby giggles, and Qrow takes off the helmet.

"Was there any doubt?" Qrow chuckles as he and Ren crouch down in front of the electronics where the tracker is located, or at least where they think it is. "So…which one do you think it is?" He asks, until Nora suddenly stabs the entire thing with a screwdriver, shredding the electronics inside, and eventually breaking the tracker inside.

_Tracker Disabled._

_Air Conditioning Disabled._

_Wi-Fi Disabled._

_Speaker System Disabled_

A few other things shut off, but they are merely things they have absolutely no clue about. Qrow looks at Eryka and she nods as she sits down. "Ever flown a Black Gallows Wasp before?" He asks her.

"Uh-huh…well…we crashed it." Eryka remembers, as they used one and flew it into the side of a Goliath during the Battle against the Black Smog four years prior.

"Eh, that's good enough." Qrow says as they start priming the engines whilst the others start strapping themselves in. Ruby looks back, through the window as the stealth red lights turn on around them, and Ruby exhales one last breath – knowing she will never be allowed back in Beacon ever again after this.

But they have to.

She needs to know the truth.

The Wasp rises up into the air, thrusters glowing blue and long triangular wings moving like wings as it rises above the ground, and suddenly, they hit the afterburners, blasting off into the distance. The Black Gallows soldiers turns sharply as the ship leaves their area and they all stand with disbelief.

"Dark Eclipse? We have an unauthorised launch. We can't track it." A Raven Talon tells Killian, and on the other end he gets a calm response.

"Understood." Killian says to him, whereas on the other side Killian sets down his scroll and he clenches his hands into fists. He punches the wall and yells in anger. "DAMN!"

This was the last thing he wanted…if he cannot get the Huntsmen and Huntresses to fall in line…

…Salem will go on to massacre thousands.

* * *

**Sun**

* * *

A cold artificial wind blows across his pained cheek, laid on the ground as the Praetorian Knight from four years ago stabs down at the ghostly ground beneath him. Sun yells with terror, punching erratically at the towering titan of metal and rubble, swinging that Sceptre at him with great rage. The demonic and dark voice of the Praetorian Knight howls, as it picks him up and throws him with one hand, sending him crashing across the smoky terrain.

"Sun!" Blake's voice cries out as she runs to his aid, desperately attempting to aid him, as the hot sticky blood from his wound blinds his eye.

"Blake…get out…of here…" Sun weakly begs her, as he looks past the black haired Feline, the Praetorian Knight paces back and forth, before spinning the Sceptre through its fingers and charges towards them. Blake spins round and she slashes Gambol Shroud across the bladed Sceptre, sparks burst out from the impact and she ducks down from the spinning attack it threw towards her. She slides past it and cuts her blade across its side.

Until a shrill scream of agony erupts from Blake, as the Praetorian Knight swings that Sceptre round, and the curved blade digs into her eyes. It slashes her horizontally, cutting her eyes out completely and blinding her in the process. Blake screeches in agony and Sun gets up to try and save her. "BLAKE!" Sun screams with terror, sprinting towards the Praetorian Knight, only for it to catch him by the throat and lift him off the ground, choking him in its powerful grasp. It turns and silently stares at the shrieking Blake Belladonna who still pushes her hands into her ruined eyes.

And then…it takes the Sceptre and stabs it straight through her heart, right in front of Sun. Sun screams in horror as he reaches for her, only for the Knight to slam him down beside his dead girlfriend. It takes the Sceptre and stares down at him, its sharp and sinister voice burning into his mind. "There are more…many more…this…is just the beginning." The Praetorian Knight promises, and then stabs Sun straight through the chest to finish the job.

That was when he finally woke from his nightmare, in a cold sweat he gasps, sitting up suddenly and panting with terror. He looks at his chest, only to see the buttons of his comfortable sleeping shirt on, buttoned up to hide that scar he has across his torso, but not the one on his face. But thankfully there is no hole in his chest, no blood – and he is still alive. But it all felt so real, so he gets up and sits forward, pressing his hand against his forehead as he ponders on that nightmare.

This has not been the first one of these nightmares he has had of the Praetorian Knight, that monster still haunts him. What it did to Oobleck and so many others – what it did to him…

He never forgot and it is a certainty that he never will be able to forget what happened that night. Every now and then he sees it, stood there like it is about to finish the job, to kill him and everyone he has ever held dear. He itches his head with tears running down from his eyes, traumatised by his memories. So he gets up and takes Ruyi Jingu Bang with him, and he quietly opens the door and exits the dorm where the rest of his team are currently asleep. He closes it behind him and he leans against the door, controlling his breathing.

"Alright Sun…just…breathe normally…" Sun mutters to himself, as he simply breathes in and out, controlling his heart rate. He looks at the heart monitor watch on his wrist, and it is sky rocketing. But luckily the more he controls his breathing, the better the rate gets, decreasing slowly to a steady number. "…she's okay…you know she is. The Praetorian Knight is gone…it can't hurt us…" He stammers, but the final words that thing spoke before destroying itself all those years ago…they still eat away at him.

_This is just the beginning._

But the beginning of what?

Sun looks at his Bo-Staff in his hands, clutching it tight with shaking hands, he is sadly not the unbreakable Huntsman he used to be. He struggles to see the best in things anymore, and all he tries now is to make others happy, instead of caring for his own mental health. So Sun huffs and he walks down the hallway, to the place he always goes when he gets woken up by a nightmare.

The Gym.

Upon arrival there he opens the door, and sees that his trusty boxing bag is still hanging exactly where he left it. Hanging there motionlessly, so as he approaches it he sets Ruyi Jingu Bang down against the wall, staring at it as he wraps some cloth around his knuckles. He raises his fists, and he starts to throw punches at it, over and over again, his anger building with every strike he sends into the swinging punching bag.

But as he fights, a memory comes into his mind, of when he had a recent event like this a few months ago.

* * *

A few months prior…

Sun punches the bag over and over again, the shockwaves from the impact of his fist ripples the sweat from his skin, blowing the dust from the old punching bag too. The chain rattles as the bag swings back and forth, and then he swings round and punches it so hard it swings right back and bumps into him. He staggers back from it and he sighs, until the pleasant giggle of Blake gets him to turn, seeing her standing in the doorway. "Bag giving you trouble?" She coos softly as she walks over to him, looking at him as he rubs his tired eyes, eyes that really need to get some sleep.

"Yeah, just one of _many_ things." Sun sighs as he touches the black medical filament in his scar that stabilised the bleeding from his wound. He winces, since the sweat can sometimes inflame the skin, but this is the only way he can stay active and fit, even though his muscular tone has decreased due to his mental problems. Blake approaches him, with a towel over her shoulder so she throws it to him.

"You keep forgetting to take one." Blake says to him, and he sighs, holding it and he daps the scar with it. It has been four years now since he got that injury, and even though it has healed now, the filament does cause problems. The sweat is only one problem, but sometimes it causes him to suffer from aching pains and not only that – the worst – is a similar case of muscle atrophy on that side of his face. Or a slight case of paralysis, something Blake has actually seen, which is a very frightening experience, since she keeps thinking he is suffering from some form of stroke.

But now…he has to live with these problems for the rest of his life, because that stuff saved him, and now cannot be removed without doing worse damage to him than the initial injury itself. "I keep thinking maybe cauterizing my face would've been better." Sun sighs, and Blake shakes her head as she holds his hand with one hand, and the other gently pressed to his shirtless body.

"No Sun, you know why they had to use this stuff." Blake says to him, and he sighs, nodding his head.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. The blade damaged some of my organs and the wound would have worsened too." Sun sighs as he wipes the sweat from his face with the towel. "I just wish it wouldn't give me so many problems." Sun states as he touches the metallic filament in his body. She gently caresses his chest with her finger, before she kisses him on the lips, giving him a big hug.

"I'm…always here for you Sun, if you want to talk you know I will be there." Blake promises her boyfriend, since she feels she needs to remind him sometimes. It has never stopped being upsetting for her, to see Sun this way. The guy who has always been so optimistic and happy, seeing him depressed and broken in a way like this – it hurts, and worries her.

"Yeah…I know." He gently says as he caresses her black hair. He steps away from her and stares at the punching back, stopping the swinging thing with his hand. But then Blake pulls him away from the bag and she raises her fists after quickly tying her black hair up into a ponytail. "Uh…what're you doing?" Sun asks her with concern.

"You're never gonna win against a Punching Bag. Come on, spar with me." She says, and Sun raises a brow.

"That why you came down here? Is that why you're awake right now?" He asks her, and she shakes her head.

"You're not the only one who still has nightmares of the Black Smog, Sun. But I woke up because Ruby had a nightmare of Neo." Blake tells her, and Sun sighs and closes his eyes, feeling for her because she never deserved to be attacked the way she did by Neo. They nearly lost her that night, because of a crazy Assassin driven by a rage fuelled hunger for revenge. "I stepped out, and saw you walking down the hall. I…didn't want you to be alone." Blake says to her boyfriend, her words touch him and he smiles. "So come on…" She says as she lifts her fists again.

Sun lifts his fists, but he has this notion to never hit her. He stands there, and he looks at her as she paces in a circle with him. "I…don't feel comfortable punching you." Sun says, until suddenly she punches him square in the face, and he staggers back. "Ow…my brainbox!" He squeals, and Blake giggles.

"I doubt I'll be the bruised one." She states with a grin, in which Sun turns and the old Sun seems to return when she challenges him like that.

"Oh-ho…you're in for a treat." He says, raising his fists, circling his girlfriend who takes the first swing again. She swings towards him, but he pushes her hand aside and swings right back. She blocks the punch with her forearm and then she slides past him, swiping him onto his back. He grunts as he hits the floor, but rolls aside when Blake goes to sit on him, but as he gets up, he pounces on her, holding her down against the floor. "Ooh…so what're we gonna do now?" He asks her, and she softly bites her lip, before wrapping her legs around his torso, and twisting round, forcing him down to the ground. She gets up and keeps her fists up, walking around him as he gets back up.

Sun swings at her, but she pushes his fist out the way, but then he nails her in the cheek. She flinches and staggers, immediately making Sun's eyes widen and he gasps with upset. "Oh! I'm so sorry, are you okay?" He reaches out to her, but she swings round and roundhouse kicks him, sending him bouncing off the punching bag. He groans, only to hear Blake giggling away as he stands there.

"You are so predictable." She says as she walks over to him.

"Sorry…for…loving you, I guess?" He asks her with a chuckle, then she lies down next to him, holding his hand as she then turns and rests her cheek on his warm body, caressing his chest.

"Right answer." She giggles, making him chuckle too.

* * *

Back in the present day.

He keeps punching the boxing bag, alone, sweat bursting from his body from every single punch made towards the bag, his teeth gritted together with every punch. He keeps picturing their faces, the faces of his enemies: Adam Taurus, The Praetorian Knight, Killian, Neopolitan, Cinder, Mercury, Emerald!

He punches it hard, but this time he moves out of the swinging path of the boxing bag. He sighs as it swings back and forth next to him, pressing his hand to it to make it stop as it comes past. He turns when he hears a voice clear their throat, and he sees Neptune standing there. Also looking rather tired, but seems like he must have heard Sun get up and leave the Dormitory. "Hey, Neptune." Sun says as he stops the swinging bag.

"Hey, buddy." He says as he walks in there, and Sun turns to the towel he remembered to bring with him this time, picking it up and wiping the sweat from his brow. Neptune looks at his friend as he keeps getting ready, staring at the bag and raising his fists, never wanting to stop, and always aiming to stay in shape no matter what. "You really need to get some shut eye man, you're gonna burn yourself out." Neptune asks him.

"I can't…not yet." He says, punching the bag again.

"So the bag's gotta suffer? Look at it, it's had enough." Neptune chuckles, and Sun stares at him before looking at the bag, the many dents in the leather he left behind. "I know you had another nightmare, I saw you leave."

"You did, huh?" Sun scoffs.

"We're worried about you, Blake too. Everyone is." Neptune states, and Sun shakes his head.

"I'm fine." He growls.

"The hell you're not. You can't sleep, you barely eat and all you do now is beat up a punching bag. I know that Praetorian Knight thing messed you up –"

"I'M NOT MESSED UP!" He argues, punching the bag so hard that the back breaks off the chain and crashes across the room. Sun pants with anger, but that anger turns to tears as he falls to his knees, and Neptune crouches down beside him. "I'm not scared of the Knight…or dying…" He admits, looking at his friend. "I can't lose her…or any of you…"

Neptune smiles softly as he pats his shoulder. "The Ripper's attack…I thought that was it…we lost Glynda, Peony, Yatsu, Ironwood. I can't lose anyone else." He tells him, then Sun feels his shoulder get squeezed by his brother by choice.

"You won't. C'mon, get some rest. You'll feel better in the morning." He assures.

Sun sniffles, wiping the tears from his face and he picks up his shirt and towel. "Yeah…alright."

* * *

**Ruby**

* * *

The Wasp Descends through the clouds towards the Island of Patch, beautiful trees everywhere, emerald green from the summer weather and the lack of Autumn's wilting on their leaves. Ruby looks past her Uncle's shoulder to see her father's house beneath them, Yang standing beside her. "We're here." Qrow says as the Wasp slowly descends towards the ground, the landing gear unfolds and the long splayed out wings fold together behind the ship, the rear ramp door folds out onto the soil. Nora and Ren step out first and they look around, remembering when they came here for the sleepover for Yang four years prior.

"Been a while since we were here…" Nora says and Ren nods his head.

"Yes it has…though I wish it were under better circumstances." Ren states as Ruby, Yang, Qrow and Eryka walk over to them. Qrow does not say a word, he just walks straight past them and moves towards the door, seeing it open and Taiyang standing in the doorway. They can tell that she is here merely from the look on Taiyang's face. Qrow steps aside so then Ruby and Yang can hug their father lovingly, who gently kisses the top of their heads. Qrow looks at them and Eryka walks over to his shoulder.

"This is gonna be big, right?" Eryka asks, and Qrow scoffs.

"To put it mildly." Qrow agrees as he follows them into the house, Nora and Ren at the rear as the Wasp engages its stealth systems to hide from any potential followers from Beacon Academy. They walk through the open door, and Qrow stops as he sees her sat there on the chair, her Odachi resting on her lap as always as she looks at them all. Taiyang walks past and looks back at them.

"So he's back…truly?" Taiyang asks Qrow.

"Yeah, he attacked Beacon. Killed Glynda and James." Qrow tells him, and his eyes widen with disbelief at hearing that two old friends of his are now long gone.

"This is bad." Taiyang says, and they all look at the adults in the room.

"Will you please just tell us what is going on now?" Yang asks, and Raven holds her hand out to the large sofa against the wall, looking at the children.

"Take a seat…this will need some, explaining." She tells them, and the four of them look at each other and they squeeze together onto the sofa, looking at Raven whilst Taiyang sits down in the other chair. Eryka and Qrow remain standing, Qrow leant against the wall with his arms crossed and Eryka against the doorframe with her hand on her hip. Raven looks at Yang and her daughter just sighs.

"You were right." Yang admits.

"You made your choice, it's all any of us can do, right?" Raven asks her.

"I guess." Yang sighs as she ruffles her blonde hair. Raven leans forward and she clasps her hands together, blowing out a shaky breath.

"You wanted to know about our past with Jack the Ripper. You're not stupid you can deduce we have history with him – but it is more personal than that." Raven begins to explain as she squeezes her hands together.

"Why?" Ruby curiously asks her, so Raven looks directly at Yang.

"It's because…he is your Uncle." She reveals, and Yang gasps as her eyes widen. "He's our oldest brother…his name is Jackdaw Branwen." Raven finally unveils the truth upon the four of them, and their eyes widen with pure shock and awe at this reveal, because that was something they never expected, even though there is the clear link between names. But yet again, they just assumed that was not the full link.

"What?" Yang questions.

"It was always the three of us, back when we were part of the tribe, unified. There was Qrow, who was more idealistic with his beliefs from the start. There was me, and I was always more loyal to the tribe than anything else." Raven explains, glancing at both her brother and Taiyang who just look away from her when she says that. Clearly there are still some open wounds from that topic that have not fully healed yet. Especially since she chose the Tribe of Criminals over her husband and daughter when she was a new born. "But Jackdaw? He was the weapon that the Tribe used. He was the strongest, most violent – and most dangerous."

"Is…he the reason you ran?" Ren asks, since he knows about what Yang told Blake, since she eventually opened up on this story to Teams J.N.P.R and S.S.S.N.

"Yes. Not long after Yang was born, when I was still recovering, I saw him watching us. In his Corvid Form, I knew it as soon as I saw him. Because his Jackdaw Body is covered in scars and is greyer than the rest of us." Raven explains to them, and the mere idea of being related by blood to this madman gives Yang the chills.

"He was always filled with rage, something at times he could never control." Qrow explains, and hearing that does not really ease her nervousness over the idea of being related to this monster.

"Jackdaw – was always messed up, ever since he was born. Some believed he was cursed, because he was prone to violence more than any Branwen. He would always find enjoyment in breaking things, tearing things apart. First it was small things, ripping paper and leaves – then it grew into more sadistic things, like insects. Then rats…rabbits…even a puppy at one point." Raven explains, and Ruby's eyes widen with heartbreak, her love for life and cute animals will always be hurt whenever she hears of someone who hurts them. "Eventually that hunger grew to the same deal with people, but he found greater pleasure in tearing something else apart…can you guess?" Raven asks them all, and Nora is the one to deduce it, not Yang, who is still a bit shell-shocked from learning he is technically family to her.

"Family…"

"Precisely." Raven sighs as she closes her eyes, and Yang finally lifts her head and speaks.

"What do you mean? What did he do to you all? Qrow always described you all as family…what changed?" Yang inquires, and Raven seems to go cold, giving a look to her brother and Taiyang. Her Ex-Husband nods his head to her and Qrow just looks at her, so she answers that rough question, looking at Ruby as well.

"Jackdaw was never pure evil, and I don't believe he still is. The things he does are monstrous, I know that, but he has had no one around him to help ease that anger in him. There was someone once though…not someone romantically involved with him though, just a very close friend." Raven begins to explain as her breath becomes shakier, looking at Ruby. "Your mother, Ruby – Summer Rose – was his best friend." She reveals and Ruby gasps, her silver eyes widen. The three of them look at her with concern, since her mother's fate has always been quite the mystery to her.

"She was his friend?" Eryka asks, since she does not know everything about the Ripper, end of the day that was all she knew. His title, not his name, and most certainly not the relationship he had with the Branwen Family.

"Best Friend. She always listened to him, could calm his rage and managed to help him do things other than kill and hurt others. She taught him how to paint, helped him with his studies. But most of all – she listened to him." Raven explains, and Ruby smiles softly, knowing that her mother was always one of the kindest people in the entire world. "But…it wasn't enough for Jackdaw, it was never enough…and one day…he snapped."

"What happened?" Ren asks.

"He was sent to Beacon with us, same mission as my brother and I. Learn how to be Huntsmen, and return back to the Tribe so we could strengthen our forces against Huntsmen attacks on our raids. Jackdaw was put in a different team than us, and Summer helped teach him how to be a leader. He did a good job for a while too, his team were good to him, but Summer was always his friend. Until one day Qrow was ordered to lead his team into a battle, since Jackdaw was injured in a fight." Raven explains, looking at her brother when a glass falls from the table and smashes next to him.

They all look at him and he sighs. "That was my mistake." He states.

"Qrow's semblance – is to bring Misfortune to all those around him, like a Bad Luck Charm. Mine is the opposite, where I bring Good Fortune. But Jackdaw…his is more complicated than that." Raven explains.

"How so?" Ren asks.

"His semblance – is to have good luck until he doesn't." Raven reveals, and the name of it really confuses them.

"Wait, huh?" Ruby asks.

"He will always win, be unstoppable – up until he is inches away from achieving his goal, and then it will be snatched away. Every. Single. Time." Qrow clarifies, and now they can actually see why he lost his mind, Ruby looks down at the ground as she imagines how much that would hurt.

"He can never get what he wants?" She asks.

"I've seen him smash through entire exams, know everything in them – until the final. And on that day, he will lose it all. I've seen him fight through hordes of Grimm, decimating them all, but then the artefact he needed to collect fell into fire." Raven explains to them, and Taiyang nods his head.

"Summer and I always wanted to help him, but there was nothing we could do. No matter how hard he tries, he will always fail. Can you really blame him for losing his mind?" Taiyang asks them all, and none of them really answer that, but when looking at Qrow's mannerisms, it is very clear that he is nowhere near as forgiving as his friend. Ruby and Yang though look at one another, and then they look at Raven, because they need to know.

"What happened…to my mother?" Ruby asks with a choked voice.

Raven looks at her and she closes her eyes sadly. "When Qrow was with Jack's team, a Grimm attack happened, and they were slaughtered. Only Qrow came back from the hunt, and Jackdaw went berserk. He went on a killing spree and he disappeared. But when I saw him again, years after – when you were born." Raven explains as she looks at Yang. "I ran, because I knew he did not forget. And I was right, because when Tai and Summer married and had Ruby, Summer went to see Qrow and I."

Her breath stammers and she bites her lip. "When we found her, we saw him over her…crying…blood in his hands, and she was…she was gone." Raven reveals, and Ruby begins to cry with anguish.

"He killed her to get to me." Qrow tells them. "Because…" Qrow looks at Taiyang and he answers for him.

"Because your uncle loved her…but she didn't love him. He vowed to watch over her…but none of us expected he would return. And hurt her, of all people." Taiyang explains, and the three remaining members of Team S.T.R.Q just stand there with pain in their eyes. Time has very clearly not healed their wounds.

"He looked terrified when we found him. But it was on that day that he vowed to hunt every last Branwen down. To cleanse the world of us, and our curse. But not only that, to see if he can beat his own semblance…so then he can finally win." Raven explains, and they all look at them.

"That's why he's back, isn't it? To win?" Ruby asks.

"It seems that way." Raven agrees, and they all look at each other after Raven finally concludes her story of Jackdaw Branwen, and what happened to Summer Rose.

"So…what do we do now?" Nora asks.

"I am here to propose an alliance. I have already spoken with my tribe and they have agreed to help me track down and kill my brother, put him down before he kills anymore innocents. We will have to break the law, do things you have never had the displeasure of doing. But we will have your back. It will not be glamorous…but we have let our brother live for too long now." Raven explains as she stands up, whilst Taiyang remains sat.

"Dad?" Ruby and Yang say.

"I'm too old for this business, girls…I never wanted you involved in this…but now Jackdaw has made you involved." Taiyang sighs as he wrings his hands.

"So…do we have a deal?" Raven asks as she looks at them. Nora and Ren look at Ruby and Yang, since they are basically following their lead. Yang and Ruby stand up and stare directly at Raven.

"One condition." Yang states.

"And that is?" Raven asks.

"I want you to tell me everything. I want to know, who my mother is." Yang states, and Raven softly smiles. "Who you are."

"I was hoping to do that anyway." Raven states, and the four of them nod. Eryka nods to Raven too, clearly an old friend and Qrow does the same.

"Then you have a deal."

* * *

**Author Note - The Adventure Begins...**

**I loved having Raven tell the story of Jackdaw, and his semblance is such a cool idea my brother and I came up with. Luckily fits into the Branwen style really well, being an amalgamation of both Branwen Siblings. And poor Summer, she never deserved that, but I doubt many of you expected him and Summer to have been best friends in the past.**

**And before there are any confusions, yes Taiyang is the biological father for Ruby not Qrow like in KoG, Qrow just loved her in this**

**That stealth part at the start was difficult to write, stealthy stuff is always difficult for me XD And that Sun part was so sad, but I love writing Sun in this way. I have always enjoyed flipping characters on their heads, making Sun quite shy and self conscious opposed to what he usually is, is great fun.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!**

**If you would like to join my Discord PM me and I will send you the code!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter - The Branwen Tribe**

**\- Matt**


	9. The Branwen Tribe

**Chapter 8 – The Branwen Tribe**

* * *

**Weiss**

* * *

The Schnee Heiress softly moans as she begins to wake up, hearing the tweets of morning birds in the trees outside of their dorm room. She yawns and stretches her arms, looking up at the pressure in the bed above her where Ruby should be sleeping. She slumps out of bed and glances over at Blake, seeing her still snuggled up in her beg, peacefully resting – something she has been happy to see after Blake's struggle to sleep due to her past with the White Fang haunting her, Adam and simply stressing herself out over everything to do with Roman Torchwick.

Still crazy for them to believe that he is dead, for so long they never thought that he would be defeated, and never in their lives did they think he would die the way they did. In a way, they wish that he didn't die, and was imprisoned in an asylum somewhere. It was the least that they could have done for him, since in their minds very few _deserve _to die. But Jackdaw…that is something else entirely, because he has been imprisoned multiple times now, and yet every time he breaks out and kills more people. Like some sort of plague that spreads and kills everything in its path.

As Weiss gets up she rubs her tired eyes with her closed fists, yawing yet again as she approaches the bathroom, completely unaware that Ruby and Yang are not in their beds. But at the end of the day, she is usually the first one up. Then Blake and then Yang – and then Ruby, since she always sleeps in, even four years after first arriving at Beacon in their beloved dorm room. She brushes it with all the minty paste into her teeth, whitening them bright as she spits it out into the sink, staring at her messy ice white hair. She picks up her hairbrush and starts pulling it down her strands of hair, some of it knotted up in places as she swiftly yanks it through the strands.

After beautifying herself up with makeup and cleaning her hair, she turns and walks out, finding a groaning Blake as she starts to wake up. "Morning." Weiss greets as she gets up, scratching her cat ears, looking at the Schnee Heiress walking out of the bathroom. Blake still is not all there right now as she rolls her shoulder.

"I think…I slept funny." She grumbles, rolling her aching shoulder, feeling her whole arm go numb in the process. Her sore skin itches as she touches her shoulder, getting up and approaching her chest of drawers to find her outfit as she walks into the bathroom after Weiss to get changed. Already changed when in there, Weiss walks in there and she sits down at the study table in the corner, checking over Myrtenaster with her cloth. She glances at the two beds where the sisters should be sleeping.

"C'mon sleepyheads." Weiss says to them, but there is nothing, just silence. Normally they would moan and roll aside, so Weiss raises a brow at the mysterious silence. She gets up and approaches the bunkbed where Ruby would be. She jumps up and grabs onto the duvet sheets and she pulls them from where Ruby is – or where she should be. Weiss' eyes widen and a gasp of shock leaves her mouth, staring at the bed only to find it empty with a few pillows stuffed underneath the duvet itself, the one on her pillow merely looks like it was her head, just an optical illusion. Weiss' mind begins to race and she staggers back. "No…no, no no…NO!" Weiss screams, causing Blake to yelp, opening the door with a toothbrush still stuffed in her mouth.

"What's wrong?" Blake slurs with toothpaste still in her mouth.

"They're gone!" Weiss exclaims with distress in her voice, pacing back and forth. Blake turns and she spits the paste from her mouth in the sink and washes it away with the tap. She turns and returns to Weiss, looking around and she grabs onto Yang's duvet and rips it off. Only to find her blonde haired friend is missing too. Her eyes widen as she starts to look around, noticing their bags and weapons are not here either – alongside those Black Feathers they had on the table. "They're gone! They're gone! They're gone!" Weiss yells with both anger and concern in her voice as she paces back and forth, so Blake walks over to her Icy Friend and grabs her by the shoulders to still her.

"Weiss, calm down." Blake tells her as she looks at her, her amber feline eyes reflecting off the blue irises of the Heiress. "Focus, we need to see where they went." Blake says as she checks underneath her bed to see if they left a note behind. They keep searching for their weapons in the vain hope that this is some kind of elaborate joke on Ruby and Yang's part. It wouldn't be the first time they have pulled that on them, once they truly made them think they lost their weapons when they were just underneath their beds. It would not be crazy to assume they would pull something like that again. But with every location they search in their Dormitory, they cannot find any clues behind them – except for one – that leaves them troubled.

"The Black Feathers are gone too." Weiss says to her, covering her mouth with one hand and the other behind her head as she stands with her legs shaking. "How could they do this to us? We promised we'd talk about this…" Weiss softly says with a stressed voice. Blake walks back and forth, then hear ears flick up when she hears movement outside their door. She turns and she opens the door, to see Jaune and Pyrrha doing the exact same thing now. They are looking up and down the halls outside of their dorm room, calling out their names.

"Ren!" Jaune calls out.

"Nora! Where are you?" Pyrrha too yells out, but no response, so Blake walks out and Jaune turns to see her there.

"Nora and Ren too?" Blake asks with worry in her voice, wringing her hands together as she looks at the two of them.

"Too? You mean Ruby and Yang are gone as well?" Jaune asks, and it does not take them long to deduce what is going on.

"The four of them all had those damn feathers, you saw it." Weiss states with anger in her voice as she slams her elbow into the wall to get that anger out. Weiss has always taken it to heart when their teammates – their friends – have taken matters into their own hands instead of going to their teammates. Blake did it a long time ago, and now Ruby and Yang have done the exact same thing. "What is wrong with her? She's our leader! She should know better." Weiss growls, unable to find a place for her frustration with Ruby right now. They all feel so betrayed, that these friends of theirs, their family, could not trust them enough that they needed to sneak out of Beacon Academy.

"They're following Jack the Ripper's Trail." Jaune states as he thinks about it, turning to look at the three others. "C'mon, it's obvious right? They talked about it last night, they all had those feathers. Where else would they be going? They were adamant of going after him and were against us on our decision of the Consensus." Jaune explains to them, and Weiss nods her head, pinching the bridge of her nose with stress in her bones.

"Damn it you're right." Weiss says.

"They'll get themselves killed if they go after him like this." Pyrrha states, and Blake sighs, shaking her head as she presses her hands to her head.

"You're right." Blake agrees as she paces back and forth, but as they go to continue the debate of their plan of what to do next, they hear the thundering footfalls of many soldiers headed in their direction. Marching up the stares at the Stockholm Troopers, rifles in hand and aiming them down the hallway at them, kicking open doors one at a time to check the amount of Graduates inside of them. They shine their lives as they enter their rooms, throwing the duvets off their bodies to make sure that they are not hiding from them.

"Nobody move!" One of the Raven Talons yells as he heads up the hallway, keeping his rifle trained on the four of them as they stand there. They hold their hands over their heads and the soldiers push them against the walls, rifles aimed at the back of their heads. "Don't make this difficult. Where did your teammates go?" The Raven Talon commands, noticing that they are not here.

"W-We don't know!" Weiss cries out as she feels the armoured hand grabbing her by the nape of her neck, pushing her face into the wall. But as they interrogate them with shock and fear, they turn when hearing Killian's voice.

"Stand down." Killian orders, and the soldier does so immediately, lowering his rifle and stepping away from the four Graduates. Killian looks at them, noticing that they are the ones that agreed with him on the idea of the Vytal Consensus, the ones that are thinking about the future opposed to the here and now.

The soldiers barge into the Dorm Rooms of Teams R.W.B.Y and J.N.P.R and they start rifling through everything that they have in there in order to locate any clues of the missing Huntresses and Huntsmen that have just gone missing. And are the suspected thieves of one of their Wasps. Killian lets them do their work, despite the worry of the two Huntresses, who look at all their possessions being pushed aside, shining lights and looking for whatever they can find. Weiss and Blake both turn back to Killian as the soldiers keep on pacing down the halls, ordering the students to stay down as they check for any sneaky traitors in the area.

"Apologies for my men, we have a strict rule when it comes down to this sort of procedure." Killian explains with a huff.

"Assaulting students?" Weiss scoffs as she massages her jaw from getting slammed against the wall the way she did.

"They had reason to assume you were hostile. It is what we are trained for." Killian tells her, and Blake scoffs.

"What? To be paranoid?" Blake questions.

"In a way. It has always been our duty as Black Ops to be ready for anything, although they were indeed mistaken to attack you the way you did. I could tell you were just as shocked of this revelation as I was." Killian explains as he rubs his tired eyes. The Commander of the Black Gallows must have been up for quite a long time now, since the news of one of his ships being stolen like that is bound to keep you on your toes. "I feel due to the recent events my men have every reason to distrust people, too." Killian explains, referencing the betrayal of the Construction Workers that night, the leader of which he killed with the sample of Grave Dust he acquired from one of Jackdaw's blades.

Killian looks at Pyrrha and Jaune behind him, seeing their rightfully judgemental glares on their faces towards Killian. The Commander sighs as he massages his brow and he walks into their dorm room, looking at the beds that the soldiers are tearing into in order to find any clues they can. "Why are you ripping up their mattresses?" Jaune questions with disgust.

"You would be surprised how many suspects hide things of interest to us in their mattresses, son. One time we found a gun in there." Killian chuckles as he picks up a chair and he sits down in the hallway with them. The others crouch down into a sitting position on the floor as Killian speaks with them, since he needs as much information as he can muster.

"They left us, didn't they?" Pyrrha sadly asks as she wraps her legs around her bent knees.

"It certainly looks that way. I guess we should have expected it, but I never expected them to lie to any of you. Thought all of you were a tightly knit bunch." Killian presumes as he taps his finger against his knee.

"We've always had each other's back…" Jaune sighs, then Blake – the one who was in between in the discussion – stares at Killian with judging eyes.

"Y'know, if you hadn't have pushed this damn Consensus none of this would have happened." Blake reminds, and Killian crosses his arms.

"And then what? You would have another rebellion on your hands, of people against the Academies." Killian states, still adamantly standing by his decisions, in which makes Jaune scoff as he stares at him.

"How the hell are you still in office after what you did?" Jaune questions, then Killian just stares straight into his eyes.

"Careful son – I'm being nice to you right now. Those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones." He states, and his words really send shivers down his spine. Because he never gave him a definitive answer to his question. After everything he did, he should have been punished. Even though he managed to cover up his atrocities from the public, it is almost certain that the Government know what he did that night. What he did to Jaymes, how he was the man behind the Black Smog attack four years ago.

And yet…here he is…like nothing has changed.

_Did he…kill anyone who stood against him?_

Jaune thinks this questions in his mind, but he is too afraid to ask the man, since he is a Black Operatives Commander, meaning he is more than willing to kill to get the job done and prevent any further panic from occurring. "Now, enough of this pointless banter." Killian states as he leans forward and crosses his arms, glaring at the Graduates. "Where are they?" He grills.

"We don't know." Weiss answers.

"Really? You don't have a clue?" Killian scoffs, finding that hard to believe due to how much Ruby, Yang and Nora talk. "Qrow Branwen and Eryka Vasillias have disappeared as well, that cannot be merely coincidence."

Weiss' eyes widen when she hears that her sister's girlfriend has potentially abandoned them on this hunt for Jack the Ripper as well. "Eryka…but what about Winter?" She softly asks, and Killian nods his head.

"She is still here, and has only recently found out about her deceit. To say she is angry right now is an understatement." Killian chuckles as he crosses his arms, leaning back against his chair. "Well, if you don't know, then tell me everything you know. Did they say anything in; particular to you? Anything at all?" Killian asks them, oddly enough not using any threats to get what he wants.

They look at each other, and Killian sighs, scratching the back of his neck. "Look, I just want to know where they have gone so then we can get them back. The Ripper is not a foe you want them getting into contact with." Killian assures, and considering everything that has happened to them so far, seeing the amount of lives he has taken with such ease, that is most certainly the truth.

A truth that terrifies them.

So despite how much they want to protect their friends from Nathaniel Killian, they have been left no other choice but to follow his rules. "I…I think they went to speak with Raven Branwen…Yang's real mom." Weiss reveals to him, and Killian raises a brow.

"Raven Branwen? She is the leader of the Branwen Tribe, why the hell would…" Then he stops speaking, realising the truth in the back of his mind. But he does not reveal it to them, the truth about what Jack the Ripper is to the Branwens, to Yang in particular. Because all of a sudden it now makes a whole lot more sense.

_They want to know about Summer…it was her death by his hand that tore Team S.T.R.Q apart…Ruby and Yang…it makes sense._

He pushes his hands against his knees as he gets up. "Thank you for your cooperation." He snaps his fingers to the soldiers. "Clean up their rooms, exactly as they were before you smashed them up. Get them new mattresses too. We have our target." Killian orders, another order they never expected from the Commander.

"Wait…you're having your men do that? Why?" Pyrrha asks as she gets up, and he turns.

"I know I am an asshole, I'd never lie about that. But I'm hardly unreasonable." Killian states, which makes Blake scoff as she crosses her arms.

"Yeah, I find that hard to believe." She states.

Killian stares right at her, and his words burn deep. "Didn't you once misjudge someone?" He asks her, and her eyes widen, her ears jolt when she hears him say that. Because they all know exactly who he was speaking about just then.

Adam Taurus.

Killian turns away from them and he gestures to his other men, having them follow him down the hallway back to their operations centre outside. Leaving the remaining members of Teams R.W.B.Y and J.N.P.R behind.

* * *

**Ruby**

* * *

This was not something they ever foresaw, especially not Yang.

Her blood and the Ripper's…he is her uncle by blood. The two of them are sat down outside the house, on the front step with their hands on their lap. Ruby glances across the front garden to see Ren and Nora walking around as they talk, whilst Taiyang, Raven and Qrow are still inside talking about what happened. Poor Taiyang knows very little, and Qrow saw it all, so this has been quite the day for everyone involved. Ruby looks at her sister, able to see the strife in her eyes as she ponders over this new information.

"Yang? Are you…okay?" Ruby timidly asks her older sister with concern in her voice as she looks at her. Yang looks at Ruby and she blows out a heavy breath, pressing her metal hand against the side of her head.

"I…I don't know how I feel right now, Ruby. I just found out that this monster is my frigging uncle, that same man killed the woman who raised us, and on top of all that – he killed Glynda, Ironwood, Yatsu and a bunch of others." Yang explains as she pushes her hands through her blonde hair and groans, squishing her face up, which makes Ruby giggle. She looks at her sister with her cheeks still squished together, and she looks at her – seeing her smile has always been a way to take her mind off things.

So with her face all squished together, she puts on a silly voice to keep her that way. "Hewwo, mah name's chubbeh!" Yang slurs, making her giggle again, and Yang smiles as she sits there. But in the back of her mind she still keeps thinking about what has given her so many conflicting thoughts, all of them surrounding Jackdaw Branwen. What else has he done? How far will he go to get what he wants? Can he actually beat his own semblance, and if he does – will he be unbeatable?

It seems the Branwen Siblings are bound by a Fate-Based Semblance.

Luck.

Ruby calms her giggling down and she sits there, unable to keep Yang's mind off the subject of Jackdaw, even though that is just what is on her mind too. He was the one that took her mother from her, the mission that she never came back from – that must have been the one where it happened. "I always wondered why Uncle Qrow drank so much, I guess now it makes more sense." Ruby states, and Yang softly scoffs with the nod of her head.

"Mhm…guess having a psychotic older brother who killed someone you loved would do that to you." Yang states, which makes Ruby look back at her Uncle through the crack in the door, seeing him sat there with that sad look back in his eyes. She never really understood why, she just assumed it was because they were friends.

"He loved her…I didn't…even realise." She softly says, and Yang chuckles.

"I kinda had a feeling something like that was going on, honestly." Yang admits, and Ruby raises a brow.

"Huh? Whaddya mean?" She asks her.

"Think about it? He's always been closer with you than he has with me." Yang says as she fiddles with her boot. The idea of that upsets Ruby, because she would never want to be the favourite child.

"No, Yang…he loves us both." Ruby reminds and she nods her head with a sad sigh.

"I know…but some days it didn't feel that way. At first I thought it was because I was a bit of a trouble maker as a baby, but maybe – maybe something did rub off on him when it came to you." Yang explains, looking at her little sister. The idea of this makes Ruby look down at the floor sadly, but she feels Yang's arm go around her. "I'm glad though."

"Huh?" Ruby asks.

"I'd have hated it if we were copies of each other. It's what makes us special." She says with a smile, and Ruby smiles back.

"Yeah…although we still have a lot in common." She says to Yang with a smile.

"Of course we do, hell where do we start?" Yang wonders, since despite their differences they still have plenty of things that connect them together. Then Ruby grins adorably – yet deviously – at Yang.

"Well…for starters…" Ruby begins, when she suddenly taps Yang. "I'm better!" She squeaks as she gets up and runs away, and Yang reaches out to tag her back.

"Hey! Get back here!" She calls back, which causes the three adults inside the house to turn. Raven walks towards the window as she watches her daughter and her best friend's daughter chasing each other around in the field. She holds her forearm and smiles softly at them, for despite the dark and scary truth they have just burdened the girls with, they are still acting like the close sisters they have always been.

Taiyang walks over to Raven and he leans against the wall with his arms crossed. "Thank you." He says to her, and she turns.

"For what?" Raven asks.

"For coming to me…for when you told them." He says to her, and she closes her eyes with a sigh.

"I had hoped you wouldn't be involved." Raven states.

"It's okay, Raven. I wanted to be here when you told them about what happened to Summer, Ruby had the right to know." Taiyang explains, and Raven's breath turns shaky as she sees Yang catch Ruby, tickling her as she giggles.

"How did you do it?" Raven asks softly, and he looks at her with curiosity.

"Do what?" Taiyang asks her, Raven watches intently as her daughter hugs her sister lovingly, kissing the top of her head as she watches.

"Raise them…to be so…kind?" She asks her, and Qrow lowers his head with sadness, since he knows what she is talking about, and so does Taiyang. His answer to that is not what she was expecting.

"I thought to myself…what would Raven do?" He reveals, her red eyes widen and she turns with shock in those irises.

"What?" She questions.

"Like it or not…when you were pregnant with Yang, she was all you thought about. All you talked about. You always said you wanted to prove you were better than your parents were, to raise them with love, and not as weapons for a Bandit Tribe." Taiyang explains, and Qrow nods his head with a chuckle.

"We all saw it sis." Qrow tells her, and she sighs, looking out the window again at the two girls.

"And here I am…a failed mother…just like ours." She says.

"You're here." Taiyang reminds and she looks back. "You may not have been able to raise her like Summer and I did…for the time we had together…but you always looked over her."

"Like that should be enough. Yang hates me, Tai…I left because I didn't want Jackdaw bearing down on your heads any longer than he already was. Part of me really thought it could be forgiven…but she was a baby…and I left her, alone and confused. And bitter." She says those words, harsh words about herself, and Taiyang leans against the wall beside her, looking at their daughter as she laughs with her sister.

"Does she look bitter to you?" Taiyang asks her, and she looks at her daughter again, seeing the joy with her sister. "She's bitter simply because she doesn't know you. Give her time, she'll come around."

"I don't know if I deserve it, Tai." Raven states.

"You'll never know if you don't try." Taiyang says, and she sighs, lowering his head with a soft chuckle.

"I just hope I am worth her time." Raven states, her hand shaking with worry of being with her daughter…twenty one years later. "It's not gonna be an easy journey, Jackdaw will be waiting."

"That's what the Bandit Tribe is for. He won't get away this time." Taiyang assures, and Raven smiles softly to her Former Husband. He gently touches her shoulder, and she goes to kiss his lips, but he holds her back and lowers his head. It stings, but at the same time she can understand. Even if she had noble intentions behind leaving him, it still hurt a lot when she just abandoned him with a new-born daughter. "I'm sorry…but I can't." He says to her, she nods her head and blows out another shaky breath.

"I-I know…" She responds, looking at her brother who nods as he walks towards the cracked door and pushes it open.

"Good luck, Tai…" He says to him, and Taiyang nods.

"And to you, Qrow." He says,

Qrow walks out and leaves the two of them there, and Raven gently steps over to him and she just softly kisses his cheek. It is clear that she still feels love for him, but at the same time does not believe she does not deserve his love in return. "Goodbye." She says to him, but he holds her hand to stop her for a moment.

"Don't say goodbye…" He says, and he sighs. "I hate goodbyes." He tells her, and Raven sighs and nods her head.

"Me too." She says, walking through the open door, but it does not close behind her. Taiyang walks to the doorframe and looks at his daughters with a smile.

"I'm better!" Yang giggles with her sister, showing how they are both equally as competitive as one another.

"No I am!" She giggles in return, but then they stop when Raven approaches and Yang stares at her mother and Uncle as the two of them approach. They roll away from each other and they get back up, sloppily. Yang wipes the freshly cut grass from her sister's head and she sneezes from her hay fever. They both stand before Raven Branwen as she approaches them, and Yang stares right at her mother whilst Ren and Nora walk over. Raven looks past them to see Eryka sat on a nearby fence post, gently pruning the feathers of her beloved Eagle on her arm.

"Eryka." Raven calls, and she turns with Dulcis. She holds her arm to her shoulder and he jumps onto her. She kicks her bow into her hand and walks over to the leader of the Bandit Tribe.

"So? What's next?" Yang asks as she looks around, so Raven turns and she unsheathes her red Odachi and swings it behind her, opening a red portal before them all. Yang gasps when she sees it. "Whoa…"

"Not my semblance, as you know – but this blade is useful in that regard. It was my mother's, and it was her semblance to open portals. She bound her blood to the sword so then I could use it." Raven explains before sheathing the blade back into her scabbard of many other blades. Ruby – a total weapons geek – stares at the scabbard and her silver eyes bulge from their sockets in awe.

"That's…so…cool…" Ruby softly whispers as she stares at it, before standing tall once more and sorting herself out. She looks at Raven and her Uncle as Eryka approaches with her grumbling Eagle looking around constantly.

"This is it, once we go through this portal, there is no turning back. You will be with my Tribe until we stop and kill our brother. After that, you are free to do what you wish." Raven explains, and Ren chuckles, scratching the back of his neck.

"Working with bandits…" He softly grunts, which causes Raven to look at him. "…not sure if I'm comfortable about that. But Ruby and Yang deserve to know the truth, so I'll make do." Ren states, and Nora smiles as she holds his hand gently. Eryka nods her head as she tickles Dulcis' belly.

"Been a while since I've seen everyone." Qrow says.

"Well, since Val is back – things are definitely serious." She says, and Ruby looks at her father before she nods her head, but first she runs past Raven and Qrow and goes straight into the loving arms of her father. She hugs him so tight, and Yang does the same. He holds his two daughters and kisses the top of their heads as he holds them close.

"Love you, dad." She softly says to her father, and he chuckles.

"I love you too." He promises, and then she looks at Raven.

"I will keep them safe. You have my word." Raven promises, and he blows out a breath, letting his daughters go. They both walk over to Ren and Nora as they approach the portal. Raven looks back and she smiles at Taiyang, before she walks into the portal. Qrow and Eryka follow, leaving the four behind. They look at each other and Ruby and Yang sigh, walking in first.

As they exit the other side, there is a brisk cold air that surrounds them. Much colder than what they have been used to, and in the distance they can see the Anima Mountains. They are no longer in the warm comforts of Vale, they are now in the mountainous climates of Mistral. Nora and Ren emerge behind them, and they seem more welcome to this climate than Ruby and Yang, but that is because they were born in this land. Anima – a land of many small towns and cities, many of which have been reduced to skeletons due to Grimm attacks.

Like Kuroyuri.

The portal has taken the seven of them to the front gates of the Branwen Bandit Camp, huge wooden logs built up around the perimeter, and multiple tree stumps nearby from where they cut down the trees for usage of their wood. Alongside animal skulls adorned on the front gate. Raven approaches as she closes the portal behind them, and Qrow looks around with a chuckle. "Man…been a while since I saw this door." Qrow says, crossing his arms and looking upon it.

"Things have changed, little brother." She says to her twin, only being born a few minutes before he was. Raven approaches the door and she taps her foot. "Open up. We have guests." Raven calls to the Bandit Guards, and then the doors open up. Massive and grinding across the ground, sending clouds of dust floating away from where they moved. Never before have the four Graduates felt so small, because they are further from home than ever and without the other halves of their teams.

They enter and they look around at the many tents, quite large too, with torches set up that are aflame due to the night sky that stretches over their heads right now. Since it was morning for Vale, over here it is still the middle of the night. There are more skulls on tables and tents too, from Deer to even cast Grimm Skulls. Not real obviously, since the Grimm completely disintegrate when they are killed. But even still, these fake skulls still sell quite well in the Black Market, perhaps simply because they look genuine.

Bandits watch the newcomers as they enter, all of them wearing a similar yet unique attire to one another. Some of them have skull helmets whereas others wear no helmets whatsoever. All of them have clothes fashioned from whatever they can find, pelt and fabrics, others are stolen gear from Huntsmen and Huntresses. All of them have the Raven Tattoo on their arms and bodies. A woman has one across her back, with swords replacing the feathers and having glowing red eyes. There are some alluring individuals here, but with all the bruises, dirt and cuts on their faces from constant fights, that quickly extinguishes that attractiveness.

They all have different weapons too, some with firearms like rifles, pistols and shotguns whilst others have simple machetes, axes, hammers and swords. But then there are the few that have Huntress or Huntsman level weapons. For example, the woman who approaches them has something that looks like it came directly from Haven.

The Bandit is a young woman with tan-coloured skin, short brown hair and icy blue eyes. She has a tattoo of a bird rising from flowers on her left arm. She wears a brown vest over a torn white shirt, with a collar that appears to spike up behind her neck. She wears maroon-coloured pants with the right side rolled up to her thigh. She also wears dark brown knee guards that go down to her brown boots.

"Vernal." Raven greets as she approaches, her weapons holstered on her legs. The weapons are two crescent shaped blades, each with a ring-shaped centre. The large outer blades have hooked points that point back toward the grip. They have four smaller blades located in pairs above and below the grip, which is wrapped in red cloth and curved to form part of the middle ring. The large outer blades are capable of collapsing toward the grip.

Atop the ring and below the upper blades is a pair of rectangular gun barrels. Within the main ring is a smaller, thinner ring connected by a pin to the forward facing portion of the weapons, acting as a trigger for the barrels. Ruby can tell from all the way over here what forms of dust they can use due to the colour of the glow within the barrels. Wind and Fire, fittingly named Firestorm.

"Good to see you back, boss. See you got us some help." Vernal says as she looks at the four Huntresses and the two Huntsmen that are here.

Raven points to her brother. "That's Qrow." She introduces – rather bluntly too – and Vernal's eyes widen.

"Oh…damn…didn't think it was getting _this _serious." Vernal says, and Raven scoffs.

"Trust me, it gets better." Raven says, stepping aside and Vernal does not even need her to say it when she sees Yang standing behind her.

"Is that…your daughter?" Vernal asks her as she stares at her, seeing the striking resemblances between them. "Man…like a damn clone."

"Hardly." Yang scoffs, and Vernal pulls her collar.

"Yeesh." Vernal chuckles awkwardly. "Take it things are tense between you two?" Vernal assumes, and Raven looks at her daughter.

"Seems it's in our blood to be…stubborn." Raven says as she looks at her daughter and her brother, which makes Qrow chuckle.

"To put it mildly." Qrow agrees, so Vernal turns her gaze to Eryka who holds Dulcis on her arm still.

"Well…been a while, Eryka." Vernal greets, which causes pretty much everyone bar Raven to turn and stare straight at Eryka due to this revelation. Eryka huffs and bites her lip with annoyance at Vernal. "Oh, crud – you didn't tell them did you?"

"Nope."

"Whoops."

"You ran with these guys?" Nora questions, and she nods her head.

"A long time ago…back during my Bare Knuckled Boxing days. I won money for the tribe…those were…different times." Eryka says, sounding like it is not really something he tends to talk that much about nowadays. Ruby looks at Eryka and then stares at her neck, seeing the small ravens tattooed there, the same ones that Winter asked her about. Clearly this is something she really does not like to talk about. Vernal continues to look at them and sets her eyes on Ruby, Ren and Nora.

"Aaand…you three…I don't know you." Vernal finally gives up trying to guess and flat out just asks them. "Who are you guys then?"

"Ruby Rose."

"Nora Valkyrie."

"Lie Ren."

Their greetings normally would be quite exuberant and excited, but here they do not show these criminals and thieves that kind of respect. End of the day, these are the kinds of people that they have sworn to defend innocents from. And Vernal is not blind, she can completely see why they feel that way. "I understand why you don't hold us high when it comes to your greetings."

"Yeah, you're bandits." Ruby points out, and she nods her head.

"We are, but we do not pillage villages. We fight against the other bandits, the more disorganised ones. It is how Raven has commanded us to lead our raids. Trust me, there are far more dangerous people out there than us." Vernal exclaims, until she hears a slurred scoff from behind them. They all turn to see a man standing there with a bottle of booze in his hand, chugging it down, stumbling towards them with a burp. With a triangular shaped jaw and a dirty blonde coloured mullet he approaches, scratching his stubble. He wipes the dust from his grey leather overcoat above his red loosely worn shirt underneath with a brown bandanna hanging from beneath his mouth.

He has a few scars on his face and a black eye at the moment, clearly from getting into fights with some of his fellow tribesmen. "Well, well…Raven said she'd be bringing company…but I never expected them to be so…fine…" The man slurs as he stares directly at Yang, and she rolls her eyes as she looks away from him. Raven gives him a hard stare, and is just about to punch him in the face for how he is speaking to her daughter.

"Shay, back down." Vernal snarls at him as he approaches, stumbling and barging into a tool box, knocking it off the crate with a metallic bang.

"Whoops…" He grumbles as he stares at the tools, looking around as he keeps that bottle in his grasp. "So…how about it? Why don't we let Raven…do all the boring stuff…and come hang out in my tent?"

"I'm find, thanks pal." Yang tells him, and Raven looks at her daughter, noticing her cybernetic hand is clenched into a fist. She knows better than to hover over Yang like that, so she stands back, and lets her deliver the punch she is so ready to do. Because Shay is not about to stop.

"Oh, come on, don't be hard to get sweetie. You're beautiful…not too bulky, not too lean…you're just…"

"Just right." Yang finishes before he can even do so, giving him one last chance. "As I said pal, I'm _good_." Yang tells him.

He slurs as he stares at her, reaching out towards her hair. "And your hair…"

Suddenly she grabs his forearm and holds him there, and his eyes widen, she stares at him and her eyes turn red. Her metal fist collides directly into his jaw and sends him crashing down to the ground with a heavy thud. He crashes down into the dust with a groan, almost knocked out instantly from that punch. Yang stares down at him and walks over his groaning body. Raven laughs at that one though, walking over one of her men like he is trash as she follows Yang. "I'm glad you did that, never gets old to knock that piece of trash into the dust." Raven chuckles as she walks beside her daughter.

"Honourable huh?" Yang questions.

"Yeah, surprised you've kept him around, Raven. When I was here that kid was always a bit of a loose cannon." Qrow says to his sister, she nods her head.

"Yeah…but he has his uses. Good for scaring people, he has his sources in some of the dirtier areas in certain Kingdoms. Plus he's pretty good in a scrap. Other than that though, he's a bit of an asshole." Raven tells them, and Ren looks around at the Bandits fighting each other with bare knuckles in their rings they made out of fencing.

"That brings back memories." Eryka sighs as she looks at the ring of fighters. Ren looks at her and then at the gloves on her hands. He does not ask, but if she did take part in that kind of fighting then she must have her fair share of scares on her fists.

They continue to walk towards Raven's large tent, but as they walk closer, all four of them freeze, even Qrow does. The five of them stare ahead with disbelief as they see her carrying some logs and setting them down in one of the crates they have. She dusts off her hands and turns, staring straight at them. Her single amber eye meets theirs and her mouth parts slightly with a similar level of disbelief. Also carrying the Raven Tattoo on her arm like Vernal, her hair is shorter than before with a few new earrings too. She wears a crop top and a dark brown leather jacket too over it, along with some shorts and a pair of military class boots.

Ruby's silver eyes meet hers, and she scoffs.

"Well hell." Cinder says as she stares at the girl who burned away her eye. She now wears an eyepatch that covers the scars, and Ruby clenches her hands into tight fists, an anger building in her. In all of them when they see the new Fall Maiden.

"You…" Ruby growls with anger.

"Ruby…wait…" Qrow reaches out but it is too late, her mind has been made up as she draws Crescent Rose and fires it behind her, riding the recoil towards Cinder.

"PENNY'S DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU!" Ruby shrieks with rage, slamming straight into Cinder and they both take off into the sky. Yang, Ren and Nora charge after her and Qrow tries to stop them.

"Crap!" Raven exclaims.

"You've got Cinder in you're crew? And you thought they'd work together?" Qrow yells at her with disbelief, completely unaware that she has become part of the tribe after the Battle of Beacon.

"Damn it, I forgot alright?" Raven yells back, chasing after them.

Ruby and the Fall Maiden soar through the sky, Crescent Rose slashing across the Fall Maiden's aura as she blocks her strikes with great speed. Cinder opens her palm and her clothing flashes as the dust forms a large Obsidian Battleaxe and she swings it round and collides it directly into Crescent Rose. She scrapes the weapon across hers and twists round her, punching Ruby in the face and slashing the axe against her red aura. Cinder, now above Ruby, kicks downwards and sends Ruby crashing down towards the ground. Now in a forest nearby, Ruby slams the curved blade of Crescent Rose into one of the trees to slow herself down, splitting the large tree in half before she kicks herself off it. Cinder dives down like a meteor, flames surrounding her body as she collides directly into Ruby and smashes her head into the dirt, dragging her across the soil.

Cinder lets out a hollering battle cry, swinging round and throwing Ruby into another tree. Cinder tightens her grip on her axe and she swings round with a yell, igniting the fire around the axe head as she throws it. It spins as it shoots towards her, smoke trailing behind it alongside multiple embers. It crashes through the trees at her and she gasps, spinning Crescent Rose to block the incoming attack. She gets thrown back once more, and the axe spins round, returning back to Cinder's hand. The Fall Maiden rushes Ruby again, overpowering her with the sheer force of being the Fall Maiden. She grabs Ruby and lifts her off the floor by the throat.

"Well isn't this fortuitous? I was hoping I could pay you back for my eye." Cinder snarls as she ignites a ball of fire in her hand and pushes it towards her face to burn her eye off. Ruby screams with fear as the flame gets closer and closer.

"Penny died because of you!" Ruby yells.

"I don't even know who you're talking about!" Cinder yells back, when suddenly there is another roar. The sky darkens for a moment as pink lightning crashes down, and Nora suddenly blasts straight into Cinder. She swings Stormur Skeggox round and clashes it directly into Cinder's axe. They lock blades, and Nora stares directly into Cinder's burning amber eye, teeth gritted together as thunder claps above her head, pink electrified forks crashing and burning the soil around them.

"You tried to kill my friend…I'm gonna do more than try with you." Nora snarls with anger in her voice, but then Cinder blasts a gust of wind into Nora, pushing her back. She slides across the ground, and Cinder opens her other palm, forming a second axe. She blasts towards Nora and spins through the air, swinging both of her Volcanic Axes with great force. Nora blocks the strikes with hers, harnessing the power of her semblance that has enhanced itself after the Fall of the Black Smog. The Goddess of Thunder channels the power of lightning through her axe and blasts it straight into Cinder in a beam of pink light. The impact pushes her back and she grits her teeth with anger as it burns against her powerful aura, but Cinder has gifts of her own. She holds her hands out as she destroys her axes with a powerful pulse. The shards of obsidian fall but then they float around her, freezing the magma inside solid with ice.

She launches the shards towards Nora and she gasps, getting hit by them so hard that it knocks her back. Cinder forges her axes once again, thrusting towards Ruby and slamming her axe down at where her head was. She swings the second again at where Ruby just pushed herself away, hammering the ground over and over again, strike after strike, setting the grass on fire constantly. Ruby pushes her feet against the floor and thrusts upwards, sending both boots into the Fall Maiden's face. She grunts in pain from the shock of the attack, stumbling back, only for Ruby to blast through red petals at her again. She hooks Crescent Rose to her neck and drags her across the ground. Cinder grits her teeth, slamming her axe into the dirt to slow herself, hooking onto a subterranean rock. The sudden stop stumbles Ruby, and Cinder throws her Axe straight at Ruby, spinning sideways to behead her.

Ruby dashes away in petals and it circles around where she was, slamming back into Cinder's hand. She looks around for her, growling with fury in her heart. "I've been waiting for this, Ruby! Look at what you did to me!" Cinder yells, ripping the eyepatch from her face to show the nasty burn scars on her face, that have deformed her eye to the point of no return. She has also shaven the second of her black hair that was burned. A small section around her malformed ear. "You're gonna pay for this!"

"Not before you pay for what you did to Pyrrha! You hurt my friend!" Nora yells, remembering how Cinder put a hole through Pyrrha's heel and nearly killed her at the same time. She erupts through the trees and holds her axe above her head with anger, channelling the explosive power of a grenade launcher in the form of pink lightning. She slams it down right at Cinder, the pink explosion throws her back and she throws the axe towards her. The thrusters built into the back of the axe blast and causes it to spin through the air, slashing up Cinder's aura with every single hit made, before it returns back to her. Nora has a glove on her swinging hand, that has some small magnets built into it that she can use to call the axe back to her after she has thrown it.

One of the many new upgrades she has acquired since she started using a smaller weapon – that she actually prefers using now, due to how fast she can make her attacks now. Cinder staggers from Nora's attack and grits her teeth, forming ice across her hand and she slams her fist down into the ground, blasting massive shards of ice up through the ground. Nora yelps as she gets hit by one, so hard it throws her back. Cinder turns and her eye widens, seeing Ren and Yang also charging forward. Yang catches Ren and she swings round, throwing him towards Cinder. He tackles her and slams his knee down into her face. "Judgement was going to find you eventually, Cinder." Ren growls, showing an emotion he usually hides.

Anger.

Cinder punches Ren in the side with a growl. "Get! Off!" She yells, as she gets back up she takes her axe and slams it into Ren's side with both hands. The attack blasts him through the trees and she lets out a yell of fury as the fire erupts from her eyes. She turns and faces Yang next, her eyes flushed with red but not using her semblance yet. Yang swings her fists at Cinder with speed and hate, hitting Cinder in the face on a few occasions, causing her to stagger back from each strike. Yang ducks down under the swing from Cinder and she blasts Ember Celica aside when she takes her axe and slams it downwards towards her head. The axe lodges into the ground, setting more grass on fire. Yang slides across the ground and blasts above Cinder, diving down to punch her in the side of the head, firing the shotgun at the same time. But as she does it, Cinder staggers and manages to swing round and slam her axe into Yang. The hit knocks her to the floor with a grunt, so Cinder grabs her by the leg and swings round, throwing her straight into Nora who was going for another attack with Stormur Skeggox.

The two of them crumble down to the ground, and Cinder rises up into the air and the sky darkens once more, rain starts to fall onto their heads as they fight her. She holds her hands out and blasts bolts of lightning down towards them, one of them explodes right next to Ruby, throwing her onto the floor from the buzzing shockwave. But Nora gets up and she smirks, staring up at the sky as the lightning crackles above her. The bolt crashes down onto her, and her aura glows bright pink. "YeeeeeaaaaAAAAHHHHHH!" Nora screams, and Cinder's eye widens with disbelief and a bit of fear as the glowing pink ball of energy shoots up towards her.

Nora swings her fist into Cinder's face, so hard that it blows the rain from the sky, and the explosive punch blasts Cinder down into the forest below. She tumbles into the mud and growls, looking ahead to see Ruby and Ren blasting towards her. Ren kicks Cinder across the face and fires both Stormflower pistols repeatedly at her aura, but she eventually manages to spin her axe through her fingers to deflect the incoming bullets from his guns. Ruby spirals Crescent Rose at her foe, slashing at her but Cinder keeps backing up, holding her axe and blocking each incoming scythe strike. She swings forward and locks the blade of her axe into Ruby's scythe. Ruby cannot break free, then Cinder opens her other palm and forms her second axe, and she jumps and spins, twisting round and slashing both of her axes across Ruby's aura. The attack knocks the young woman down into the ground and she pins her down with her boot, holding the nineteen year old on the ground.

"Even after all these years, you still never think about what you're fighting do you?" She scoffs.

"I beat you didn't I?" Ruby yells.

"Surprise attacked me, you hardly beat me." Cinder states, as she goes to slam her axe down into Ruby's head, only for Ren to jump onto her chest, wrapping his legs around her neck in a scissor hold. He slams his body downwards and throws Cinder straight into the swinging fist of Yang. The punch cracks into her face, knocking her down, and Cinder slides, touching her throbbing cheek. Yang managed to actually open a wound there, only for her powerful aura to repair the damage. "Not bad, blondie." She chuckles.

Cinder suddenly slams her fist into the ground and sends multiple rocks up into the air, using the element of fire to melt them down, and then ice as they form into spikes. Then with wind, she launches them towards them, all of them hit the four Hunters, throwing them back. Except for Nora who burns them to dust with her axe's beam, but Ruby suddenly blasts up and she and Cinder shoot towards Raven's camp once more. They both crash into the camp once more, tumbling right into the centre with dust and dirt stuck to their bodies. The chunks of wood fall and they crush down onto one of the tents.

Cinder growls as she pushes her hands against the dirt, and Ruby gets up, about to attack again. He blasts forward until a hammer slams straight into her face, so hard it throws her back. She groans as she lays there on the ground, looking across the path to see what hit her. A hammer like head attached to a chain gets dragged back into the handle of the weapon's user, and he stares at her with hazel coloured eyes. He wears the same leather overalls like the rest of the Bandits, standing beside Cinder. "Leave her alone." He growls, helping her up, only for Cinder to shove him back.

"Get off me, Oscar! This is between me and them!" Cinder snarls, but then Vernal stands beside her with her guns aimed at the two of them.

"Well this went to hell in a basket real fast, didn't it?" Vernal sighs as she keeps her guns trained on Ruby, Yang, Nora and Ren. "Put your weapons down and let's talk this through like adults!" Vernal yells, and Raven and Crow return, erupting out from their Corvid Forms.

"Enough!" Raven yells as she stands in the middle of the confrontation. "If we keep this up this camp will be swarming with Grimm! And that's the last thing we need now that the wall has been breached thanks to this little scuffle of yours." Raven growls.

"She caused the Battle of Beacon! So many died thanks to her! Penny died!" Nora yells as she holds Stormur Skeggox in her fist, crackling with pink lightning, and Cinder grits her teeth together as she stares at them.

"Oh…I'm starting to remember her…the robot girl." Cinder coos as she starts to get back up, pushing her hand against her knee. "Y'know, I'd like to remind you I didn't kill her. Hell I nearly avenged her that night if not for your silver eyed friend here." She says, pointing her obsidian axe at her.

Ren grits his teeth and he goes to attack her, only for Qrow to stop him, holding him back from attacking. "She is our friend! Do you know how much pain you put her through?"

"How about me? Look at what that silver eyed bitch did to me!" Cinder yells, pointing at the burns on her face, pulling her patch from her pocket.

"Oh yeah? Wanna go for round two? Let's go!" Ruby yells, her silver eyes actually flicker for a moment there as well, and Cinder snarls with anger.

"Stop it! Now!" Raven yells.

But then…in the middle of their argument, Eryka hears it first and it scares her.

The whispers…

Hundreds of them, so sharp they are like daggers stabbing into her brain. "Valravn! Valravn! Valravn! Valraaaaavn!"

They all begin to press their hands to their heads, only Raven and Qrow are able to withstand it and the other Bandits watch in awe as he emerges from the tent behind Ruby and Yang. Emerging from the tent, is Valravn Branwen – the oldest remaining Branwen left on the planet, the Uncle to the Branwen Siblings. He towers above them, an intimidating white and red marked mask like Raven's, but more in the shape of a Raven Skull with herbs smoking from within. He holds a large Sceptre with Corvid Feathers and windchimes attacked to it that clink as he emerges, his voice burning into their ears.

"What's this?! Hunger for blood?! I taste the copper in the air, within the walls of this camp?"

"Back in your tent, Val." Raven steps in his way, but he shoves through with his chiming staff.

"Head of gold? Ah yes… blood of the raven." He stares at Yang, venting the herbal smokes through his mask. "Mothers rage… fathers heart. All stitched together, through misplaced marriage and unity. At least she learnt her place is not in wedlock."

Raven frowns, staring at her Val with daggers in her eyes. He turns to the others, speaking through more riddles as always.

"My ravens tell your story. Copper head and lotus. They watched, black birds in the smoke, as the monster levelled your lands. Monsters that which fell from the skies."

Nora and Ren shrink under his faceless stare, Kuroyuri mingling in their minds. He is unlike anything they have ever seen, they have met terrifying monsters – but there is something quite unnerving about him. Is it the massive coat forged from the feathers of birds? Is it the long stilt legs he walks upon? Or the fact they cannot even see his face?

His masked face turns, staring directly at Ruby Rose.

"And you… Summer's little petal."

"Hey! Leave Ruby alone." Yang steps in front of him. He scoffs, nudging her back with a prod of his wind chime staff.

"Ah the shining light in the sky, that shrouds it's darkness from within… " He walks around her. "… I wonder, what will we find when we cast your shade upon your light. What secrets will we find? What mistakes?"

Yang looks at Raven. "Our mistake was coming here! You never told me you were part of some sort of cult! That you were harbouring the very person who nearly levelled Beacon! Who killed Penny, who nearly killed Pyrrha!" Yang yells with anger and disgust, she wanted to know more about who her mother is but she never expected to find anything quite like this.

"A cult is a band of misguided fools that follow a liar. We follow the truth, it carries on the wind, like the ravens that tell of your stories." Valravn snaps from behind the four. "What truth? In your tales? That you were naïve in trusting people welcomed into a tournament, with the sole intent of causing harm, for a spectators pleasure? Who is the real fool?"

Valravn stares down at Ruby, and she has never felt so small as the hulking old man stares down at her. "Eyes of a shattered moon, ancient enemy of my kind – punishment for an ancient failure." He snarls, sounding increasingly hateful towards Ruby – or perhaps just her Silver Eyes.

"Back in your hole, Val." Qrow steps in front of them with his fists clenched. "They're just kids!"

"We were all Corvus children. The call of the nest has sent us all into the same kingdom for the first time in decades. Tell me Qrow. Is this you answering the call? Or do you wish to pluck more feathers from this wounded family?" Valravn questions as he stares down at his Nephew.

"Look. Lemme and Raven speak in private." Qrow requests.

"We haven't the time. I feel it, a chill in the air. The same quiver in my spine from Beacon's ashes. The Jackdaw will feed. Soon. The Crow and Raven must answer the call!" The King of the Ravens demands.

Valravn grabs Qrow by the shoulder, then Raven. Their eyes roll back and suddenly their minds do not inhabit their bodies anymore. Ruby steps back in confusion, before running forward and shaking Qrow by his collar.

"Uncle Qrow! Uncle Qrow!" Ruby cries out, Cinder getting back up and touching her bleeding cheek as Oscar helps her over to one of the tents to get patched up.

Qrow opens his eyes, and he is in the blizzard. Only Raven and Valravn are by his side.

The Branwens.

They look forward at the silhouette of Jackdaw, not facing them. He is talking with someone else, unawares of their existence, or the snow.

"Val…" Raven looks up at Valravn. "Are we… eavesdropping right now?"

Val doesn't answer.

The three Branwens stare into the storm, seeing him standing there, a ghostly apparition of their enemy, speaking with someone. For the most part, her voice was deformed, but there was one sentence that they heard clearly.

"Of course I have information, darlin'. Lil' Miss always delivers." The voice with quite the flippant accent tells Jackdaw.

But then…

It is like he hears something, and he suddenly turns round and his red eyes glow like that of a demon, the caw of a thousand crows enter their mind. But they manage to escape just in time before he could latch on, and the snow vanishes from their gaze. Raven and Qrow both collapse to the dirt with a groan, whereas Valravn does not seem fazed by the event in the slightest.

"The hell was that?" Yang questions, crouching down beside her Uncle to check if he is okay, and Valravn looks upon them., staring straight at Ruby.

"The Jackdaw is on the hunt – his flight has taken him to Vacuo." Valravn tells them, and Qrow stares at his Uncle with confusion.

"What? How could you tell?" He questions.

"The woman of which he spoke – an Information Broker. Who goes by the title – of Lil' Miss Malachite."

* * *

**Author Note - This might be one of my favourite chapters in Eclipse so far.**

**I absolutely love writing Valravn, he just has some of the coolest lines I have written because of how he speaks in riddles and wordplay. And not only that, his design is absolutely awesome. I would love to see artwork of him some time XD. But not only that, we got Ruby, Yang, Nora and Ren Vs Cinder which was a fight I have been waiting to do for quite a while now. We had Oscar protecting Cinder with Vernal at her side, which was very strange but awesome to write. Had the Raven and Tai stuff, and I finally get to show off the Branwen Tribe.**

**I hope you have been enjoying the series so far! If you haven't checked it out yet, please check out Knights of Grimm if you can! I love these stories and I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoy writing them.**

**Please review, follow and favourite, and if you wanna join my discord PM me and I will send you the code!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter - Bandits of Truth**

**\- Matt**


	10. Spiders and Power

**Chapter 9 – Spiders and Power**

* * *

**Author Note: Just so then everyone knows, I have decided to change the format of my writing from Present Tense to Past Tense. This is because my brother and I are now working on our original series which is being written that way. So this will help me get used to writing this way. If I do have slip-ups and accidentally do go to present tense and don't realise then don't be afraid to let me know. I want to make sure this becomes muscle memory for me.**

**At least this way it will help me improve upon my writing.**

**I hope you understand – Matt**

* * *

**Jackdaw**

* * *

His red eyes burned like coals as he stared in the direction that he thought he saw them watching, listening. He could feel it, he could hear it – the whispers of Valravn Branwen in the back of his mind.

"Valravn, Valravn, Valravn!" They all whispered, soft spoken voices constantly surrounded him and it hurt like a fire in the back of his mind. He clenched his gloved metal fist tight, stared off into the distance at where they were once stood in the plain. Sat at her table in front of him was Lil' Miss Malachite.

Lil' Miss Malachite was a heavy-set middle-aged woman with light skin and short blonde hair kept in a bob haircut. She had a spider in its web tattooed on her left shoulder, a beauty mark under her right eye, lipstick on her upper lip and purple nail polish on her fingernails. The top of her dress was white and backless, with long sleeves and details, such as beads and straps, in purple. Below was a purple corset, and a long pleated skirt that was yellow on its top layer, purple in the middle one, and white in the lower layer. Her shoes were brown and decorated with a green ribbon.

Stood as her bodyguards were her two Twin Daughters – Militia and Melanie Malachite.

Melanie – once the teenage fighter hired by Junior with her sister – now had grown up into a young adult. She looked harder but wore the same style of clothing with long black hair and pale green eyes, highlighted by heavy cyan makeup. She wore a white, strapless dress with cyan lining. Her accessories included a large white flower hairpin above her left ear, a white feather scarf, a silver pad with cyan and red feathers on her left shoulder, white gloves, a small silver bracer over the glove on her left arm, a bow in the centre of the top-most part of her bodice, a silver chained belt, cyan wings on the lower back and long white boots with blades at the heels.

Militia – also grown up over the five years – also had returned back to her mother to serve alongside her. With short black hair and pale green eyes, highlighted by heavy red makeup. She wore a red strapless dress with black lining. Her accessories included large red and white feathers above her left ear, black fur hanging off her shoulders and held at the front by a dark grey chain, red gloves, a black bow tied around her waist and long red boots with very high stiletto heels.

The two sisters seemed to enjoy mirroring each other in subtle ways, and were much smaller in comparison to their mother. And yet the one that really gave off the more intimidating vibe was not the bodyguards but their mother instead.

She held her fan and gently cooled her face. "Little jumpy today, are we?" Lil' Miss asked Jackdaw as he stared over his shoulder, and then those burning red eyes glared at some of the other Spiders inside of the place. The Gangster had plenty of minions, all of them armed and tattooed with the same spider in its web on their bodies. Some of the people had them on their shoulders, others on their backs, some on their sternum and others in placed covered by clothing. There were also some young women dancing on the poles and others flirting with the men inside, there were many ways to make money in Vacuo, and none of them were exactly pretty jobs.

"I've learned to prepare for anything." Jackdaw answered, looking back at her as he slowly retracted the Grave Dust formed blades back into his arms. He could still hear the faint whispers in the back of his mind though.

"Valravn…Valravn…Valravn."

It was constant but fading away, and he managed to push them away, swallow them up so then they could not affect him anymore. Lil Miss Malachite leant back into her chair, a silver dish with richly made dessert upon it, her spoon sat beside it. "Do you have the information I asked you to get me, or not?" Jackdaw asked her, and she chuckled.

"I do…but I was hoping we could chat first." She said to him, but he gave her a stern glare.

"Tough shit, give me the information and I will leave." Jackdaw demanded, but Lil Miss did not work that way – and when in her house, you follow her rules.

"You would like to be more careful with your tone with me – Jack the Ripper." Lil Miss said, and he stared down at her with narrowed eyes. She smirked up at him, and she took her fancy cigarette and tapped the glowing orange ashes from the end into her ash tray. "Surprised? My little spiders have been following you for a long time now, Mr Branwen. Not everything can be buried, and I know plenty of information about you." She warned, and Jackdaw narrowed his eyes at her. "So I would like you to be more polite to an Information Broker like myself, or I will spill all your secrets to the public. Then there will be nowhere left for you to hide." She warned, and Jackdaw exhaled through his nose, he glanced at some of the Spiders that had their eyes on him.

He could take on all of them, but he did not want to leave a bloodbath. He needed his information, that was it, but if they push him any further, they would leave him no other choice. So he gave her what she wanted – as much respect as he could lend. "As you wish." Jackdaw said to her, and she nodded her head.

"That's better." Lil Miss said with a chuckle, she glanced at her daughters and held her hand out to Militia. "My scroll, Darling."

Militia turned to the other table and she approached it, and Jackdaw looked at her walk away. "Beautiful things aren't they? The man I had them with was kind…but a bore." She sighed and Militia came back with her scroll, placing it in her hand. "That's a good girl." She said, opening it and it formed a hologram, showing a Map of a specific location – Atlas.

Jackdaw stared at the highlighted location, beyond the safety of Atlas' Walls – the Atlesian Wildlands.

"The location in which you seek is hidden in the Atlesian Wildlands. The Black Gallows made a big point about keeping this location a secret before they changed facilities, whatever it is you seek is in there. It also seems to have a network of underground tunnels – all of which feed into Atlas, a Ratway of Sorts." Lil Miss explained to Jackdaw, pulling the chip of data out and handing it to Jackdaw. He picked it up and he looked at the green dot that glowed, meaning all the data was installed into the drive with ease.

"Every Kingdom has its secrets." Jackdaw said, and she chuckled.

"Indeed. And one does not become the most powerful Kingdom on all of Remnant without having a dirty side. I believe these old tunnels were used to…mitigate…loose ends, if you catch my meaning." Lil Miss chuckled, and Jackdaw nodded his head, pushing the drive into his pocket, and he turned to walk away from her.

"Many thanks." He said to her, and she smiled.

"You know…you've been quite the interesting customer." She said to him, and then two Bouncers that held the entrance stood in front of Jackdaw with their large axes in their hands, ready to cut him down if they had to. "But I would like to tell you something first – and you will leave, when I say you can leave." Lil Miss said to him, and he looked over his shoulder at her with a glare. She gestured him to return, so he did, he did not want to bring the entire Kingdom down on his head. He could kill everyone in this room with ease, but it would not be silent by any means.

Jackdaw approached her and she smiled. "It seems like you're afraid. Y'know…I used to be afraid of spiders. Wanna know what I did about it?" Lil Miss asked him curiously, and he raised a brow.

"Killed them?" He presumed.

"Oh no! The world needs Spiders, honey. I just made the spiders work for _me_." She told him with a smile on her face, and he glanced at all of them that surrounded him. "I was weak once, a beggar on the streets with no name of power. But when I started to get the Spiders on my side, they brought me whispers. And within days, that information lifted me from the gutters I was starving in – to leading an empire based on Knowledge." Lil Miss Malachite held out her arms to her small little empire she built with spiders everywhere. "You see? The woman who holds the keys to the books is Queen and honey…you should see me in a crown. You want to know what real power is? Knowledge is power." She told him with a smirk, and Jackdaw stared at her.

Then he laughed, slowly it built and she raised a brow with confusion. "You think me afraid of your fancy words and arachnids that follow you?" He asked her. "You cling to what you claim is power, but your just hiding from the cold hard truth." Jackdaw stated.

"Mhm? And what truth is that, sweetheart?" Lil Miss Malachite asked him curiously.

Then he launched the Fatal Feathers towards her, and they landed in the walls right next to her head, ear to ear, the same for both her daughters at her shoulders. Their eyes were wide and she felt fear, terror of how close that just was – everything she built could have ended just then. Jackdaw lowered his swung arm and he smirked sinisterly at her, he took off his hat and dusted off the particles from the air, before straightening it atop his dark brown hair again. "Power is Power." He told her, and he turned to see all of the Spiders with weapons drawn on him, from firearms to melee weapons, all of them ready to attack him.

But they were all scared of him, and he walked towards them all, and he touched the blade of the machete that belonged to one of the men. "You all live in a fairy tale, you stand here thinking you run this Kingdom, and yet a man like me entered and could tear it all down. I could slice through every single one of you like carving a cake, and I would not even break a sweat." Jackdaw warned, and then he looked at them all. From the men to the women and he pointed at them one at a time.

"Murderer. Thief. Beggar. Prostitute. All of you are just criminals thinking you are more than what you are, like you are all kings and queens atop an empire of sand. But you are all nothing more than spiders – small insignificant life forms beneath the power of man." Jackdaw explained, he looked down at his boot at a small spider crawling across the ground. "And you know what's the kicker?" He asked Malachite who stared at him. He raised his boot over the spider. "Even the Broodmother, can be crushed under a boot, in an instant." He told her, slamming his boot down and crushing the spider, he twisted the boot and left the squished and mangled remains of the spider across the floor.

Jackdaw turned to walk away from them and Malachite yelled. "I have powerful friends, Jackdaw Branwen! Friends who will take pleasure in punishing you for this!" She yelled and he smirked as he walked towards the exit, he pushed the two bouncers down to the ground with the strength of his metal arms.

"Send them. I'll be waiting." He told her, and the doors slammed shut behind him.

* * *

**Cinder**

* * *

She winced as Vernal tended to some of her wounds after her battle against Ruby. Yang, Nora and Ren, a sewing kit on the bench beside her. Vernal used it carefully, using the needle and thread to pull her skin back together and hold it there. She got that wound on her arm from fighting against Ren, he managed to slash her arm with Stormflower and it left a mighty good gash on her. Cinder gritted her teeth together and pounded her fist against the table. "OW YOU BITCH!" Cinder exclaimed and Vernal rolled her eyes.

"Y'know you've said that about six times now." Vernal calmly pointed out as she kept going, ignoring her friend's winging.

"Well…it hurts!" She exclaimed once again with pain as she stared up at the starry sky, the sun was soon gonna rise but they were still in the dark of night at this moment.

"Oh wah, wah, wah. Just a cut, get it together." Vernal ordered and Cinder scoffed.

"Easier said than done!" She strained once again as Vernal pulled the thread through the wound and out the other side, pulling the skin together. "OOO-HA-OOW!" She exclaimed once more, punching the table again. "You did that on purpose…"

"I never thought the Fall Maiden could complain so much. What're you like with a paper cut?" Vernal scoffed as she kept on going, nearly finished up with fixing up the damage done to her.

"Paper cuts hurt like a bitch." Cinder defended, which made Vernal chuckle at that. Fall Maiden right here, and she is making a fuss like a child who has a boo-boo. But as she kept going she turned to see Oscar Pine approach them with his weapon attached to his belt, chained hammers retracted back to where they should be.

"How's she doing?" Oscar asked her.

"HOW'D YA THINK PAL?" Cinder screeched in pain, she felt the needle dig that time. "Why did you do that?"

"She may be the loudest patient I've worked on. You know I've had children quieter than you." Vernal stated with a deadpanned expression directed towards Cinder. Cinder gave her a stare and she so wanted to go full Fall Maiden on her, but she couldn't be bothered. And even then, she can't.

"Damn powers…why's it taking so long for me to recharge them?" Cinder groaned as Vernal finished up on the stitching. She got the gauze and started to wrap up her arm where the stitches have been used. She wrapped it up tight to prevent infection and also to stop any further bleeding.

"There, done." Vernal said to her.

"Raven said you need to keep working at it. Like a muscle." Oscar said to her, he walked over to a barrel and jumped up onto it, picking up an apple from the bowl on the barrel next to him. He took a big bite out of the apple, the juice trickled down his cheeks and his lip, and he enjoyed the sweet taste of the red apple.

"Sure, but how can Raven know how to train me? I respect her and all that, but she's not a Maiden." Cinder said, and Vernal chuckled.

"True, but her theory is that it is no different to working a semblance." Vernal stated, which just made her scoff.

"Semblance…yeah having telekinesis that can only move grains of sand is a great ability, huh?" Cinder stated as she stared at the floor, she held out her hand and used that very same semblance. She could not even move the petal of the flower down by her boot, only the grains of dirt and sand beneath her. She only can lift a small cloud of it too, nothing more than that. It forms into a spherical shape and she holds it in her hand, before she gasps from the strain and it crumbles through her fingers. She punched the table with anger, so hard that the leg of the table broke and it fell forward.

"Cinder…" Oscar sighed.

"I'm not as lucky as the rest of you alright? Not as lucky as those kids. I can't get stronger through electricity and I can't turn into rose petals. Everything I can do, I had to suffer to get. I had to fight, I had to actually work for it. And now that I have it…I can barely use it for long." She explained with anger, she had always hated herself for how weak she is. Even with the power of the Fall Maiden she could not use them for very long. It was something that Salem would scorn her for, it is most likely a reason why she did not return to her. Salem is cruel and deadly, those who fail her usually wind up dead, and the same goes for those who disappoint her.

Where else was she to go?

"Was that girl, the one with the Silver Eyes. Was she the one that did that to you?" Oscar asked her, pointing to his eye as he looked at her. Cinder stared at him and she rolled her only amber eye.

"Oh, what gave you that idea, Pine?" Cinder sternfully said back, and he held up his hands in surrender.

"Alright, jeez…just asking." Oscar said, and Cinder sighed, she felt bad about snapping at him over the subject. She looked at the eighteen year old guy stood by the barrel now with his head held low.

"It's alright…I'm sorry. I'm just in a…fighty…mood right now." Cinder said, and Oscar raised a brow.

"You're always in that mood." He said, and Cinder chuckled.

"True." Cinder agreed. "Well let's just say I can't blame them for attacking me first…I did cause the Battle of Beacon. And caused Emerald to cause Pyrrha to kill Penny. And nearly killed Ozpin. And nearly killed Pyrrha." Cinder listed and they all looked at her, and when you add it all up, they can't overly blame them either. She did do more bad than Ruby did to her, and Cinder sighed. "I guess I just wanted some payback…that burn hurt like hell after all."

"A lot of _nearly killed _scenarios." Oscar commented.

"Don't get me started on how many times I screwed up. Hell I managed to get caught hacking by that same girl. Although their security is shit." Cinder admitted and Vernal gave her a stare.

"_Language_." She said, which made Cinder stare at her with disbelief.

"Oh raiding villages is okay but swearing is a no-no?" Cinder questioned, until she turned to see the little girl that they took in a few weeks ago. She couldn't be any older than seven years old, with short brown hair and huge brown eyes she gazed at them curiously. She tilted her head with a smile and Cinder looked away from her. Oscar got up and he walked over to her, he crouched down and he ruffled her hair.

"Hey, Amber. Whatcha up to?" He asked her.

"I…I wanted some water…" She softly cooed, and Vernal sighed.

"I need to go see Raven, keep out of trouble for five seconds?" Vernal asked Cinder and she gave her a thumbs up.

"Can you watch her whilst I get her some water?" Oscar asked Cinder.

"Uh…I don't think I should…"

"Thanks." Oscar didn't even give her the chance to answer, he just walked off to go get her water. Leaving the Fall Maiden alone with the little girl who looked at her curiously. She tilted her head and waddled closer.

"H-Hello." Amber sweetly greeted with a tiny wave with her tiny hand. Cinder did not turn her head, she just kept trying to use her Fall Maiden powers, trying to ignite a flame in her hand. But nothing she tried gave any merit, gave her a chance. The flames just kept extinguishing as soon as she ignited them.

"Hi." Cinder hardly even gave her much of a response, she muttered that greeting as she kept trying to ignite the flame. A smile of intrigue graced the little girl's face as she looked at Cinder's scarred hand that tried to ignite the flame.

"How're you doing that? Are you magical? Are you a Witch?" She asked her curiously, and Cinder chuckled as she looked at the magic across her hand.

"No. I'm not a Witch." She answered, and Amber looked at her, that curiosity grew with every second that passed her by.

"What happened to your eye? Did someone steal it?" She asked her curiously, which made Cinder chuckle, and she looked at her,

"No…actually…I'm a Pirate." She joked with a smile, and Amber giggled with such life in her soul, shoulders bouncing and she hid in her hoodie at that.

"No you're not! Pirates are long gone!" She giggled, and Cinder chuckled.

"Oh yeah? Then what would you call me?" She asked her, she looked at her, but then that smile seemed to fade and she looked away from her. Because deep down, she did not want to know what she would call herself.

_Monster? _

_The woman who killed so many all for a power she can hardly even use? _

_A weakling? _

_Maybe I am a Witch…People treat me like one, and I can't blame them._

Cinder knew of this girl that they took in, all they knew about her was her first name – which was just Amber. And that was what hurt Cinder when she first heard about her, because the girl she killed to get these powers in the first place had the exact same name. She also had bronze skin and brown hair just like this little girl, like she is some kind of dark reminder for her to always remember. She stared away from her, unable to picture her face, and instead she kept seeing the woman she killed. Was she like that girl beside her? Was she so kind that she just wanted to make others happy?

And she took that soul from the world, all for this power that she can't control.

The town they found her in was completely overrun by the Grimm, and it took them quite a bit of time to clear it out. Creatures feasted upon the cadavers of people, some of them were still screaming and alive, torn apart. They found Amber in her home, locked in her room, crying after she heard her parents be eaten alive by Beowulves. They knew what did this though, the Grimm attack was not what brought them there – at least it was not what killed them. It was the after effects of a Human Attack – an attack by the Vasillias Cartel. Their pull in Anima is extremely powerful and they have fought their men quite a few times, a reason why they cannot build up a permanent home. Soon they will need to move again.

Lavinia Vasillias is nothing if not persistent.

The Cartel would never ever wipe out an entire village for no reason, unlike most Bandits – it was likely that they did what they did due to the Mayor of the Town had a deal with them. And could not pay off his debt, so Lavinia got in back – her way.

Amber finally answered her question about what she thought she was. "I think…you're a good person. A Huntress." She told her, and Cinder froze when she said that, since that could not be a worse answer. She squeezed her eye shut and she blew out a shaky breath, she did not want to hurt the girl's feelings and she looked at her.

"Not really…I'm just…I dunno. I'm a survivor." She told her and Amber sat down on the log near her, but Cinder kept fiddling with the straps on her leg. "Haven't you…I dunno, got somewhere else to be? I'm terrible company."

"I'm happy here, it's warm. I don't like the cold…and my tent is dark." She sniffled, and Cinder was no fool, poor Amber must have gotten those fears from being trapped inside of a closet for days with no food after hearing her parents get ripped to pieces by Grimm. "I miss my mommy and daddy…"

Cinder looked at her as she looked at the floor, and she sighed, she clenched her hands into fists since she could not say the same for her parents. She could still feel the cold glass in her hand when she stabbed them to death with the broken slipper. It was awkward for Cinder, she did not know what to say over the situation. "I…I know what you mean." She said to her, and Amber looked at her.

"Did bad people come and hurt your mommy and daddy too?" She asked, and Cinder shook her head.

"Not exactly, kiddo." Cinder said, and Amber looked at her curiously. "I'm not a good person…but my parents…my family…they were worse."

Amber looked at her and her eyes widened. "I killed my mom and dad…that's why you shouldn't be a round me. I'm an evil bitch who doesn't deserve your company." She cursed and Amber tilted her head in curiosity.

"What's a Bitch?" She asked her and Cinder's eye widened and she gasped.

"Oop! No! Don't say that…bad word." Cinder begged her, she looked around and she started to giggle.

"Bitch?" She asked.

"Kid…" Cinder groaned.

"Bitch!" Amber giggled louder and Cinder groaned in defeat, rolling on the floor with a sigh, and Amber laid down next to her on the dirt. Cinder dwarfed her as she stared up at the stars that were beginning to fade.

"You're torturing me, kid." Cinder chuckled, and Amber giggled.

"Yay!" She giggled, making Cinder sigh and chuckle at the same time, she closed her eye as she laid there, staring up at the sky. Then Amber laid back down next to her, rubbing her sleepy eyes.

"Shouldn't you get some sleep, little turnip?" She asked her, already coming up with a nickname for her, whether or not she wanted to get close to her or not.

"I can't." She told her, and Cinder glanced at her. "I keep hearing it…"

Cinder reached her hand out and she went to touch her shoulder and she sighed, she could not bring herself to hug the girl. So just patted her shoulder and she stood back up. "Wanna know how I keep the demons out?" Cinder asked her, and Amber looked back up. "The Nightmares just wanna win. So I remember how much I like winning, when the nightmares come for you – tell them to go away. Stand up, stare them in the eyes – and you show them you're braver than they are." Cinder explained, and she picked up the little girl and carried her back to her tent, she looked ahead and Amber softly cooed.

"But…what if it is braver than me? What if its bigger? What if it laughs at me?" Amber whimpered.

"No nightmare is bigger than you, it just makes itself look like it is. But it's just a shadow, and shadows can't hurt you, can they?" Cinder asked her as she approached the tent, opening it with her leg.

"No…" She agreed.

She laid her down on her bed and she started to tuck her in, and she looked at her. "You're name is Cinder…isn't it?" She asked her.

"Mhm." She answered.

"Like…Cinderella?" She asked, and Cinder scoffed.

"Not…really." She chuckled, since she did the complete opposite of what the Fairy Tale Character did. Amber looked out the open tent and she saw some of the Grunts walk past, and Shay was amongst them. His bruise had healed and he also had already had the broken tooth replaced with a silver one.

"Are you people…are you good? The people who hurt my mommy and daddy…they burned my home…are you like them, or better?" Amber asked with worry in her voice, and Cinder did not know how to answer that question. She looked over her shoulder at the Grunts that walked around.

_Some of us…but Raven does not have complete control over what the damn Grunts do._

But she needed Amber to get to sleep.

So she…half lies.

"We're good people, we just hurt the bad people. Like the ones who hurt your mommy and daddy." She told her and Amber smiled. "Remember what I said about Nightmares? I bet you'll get plenty of sleep tonight." She promised and Amber smiled up at her, and Cinder closed and zipped up her pink tent they gave her. She stepped back and glanced at some of the Grunts nearby, who were trying on stolen jewellery. She did not even notice Oscar walking up to her from behind.

"She went back to sleep?" He asked her, holding the glass of water he got her from the tap. Cinder nodded her head and sighed.

"And I just had to lie to her." She said.

"About what?"

"That we're good people." She said, because the jewels of which those Grunts were messing around with were from an innocent village that they raided against Raven's orders. And she knew, but she cannot control them – sometimes they need to get out their worst impulses to stay under her command.

And Raven hates that.

All of them do, but the Grunts are merely firepower.

At the end of the day, no matter how many times they tell themselves they are doing the right thing – they are still Bandits.

* * *

**Ruby**

* * *

The Silver Eyed Girl felt so alien in this camp, people gave her stares, stares that looked like they wanted to kill her. All because of the colour of her eyes, she might not be the greatest of wordsmiths like Valravn but she heard what he was saying. It sounded like he was saying that they have been at war with her kind for a very long time, and that they do not trust her at all. It hurt, because she never said anything to offend them, but all of their reactions clearly were based around fear.

She did not forget what she did that night, the night she froze the Grimm Dragon and sent the Black Smog retreating into the Emerald Forest. She kept walking through the camp in search for her sister, since she lost sight of her when she was looking around the camp. She could not find any of them in the camp as she searched. "Yang! Nora! Ren! Qrow!" She called out their names in desperation and then she heard another voice.

"Y'know, I took Dulcis here so he could avoid the yelling." Eryka told her, sat on a rock as she stroked his feathers gently as he looked at Ruby. She smiled at Neptune's older sister and she approached her, at least she had found someone she knew in this alien location of people she had never met before now. "I could hear you when you were all the way back there, by the way." Eryka stated, due to her heightened senses thanks to learning how to bond her aura with an Altum Eagle. Ruby sat down next to her as they looked out across the fields of Mistral, the little clearing that the Branwens made their home in was beautiful and with the sun rising slowly over the mountains, it only made it prettier.

"Sorry." She apologised.

"Don't worry about it – I'm guessing that the black haired gal was Cinder Fall?" Eryka presumed and Ruby nodded her head with stern silver eyes.

"Yeah…"

"Sorry. But if she is part of the Tribe then we need to get on with it, they never sell out their own." Eryka stated, and Ruby looked at her. She couldn't really tell if she could trust her again, that was one hell of a secret to keep from her friends. Even her brother, but even then – she said it was a painful memory.

Ruby looked at Dulcis and she gently reached out to him, wanting to think of something other than Cinder Fall. "Can I?" She asked her and she held out her arm, and Ruby did the same. It was incredible, Dulcis gently stepped onto her unprotected arm, he made sure his talons did not nick her skin or cut her in any way. He softly chirped as he looked at Ruby and she smiled. "Hi…" She greeted. "He's so beautiful."

"Yeah…he gets all the fuss, don't you fatty?" Eryka teases and he softly chirps at her.

"Fatty?" Ruby asked.

"Trust me, he eats way more than he should." Eryka chuckled, she shook her head at the huge Bird of Prey whilst Ruby petted him. Eryka had a feeling the question was coming, so she was ready when Ruby asked her.

"Can I…ask you something?" She asked her.

"About my relation to the Tribe?" She asked, and Ruby was caught in her tracks, which made Eryka chuckle. "Sure…I mean it's a long and hard story for me to tell." She said, so Ruby gave Dulcis back to his owner and she let him bounce onto the rocks next to her. He sat down as she began to tell the story. "So…do you want the long or the short?"

"Just the truth…if that's alright." Ruby asked and Eryka nodded her head.

"Alright then…well to start – have you heard of the Vasillias Cartel?" She asked her, and Ruby nodded her head.

"I didn't think you and Neptune were related in any way though." Ruby said.

"We are – well by blood by any means – my Mother is a dangerous woman, and her desire has always been to control the Criminal Underworld. And she has succeeded in that…I left when she took over Vacuo's Underworld – you'll see the damage of what she did when we go there." Eryka explained to her. "When she did it though, I took Neptune when he was a baby and I got the two of us out of there. We found somewhere safer, far away from where my mother could find us. I don't think she ever wanted to find us though, it was easy to live away from her – she never sent anyone after us. Nobody ever came." Eryka shrugged her shoulders and crossed her legs.

"It was good for a while, we lived in an orphanage for a few years and then were taken in by this young couple. They were really good to Neptune, but I think they also admired me…which I think was what lead to Neptune looking up to me so much." Eryka explained, pointing to her blue hair in the process.

"What colour hair do you normally have?" Ruby asked and she smirked.

"You'll never know." She giggled and that made Ruby giggle too. "The couple got us through school…until I tried to become a Huntress. That was when things started to go downhill for me – I could never activate my aura, that came later on from different methods. So they rejected me, denied me entry into the training classes because of my inability to produce an aura. Even now, it's not strong enough for prolonged combat like you." Eryka explained as she let her ocean blue aura flicker across her body. "I went dark for a while after that, I worked in Coffee Shops, Restaurants, Tattoo Parlours…anything I could use my other skills to make money from. Our Foster Parents were very supportive…but…it wasn't right…not for me." Eryka explained.

"There's nothing wrong with being like other people." Ruby said with the shrug of her shoulders.

"Yeah, but I didn't want that life. I heard of the things my mom did, and I didn't want that to happen anymore. I wanted to make sure that crime stopped, at least at first I did. One night, at the Coffee Shop I was working at, a pissed off customer caused a ruckus so I defended the store and myself by knocking him on his ass." Eryka explained, and Ruby chuckled. "Turned out the owner of the Coffee Shop was also making money by betting on the Illegal Bare Knuckled Boxing Matches that took place, in the sewers underneath Vale. He saw I had potential, and wanted to make a tonne of lien."

"So he used you?" She asked.

"Not really, he hired me. We split the earnings fifty-fifty, we made a damn lot of money in those matches. But they were painful, bare knuckled boxing matches got bloody and violent fast, people were known to die down there." Eryka explained, when she pulled off one of her gloves and revealed the scarring around her knuckles and fists themselves. Her wrist shook as she showed it to Ruby, and Eryka could barely even look at it, and Ruby gasped when she stared at the scars. "I beat plenty of people bloody, it got to the point where I didn't know if it was my blood or not. I got my fair share of scars too from it." Eryka explained and Ruby looked at her, she really did fall hard after failing her Entry Exam into Beacon.

"That…sounded terrible."

"It wasn't really, I mean it was, but I was making lots of lien from these fights. I took my winnings and I moved on, and I thought I was gonna find better prospects…but as you can tell by my story…I didn't. I ended up falling off the wagon big time, I started drinking heavily one night. Getting completely wasted every night and most nights I returned back home to our Foster's home, falling and stinking of booze. Eventually…they kicked me out, and told me to make something of my life." Eryka explained, tears welled up in her eyes and it was clear that she felt so guilty for how their bond ended. "I don't think they told Neptune, otherwise he would've hated me."

"What happened after that?" Ruby asked her.

"Well one night I got drunk and caused a ruckus, got into a pretty serious fight that ended up with us both getting thrown through the glass and into the street. I won, but I nearly killed the guy. That's when I met this guy, who said I had useful skills. His name was Shamus Desmond Mann. Also known as Shay . D . Mann." She scoffed, and Ruby remembered his face earlier when he tried to flirt with Yang and got his tooth knocked out in the process.

"Oh god…him?" Ruby nearly gagged.

"Mhm, prick tried to sleep with me on multiple occasions but it ended a similar way it did with him and Yang earlier. He took me to Raven's Camp, and I stayed the night. I stayed more than that though, I ended up joining them because Raven helped give me a purpose after how far I fell. And at first it felt right, we were going after other Bandits and Gangs, killing and taking what they had. I went with Raven and we gave some of our earnings to some Villages to help them." Eryka explained to Ruby.

"But?" She asked.

"One night, I went with Shay and some of his Grunts on an _errand run_." Eryka used quotations on the word errand. "He told me one of the guys who owed us a debt wasn't paying, so we went to go sort it out. But…it was a family, a guy who had a dying ten year old boy. I thought we were just gonna scare them, it's what Raven said the Grunts should do. But…Shay and his men flayed the father alive…they…took his wife…and he beat his son to death…right in front of me." Eryka explained, and Ruby's eyes widened with horror, and she looked into the centre of the Camp, she could see him talking with the grunts.

"He…" Ruby stammered. "He's a monster."

"Raven uses him to get the dirty jobs done because he enjoys it, but she can't control him or her Grunts. They will follow her, but if she tells them not to attack an innocent Village…it will be burned down by morning. They are monsters." Eryka warned her. "We have come to a dangerous place, don't forget that. These people are Bandits…I realised that after I saw what he did to that family. So I packed my things and I left. I wandered for a long time…until I found the Summit's Claim." Eryka explained to Ruby, and the Silver Eyed Girl looked at her with curiosity.

"What's that?" She asked.

"Hey…what's going on here?" Shay asked as he walked over with a bottle in his grasp, and Ruby stared at him with fear in her eyes. He raised a brow with confusion. "What's up?" It was like he did not even know why she was staring at him like he was some kind of monster for the things he did. Eryka stood up and she sighed.

"Just trading war stories, Shay." She told him, and Shay nodded his head at her.

"Oh yeah? How about we share some War Stories…in my tent? I know you like guys too honey. Come on, we all know you can't resist me." Shay whispered to her, and Eryka glared at him, and then he turned to see Ruby with her weapon in her hands. "What's with the kid?"

"Don't worry about me – _she'll _kick your ass." Eryka warned as she gestured to Crescent Rose. "I've seen her chop up Grimm like a chef chops up a salad. So…do yourself a favour. Leave us alone." Eryka snarled at him, and Shay sighed as she shook his head.

"Never any fun are you?" Shay sighed.

"Even if I did – I'm spoke for." Eryka stated, shoving past him and Ruby followed. They left the Bandit behind and he smirked as he stood there, then he turned to see Dulcis glaring right back. Instead of even trying anything, he just walked away from the huge Bird of Prey.

"Of all the places we could have gone for help…I honestly think I can trust Killian better than I can trust these savages." Ruby snarled and Eryka chuckled.

"I doubt it, at least with Bandits you know their assholes. Killian? I can never get a read on him." Eryka stated as she and Ruby walked towards Raven's tent. They pushed it open and they looked around. Everyone was here, Yang was in the corner Ren and Nora were stood beside Qrow. He was speaking with his sister and his Uncle after what they saw, and Qrow turned when he heard her enter the tent.

"Oh, there you are. We were just getting ready to go to Vacuo." Qrow said to her and Ruby nodded her head, still a bit shaken from Eryka's story of what Shay did to that poor family.

"That's right. We will not be taking a large team with us, probably just the people in this room." Raven explained.

"Count us in too." Oscar said, and the four of them stood up as they saw Oscar, Vernal and Cinder walk in, and they all looked at each other again. Qrow held up his hands between them, looking at both sides.

"Don't…start…another…fight." Qrow requested.

"No way, she doesn't come with us. She'll stab us in the back." Yang snarled.

"If I wanted to kill you, blondie, I would have done it already." Cinder growled with her fist clenched.

"We need her, Vacuo is a deadly place, so it would be better to have a hard hitter there. And besides we have plenty of people remaining here to guard the place. Shay will be one of them." Raven explained.

"Good, he's a loose cannon anyway." Eryka stated.

"Agreed." Qrow nodded his head.

"When we go there, keep your eyes peeled. Vacuo has kinda…lost its focus after the Vasillias Cartel decimated the Vacuo Mafia. Gang Wars everywhere and Crime is at record highs now." Qrow warned, he had seen the results ever since it happened. The four of them look at each other, the fact that they must go into the Criminal Underworld to track down Jackdaw is quite terrifying.

"And be careful around Lil Miss Malachite. She has Spiders everywhere, and their whispers allow her to learn everything about you. And just watch yourself. Everyone ready?" Raven asked them, and the four looked at each other and nodded their heads. They all stood at the ready.

The Branwens.

Cinder, Oscar and Vernal.

Eryka Vasillias.

Ruby, Yang, Nora and Ren.

Raven walked past Valravn who stepped aside and she swung her red sword, opening up a portal for them to walk through. As it opens some grains of sand got blown through into their tent and Raven looked to them.

"Here we go…the adventure begins." Ruby said, as she walked first into the portal.

Into Vacuo.

* * *

**Author Note - Oh I love Character Devlopment Chapters (Also known as CD Chapters)**

**This one stuck with me because it had three characters I love in one, Jackdaw, Cinder and Eryka. The Jackdaw part was fun because it was the first time I have been able to write Lil Miss Malachite so that was cool. One of the things I love about Act 2 is exploring the Criminal Underworld of Remnant. You have the Spiders in Mistral alongside the terrifying Vasillias Cartel (can't wait to show more of them.) The late Vacuo Mafia will be explored soon, with their demise and what Neptune and Eryka's mother did to them. The stuff with Cinder and Amber is a favourite for this series too, because Amber is such a sweet little boo, whilst Cinder is...well...Cinder. And I finally showed more of Eryka's past! Yay!**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter and did not mind the format change from present to past, I did the same on my newest KoG chapter because of the same reason. Wanna learn to do it this way and it has been helping.**

**Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**\- Matt**


	11. Termites of Doubt

**Chapter 10 – Termites of Doubt**

* * *

**Ozpin**

* * *

He stood before her gravestone, he looked down at her name with his hands held atop the rounded head of his cane.

_Glynda Goodwitch_

_Loved by many for her kindness and sternness_

_We will never see her like again_

Flowers covered the grave with love and care, gentle and loving cards were left behind as well where she lay, his brown eyes stared down upon the flowers. Violets and roses all piled atop her grave, with goodbye cards that rested upon the dirt. The Funeral had ended a few minutes ago, Cardin and Pyrrha were the last people to leave the Graveyard, and the Black Gallows soldiers that were stationed here took Ironwood's body and delivered him to the Atlesian ship nearby so then they can bring him home. Winter wanted to go with him to see him off, but she knew she could not leave the Academy Grounds. Even if the bombs were not inside the concrete, she could not leave her sister and she needed to know where her girlfriend was.

Ozpin had already said his goodbyes, he and Ironwood may have had their disagreements in the past but they were still friends. And Ironwood was always one of his most trusted allies, he always obeyed him and listened to his advice. But none of Ozpin's advice and teachings could have possibly saved him from what happened to him. No amount of training can save you from a surprise Terrorist Attack from a smart foe you never realised you had.

Ozpin felt lost, he did not even know what to say to her grave now that he was finally alone, so he just knelt down and he placed his hand atop the grave stone, and he stared at the name that he had just read. "I'm sorry…I tried to help you…I truly did. I wanted you to be ready, I never wanted to be in this position I am now…you deserved better than this." Ozpin stated as he stared at the grave, and then he hanged his head low, and he tensed at the mere idea of seeing where she died. Of hearing Jackdaw's voice and seeing his red eyes that seemed to burn into his enemy's soul.

The cold breeze of the coming storm came close as he remained by her side, and he scratched the back of his neck that was hidden beneath his black suit. But as he sat there, and he closed his brown eyes, he started to remember a time…a very long time ago.

It must have been thirty years ago, because Glynda was still a student at the newly formed Beacon Academy. He taught her everything she ever knew, he helped her unlock her semblance and utilize her aura to the best of her abilities. He trained her how to create a weapon, and due to her past life of being raised on a farm, she always knew how to use the crop she still used up until the day she died. She always had quite the fiery personality and temper, but he helped her control that anger.

He held his cane in his hand and he smiled as he looked at tiny Glynda, who had her hair tied up into a pretty braided tail, and she swung her Crop towards him. It blasted a pulsating ball of purple aura towards him and he deflected the incoming shot with the cane. The purple energy coursed across the cane, and he slid back across the ground and he chuckled. Ozpin charged at her and she ran towards him, he jumped right over her head and she used her Crop to shatter the ground that he was about to land upon. The concrete and tarmac cracked and shattered into chunks, as she lifted it up into the air. But Ozpin managed to land upon the remnants of the ground with impressive ease, and he leapt off it, just as she tried to crush him inside of the rocks. He landed right in front of her and struck, he slammed his cane across her face so hard it threw her back, and she slid across the ground.

Glynda glared at Ozpin with gritted teeth, and thus she formed an artificial storm cloud with her Crop, one that Ozpin lifted his gaze to see the clouds that formed above him. He nearly thought it was the powers of a maiden, but he knew how that Crop worked. He helped her design it, she blasts some energy from her aura but also has a small canister of both gravity and lightning dust which gave her abilities that would seem like it was magic. But nothing in the slightest at the end of the day, just more tricks thanks to Ozpin to scare their enemies.

But Ozpin slammed his cane down into the ground and he formed a dome shaped barrier of green energy around his body, which acted like a shield. The lightning came crashing down, like the hands of Brothers Light and Darkness tried to pull him back into their claws. But instead, they could not touch him, and as soon as he had the chance, he erupted through the bubble and he struck her once more.

That one finally broke her aura, and knocked her onto the floor. He yelled in anger, and as she swung her arms into the floor, the crop sent a pulse of gravitational energy into the stones, which cracked the smooth stone surface with great ease. Ozpin looked around and he sighed, he walked with his cane over to her and he raised his brow. "Go on…you know how we always clean up after a fight, don't you?" He asked her and she huffed, and she sat up, she held up her crop and the stones started to rise up, but they quivered in the air, and they fell from her grasp like they were far too heavy for her to burden herself with. She panted with exhaustion, and she stared at Ozpin with anger.

"I can't!" She argued.

"Enough with the self-doubt, Glynda. You have great strength in you." Ozpin assured.

"I've been trying! Look at all this! Everything I throw at you, and not one bit of it can stop you!" She argued with a huff, and he sat down next to her, around the decimated training grounds that they were using.

"Not every enemy is as strong as me, Glynda. But at the same time, you must be ready to face a man or woman like yourself. Or even a Creature of Grimm, there are terrifying monsters out there in the world, and I am dead certain there are beasts that make me look like small fry in comparison." He explained with a chuckle, Glynda stared at him and she rolled her large green eyes with a heavy sigh, she bent her crop with frustration. A thing she would do even before she died, when students would get on her nerves.

"I'm not strong enough, I keep making the same mistakes over and over again. I need to show my enemies how strong I am…they'll probably back down before the fight even begins." Glynda hoped, rather naively, an idea that truly would never come to the minds of her future students.

"Now that right there, is why you will fail." Ozpin told her, and she raised a brow.

"What does that mean?" She asked him.

"It means that you must choose when to broadcast your power. You cannot show it all the time, especially not to a huge enemy. They will figure out your strengths and from there they will find your weaknesses. It is what I would do, after all." Ozpin explained to her, and she scoffed.

"And you're a perfect tactician?" She questioned, which made the new Headmaster laugh.

"Gods no, not even close. I have made plenty of mistakes in my life, Glynda, and I am almost certain my blunders are still to continue in my life." Ozpin explained to her, and she looked at him with curiosity. "But…I know how warriors fight. I have been taught by some of the greatest men and women in history, and I wish to make sure that this idea continues."

"But I don't understand, if I cannot use my powers on my enemies…then what's the point in having them?" She asked, a question Ozpin had heard countless times before.

"If I had a lien every time someone asked me that…I would be richer than Nicholas Schnee." He chuckled, this was a time before Jacques Schnee came into power after marrying the previous Nicholas' daughter – Willow.

"That's a lot of questions." Glynda chuckled, which made Ozpin chuckle too.

"Yes…it is." He said, before he clarified what he meant. "You see, when I say you can't broadcast your powers, it is like telling everyone you have a gun under the table you are sat at. Your enemy cannot know what you are capable of until they think they are about to get the upper hand on you. Because at that point, they are gonna get cocky and not expect anything." Ozpin explained as he got up, and he started to show an example with snow. It was winter at the time and the snows were still falling everywhere. "Take this for an example, I could stand here in front of you and just make a snowball and throw it straight at your face. You would have seen it coming, and you would have dodged." He stated, as he launched it right at her, and just as he predicted, she dodged it.

He turned his gaze and he smirked when he saw Professor Peter Port emerging from one of the buildings, a much younger man with dark black hair and that huge moustache still over his lip. "Ah yes, Bart! The Legendary Manticore would make for a fine kill." Port chuckled, he still had that booming personality even back when he was a mere Teaching Assistant. Ozpin slowly formed a snowball and he grinned at Glynda who softly giggled.

"But…when they least expect it…" Ozpin said, and he launched the snowball straight at the Weapon's Expert across the courtyard from them, and he nailed him in the face. He staggered back and he gasped, suddenly he face was freezing, and that made Glynda guffaw with laughter. "You can make a lethal hit, maybe even tear them to the ground…or at least make them slip up." He added, as Port slipped on some ice as well, which made Glynda laugh even louder.

Port stared at them and he at first looked offended, but then he laughed as well, as he always would. Oobleck laughed as well as he helped Port back up to his feet, and Ozpin returned to his student's side, and he sat down next to her. "You see? Save your best cards for when the time is right, and if you learn how to fight without your semblance, then you will only need to use it for a last resort." Ozpin explained and Glynda nodded her head, but as always, with youthful curiosity.

"But…what if I tricked my enemy? Tricked them to think I was weaker than I was?" She asked and Ozpin chuckled, and he ruffled her blonde hair.

"You know what I think?" He asked her. "If you keep working at it…working on your many skills you can hone…I think you can do more than just overpower them. Than just trick them. You will make them wish they had never been born." Ozpin assured with a smile and Glynda smiled back.

Every day he taught her when she was a student, he made a promise to her that she would get to grow old and have a family one day. She always hated the idea of it, and she never did get to have children, that chance was stolen from her, just as it was stolen from Ironwood and everyone else who died.

For now…here he stood…and he stared at her grave.

He could stand there for days and days on end, and he would just pray that none of this was real, or that somehow he could save her. But his mind would always return to reality and he would know for certain the truth behind what has happened. The fact that Glynda was an unfortunate casualty in a deranged killer's bombings.

"Sometimes we cannot prepare those we train for death…no matter how hard we think we teach ourselves." The voice of Nathaniel Killian said behind Ozpin, and he turned swiftly as if he heard the whisper of as demon behind him. But the Commander of the Black Gallows stood before him, with his hands respectfully behind his back as he approached. Killian never attended the funeral service, because he said it was not his place. Not only because he expected they would cut his throat open, but he did not know her – not like they did.

Ozpin however could see straight through this nice-guy act. Killian may have a human side but the fact he would turn on them in an instant completely overshadows any kindness he would show his way. The Old Professor had seen men like him come and go, and every single one has been crushed by the spinning wheel of monstrosities…their secrets always get shown to the world, and the weight of the world soon is too much for them to bear. And yet here Killian stood – completely untouched from consequences for his actions.

Ozpin's stare seemed to last for hours but it was only for around ten seconds. "What do you think you're doing here?" Ozpin snarled with disgust, he may have agreed with Killian's stationing at Beacon Academy to keep as many people inside and alive as possible – but that did not mean he had to forgive and forget everything he had done.

"I am not here to breed conflict, but merely to pay my respects." Killian said as he approached the grave and he crouched down by the flowers and her name. He sighed, and he reached into his bag and he pulled out a small bouquet of flowers of many colours and he set it down atop the grave. "Such a shame…a needless death. I did not know her well, but she struck me to be a fiercely strong woman, who always knew what was right."

Ozpin stared at him as he paid his respects to her. "Not always…but nobody does." Ozpin stated and Killian nodded his head.

"Ain't that the truth?" Kilian scoffed as he rose up beside Ozpin who looked like he was about to break his neck. "I truly am sorry for what has happened here." Killian apologised once again to the Professor, but that nearly made Ozpin snap.

"You do realise her death is on you, don't you?" Ozpin growled, and Killian stared at him.

"I beg your pardon?" Killian questioned.

"If not for you, and your horrific history of keeping Prisoners in your Black Cells – Jackdaw would have rotted and she would not be in the ground. Neither would James." Ozpin growled with anger, and Killian stared right back.

"Jackdaw Branwen…is an enigma. Every time we have put him in the cells nothing ever worked, he never broke – and I believe he is too far gone already. He is driven by a sense of purpose that is terrifying to me." Killian explained, the way he described Jackdaw it made him sound like he was some sort of force of nature. A being that cannot be stopped, unless it was by his own cursed semblance.

But Ozpin just stared right back. "You should have put a bullet in the man's head a long time ago, after the first breakout that was when I realised that containment will never stop him. But you ignored my words, and you continued to hold him in your custody. Everyone that is dead died because of your decision to ignore my advice." Ozpin growled, and Killian stared right back.

"You're right. And that is why I am going after him now, it is why I am sending my best men with me to hunt him down and bring him to justice. The old fashioned way." Killian explained. "And I will do it for the safety of the people."

Ozpin laughed, he laughed in a way that seemed like it was out of his character, because it was out of complete and utter disbelief of Killian and his excuses. "Is that what you tell yourself when you sleep at night? That everything you do is for the greater good?" Ozpin questioned him, almost grilled him.

Killian walked towards Ozpin and they stared each other in the eyes, the fiery tension of hatred between both sides could be felt like a blazing hot fire. "Do you? Do you tell yourself those things? After everything you've done?" Killian asked him, and Ozpin narrowed his eyes.

"I did the things I did for the good of Remnant. But you? All you care about is control, it is all you've cared for. The only thing you have ever wanted was to see the way of life we have enjoyed for years to be thrown out the window." Ozpin explained.

Killian scoffed. "Peace? You call what you have around you peace? You have created a level of Freedom that has allowed chaos to reign. Look at the world – the White Fang, the Branwen Tribe, the Vasillias Cartel, the Vacuo Mafia. You have allowed the terrors of the world to roam free, which in turn has caused countless people to suffer in the process. I aim to break this cycle of pain once and for all. If I have to spill blood along the way, if I have to make some people unhappy – then I will." Killian stated, and Ozpin shook his head.

"What you will bring is chaos. Negativity will spread like the pox, and the casualties will far worse. Grimm will flood cities and towns, and blood will flow in the rivers that were once blue. Is that what you want?" Ozpin snarled.

"What do you think I am going to do? You think I'm gonna just use my men to wipe out the Academies? That is the last thing I want, if I can help Remnant by fixing these problems as fast as possible then I will take that chance. And besides, my men wouldn't stand a chance against the Academies if you took up a defensive position." Killian explained to Ozpin as he walked around the graveyard. "But my men will help defend the towns and cities when Huntsmen are not around to protect them. That is the advantage with the Vytal Consensus, increased security is hardly a burden."

"But you are stealing their freedom."

"As I said. Complete Freedom is dangerous. You give a man with powers like the children you teach the freedom you have granted them…who's to say what they will become? Who's to say they will not use that power they love so much…to burn those beneath them to cinders?" Killian asked him and Ozpin scoffed and shook his head once again.

"You stand before me, and you talk like you believe your future is perfect. But once you forge this new future there will be people to stand against you. I have seen many faces and kingdoms come and go in my life – and I have learned an important fact. There will always be chaos, your desire to stop it will never work. I merely aim to create warriors that can try and stop wars before too many souls are lost in the process." Ozpin explained to him, and Killian stared at him sternly.

"Not if you can stop the chaos bringers before they ever try and rise against us." Killian stated, and it was always thinking like that that made Ozpin not trust him.

_He's insane…even if he does not realise it…he really thinks this is the right thing._

_But I am looking at the making of a Tyrant._

_I have seen this kind of thinking before…_

"I have seen men like you rise and fall all my life…and the ones that have always worried me the most, I have stopped them. I have shown their secrets to the world and let the masses tear them apart." Ozpin stated as he stared at Killian. "And yet…after what you did to my Academy…to Jaymes Ickford four years ago…all the men and women I paid to unveil your dark secrets all met the same fate. Either wound up dead by _natural causes_ or merely disappeared without a trace." Ozpin explained as he walked towards the Black Gallows Commander, who merely stared emotionlessly at him. "I wonder…what do you know of this mystery?"

Killian stared at him, and the glare was enough of an answer. Killian just stared directly back with those dark onyx eyes. "Yes…you have done many things Oz. As have I. You judge me for my actions…but you know…that we are the same thing." Killian snarled, and he walked straight past Ozpin and away from Glynda's grave. "I pray your ideology is right, Ozpin…I truly do….because I do not want any more innocents to die." Killian stated, as he walked away from the grave.

Ozpin watched as he walked away, and only one saying appeared in his mind.

_A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing_.

* * *

**Killian**

* * *

Killian walked away from Ozpin, with his heart hanging from the tethers of his paranoia.

_Of course it was him, suddenly all these journalists and Investigators started to dig into my past and my history. I always had a feeling he was the man behind it, I didn't want them killed but I had to._

_If I lost my position I would no longer be of use and my whole mission would be ruined…it was right to eradicate them._

_…__wasn't it?_

These questions were like termites, they kept creeping into his mind and building their little fortresses of his internal conflicts. For a man as cold and calculating like himself, every single death he would order, every single person he had captured and reformed in the Black Cells. It was like those Termites of Doubt started fortifying their holds, and soon they were going to be impossible to remove. No man on Remnant has such thoughts that would creep inside of his kind the way they do for him, and every single one of those termites were put there by his own doing.

His own sins.

But as he walked away from the Graveyard and left Ozpin with his student's burial site, he felt something buzz and vibrate in his pocket. He slowed down and he pulled out the Scroll to see the name of the individual that was calling him.

_Doctor Arthur Watts_

He stared at his name and he stammered, and he looked around, before he finally answered the call. He could feel the burning impression of Ozpin's eyes on the back of his head, so he kept walking when he answered him. "Are you completely mad? Calling me in the middle of Beacon Academy?" He softly spoke to his ally – not friend, not in the slightest.

"Oh calm yourself, I have secured this connection. The only people listening to this right now is Salem and her…fascinating Creature." He said, and Killian could hear the soft clicking hiss of the Seer right next to him. He could tell he was staring at it like a child who just found a snow globe for the first time. Killian rolled his eyes, he very rarely came by to Salem's Sanctum but whenever he did in his time serving her, Watts would always be staring at the Creatures she created.

Killian was also not blind, Watts must have been the first of the Disciples Salem brought on, and that was very clear from their apparent friendship. She adheres the advice of her advisers but Watts was the only man amongst them that was quite flippant with her and she would normally threaten someone with death the way he acted around her. But at the same time she was always quite nice to him – as nice as the Dark Queen could be. He was also the only Disciple that would be in the room with her first, and Killian once even saw the two of them actually sharing wine as they spoke.

If anyone has her ear, it was always Watts above all else.

"So, Killian – I would like you to give us a report on everything going on so far." Watts asked of him and Killian rolled his eyes.

"Things were going according to plan, until Jackdaw attacked and caused a divide between two Teams. Teams R.W.B.Y and J.N.P.R." Killian revealed to him and Watts chuckled softly.

"It's always those two…isn't it?" Watts notices.

"Indeed. Any chaos that seems to happen they are always involved. Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao Long, Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren have gone rogue. We presume they have gone with Qrow Branwen and Eryka Vasillias to hunt the bastard down." Killian explained to Watts as he walked down the paths, his eyes met the many students that had to sit quietly nearby.

"Then it is likely Qrow Branwen was heading to his sister, you know how predictable he is." Watts presumed.

"I know…in fact I was hoping your little birds had some information." Killian requested and he chuckled on the other end.

"Indeed I do. My little birds range far and wide across Remnant. Even amongst the Branwen Tribe, and they have many interesting stories to tell. Some of which have been of great interest to our Queen as well." Watts revealed and Killian slowed down with widened eyes.

"That so? What do you have? We managed to track our ship's signatures near Patch and my men are already investigating the island. If he did find Raven then her portals will make tracking them even harder." Killian explained, and Watts nodded on the other end of the Scroll Conversation.

"My Whispers have informed me that they are going to Vacuo, turns out that Jackdaw Branwen has been following some orders after all. He has been helping us secure a way into Atlas…as you said, the death of Ironwood has made infiltration even harder." Watts explained, and he could hear him sigh. Killian knew that sigh, it was because Watts knew that Killian was right. Jackdaw is a lethal weapon, but you could never truly control him, he was like a wildfire, and controlling a wildfire is damn near impossible.

"Vacuo…what the hell could they possibly find in Vacuo? After the destruction of the Vacuo Mafia the whole Kingdom has descended into madness." Killian explained.

"Indeed, but there is a Criminal Organisation with a very valuable trade. The Spiders. The Malachites have been using their Information and Spiders to rule the Underworld for years, and they even assisted the Mafia at one point. But Lil Miss Malachite serves nobody, only those who pay more. How do you think Lavinia Vasillias managed to destroy the whole Mafia in one night?" Watts asked him and Killian nodded his head.

"And Jackdaw spoke with her? Regarding information?" Killian assumed.

"Correct. Makes sense that they go to her, but worry not. My little bird has given me information that can help break their spirit some more." Watts assured Killian, and the Commander nodded his head.

"Well that's some good news. I thank you." Killian said.

"What about the Vytal Consensus? How many Huntsmen and Huntresses have signed it, bar those who ran?" Watts inquired, and Killian answered.

"A lot of them funnily enough, turns out that the students are smart enough to know that to have a comfortable future you need a stable income." Killian explained and Watts chuckled.

"Lien is always the sweetest of persuasions." Watts stated and he nodded his head.

"Indeed it is. I just pray it is not too late for the Rogues." Killian stated, despite his inner frustration towards their defiance.

"Well, I do have some more information from our Loose Cannon." Watts revealed, and that was always the nickname that they gave Jackdaw Branwen, since he has always been seen that way.

"Jackdaw's talking to you?" Killian asked.

"Of course, I know you hate him and want to kill him but he still serves us. And he has told me that five more names have been ticked off the list of people from Beacon that can leave." He revealed and Killian could already tell what Watts was about to say. He sighed and he pinched his brow.

"Lemme guess – Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, Weiss Schnee and Blake Belladonna?" Killian asked.

"And Winter Schnee." Watts added.

"Oh yeah." Killian nodded, since he totally forgot about her.

"I wonder if there is a correlation?" Watts assumed.

"Of course there is. It is the same thing that happened to Team S.T.R.Q twenty years ago with Summer Rose. It tore them apart, even before Raven ran away." Killian explained, he may not have the many whispers that Watts has the access to, but Killian has a fantastic memory. "He wants to tear them apart and they will walk right into their trap."

"Then let him. Take the other halves of their teams and the Schnee Specialist with you, end of the day they know the Rogues better than you do. And if they refuse to listen to reason and sign the Consensus, then we can kill too birds with one stone." Watts explained to him and Killian chuckled.

"I highly doubt Jaune's side of things will stay allied with us if I have his friends killed." Killian stated.

"Then you won't, if they won't follow protocol then Jackdaw will kill both sides of the same coin. Either way – two birds one stone. Nobody will be around to call witness." Watts explained and Killian sighed, and he pinched his brow.

"There has been enough death…all those Investigators Ozpin sent after me still linger in my mind." Killian stated and Watts chuckled rather sinisterly.

"Our Queen wished to protect her investments. You should be thanking her, Tyrian and Hazel did a marvellous job cutting those loose ends for you." Watts explained to him.

"Then I guess it's a shame that I wanted there to be…oh wait what was it? Oh yes, as little bloodshed as possible?" Killian questioned.

"Sixteen Investigators and Journalists snooping around in business that meant nothing to them opposed to the lives of hundreds of thousands? Maybe millions?" Watts asked him and he chuckled when Killian fell silent. "Recruit the other half of the Rogue Teams in your expedition to Vacuo and in your hunt for Jackdaw and the Rogues. This is the best path you can take…and remember, if you do not have the Academies under your control by the end of the Summer – we will initiate the Inhumane Necessity." Watts repeated before he ended the war.

Every single time he mentioned this thing…

…the Inhumane Necessity.

Killian knew exactly what that Necessity was, and it terrified him.

On the other end of the call, Watts hung up the scroll and he set it down on the table and he sighed and leant back into the table. "These eight students are always involved in some way, aren't they old friend?" Salem asked him, and he turned to see her stood at the window, as she looked out across the scarred Sanctum. Massive purple crystals stood and almost punctured the clouds.

"So it seems…" Watts agreed.

"We should send Tyrian and Hazel after them, on both sides – to make sure that they do not survive." Salem explained.

"Hazel has allies in the White Fang, we can use him to help Adam break out of his Cell in their Headquarters." Watts stated as he stood up from his seat and walked around the table. "And Tyrian is one of your best trackers, he will easily be able to locate them."

"Your little birds…what else have they been chirping?" Salem inquired curiously.

"They have been uncovering the secrets of the many Kingdoms on the planet, Your Grace. We shall be able to infiltrate them and retrieve the Sword and the Lamp with ease soon." Watts promised.

"So long as Killian manages to keep his end of the bargain." Salem stated.

"If I may, your Grace – may I speak freely?" He asked, and Salem turned and she nodded her head.

"You may." She agreed.

"I believe Killian is right, Ma'am. Jackdaw Branwen is too dangerous for us all to handle, he does not think and all he does is what he wants. I fear he will betray us." Watts explained and Salem nodded her head.

"I agree…but until then he is a powerful ally to have. And I promised him he would be able to get what he wants."

"Is it possible?"

"Is what possible?"

"What he wants? To beat his own semblance? I mean…Qrow has never been able to do such a thing and neither has his sister of Valravn. They are cursed…is it really possible for him to get what he desires?" Watts inquired to her. Salem thought on this, she has existed for a very long time and has learned the ins and outs of semblances and aura.

It was a good question.

"We shall see…Jackdaw Branwen has survived odds that should have ended him, and is driven by blood. And truth. Maybe he can, maybe he can't. As long as he assists us on our quest then he can do whatever he wishes." Salem explained as she looked at Watts and he nodded his head.

Watts turned and he went to walk away. "I shall return to my work, Your Grace. I am close to perfecting it soon." He promised and she nodded her head.

"Good."

* * *

**Jaune**

* * *

He and Pyrrha both were sat at a table, with Houses built from Cards forged on both sides, and they were getting close to the top as they challenged one another. Pyrrha set hers near her chimney and she squeaked with joy since she did not topple it over. But as soon as Jaune went to do it, the cards collapsed with a cataclysmic slumping thud. He stared at it and he pushed his hands into his blonde hair with defeat. "Nooooo!" He cried out with anguish as he leant back into his chair and Pyrrha giggled, as she performed an adorable little dance before him, where she wiggled her slim body with great ease.

"Yes! I did it!" She squeaked with happiness as she danced away her victory, but as she danced, Jaune's defeat started to dawn on him as he sat there.

"My house of cards has collapsed…again…" He sighed with anguish and Pyrrha slowed down, and she knew what he was getting at. He has not stopped thinking about Ren and Nora since they left them. There were so many things in the back of their mind that hurt their hearts, the most painful part of it was the fact that they went against them behind their backs. After everything they have been through, they did not trust them enough with this information.

"Jaune…are you okay?" She asked with worry.

"I…I dunno Pyr…I thought I could stop thinking about it but I can't." He softly said to her.

Pyrrha sat down next to him and she caressed his cheek affectionately so then he would turn to look at him. "Jaune…it'll be fine." Pyrrha promised, when the door suddenly opened and they turned to see Weiss stood there, the look of concern was ever present in her eyes.

"Guys…Killian is here. He wants to speak with us all." Weiss said to them and they looked at one another before they got up from the table. As they walked away from the table, Pyrrha's House of Cards collapsed behind her as soon as the door slammed shut. They followed Weiss down the hallway and into the Dorm Room which belonged to Team R.W.B.Y, to see Killian indeed sat down inside in the centre of the carpeted floor with a chair beneath him.

He always had this presence about him, one that sent shivers down their spines as soon as they saw him. Or maybe it was the Mysterious Stockholm Troopers. Men and Women turned into soldiers from mental torment, who believed the Black Gallows to be their saviours. To be the ones that helped them see the light in the darkness.

A darkness that they trapped them in, and a light that they shone.

All of it is a fiction, a fiction that has corrupted some of the brightest souls.

Everyone was congregated inside of Team R.W.B.Y's Dormitory, with Sun and Neptune here as well, they stood by their girlfriends to keep them comforted despite the unnerving presence of the Black Gallows. "Thank you for coming, I apologise for this being on such short notice." Killian said to them and they all stared at him. He knew that they did not trust him as far as they could throw him, but he did not care, and they needed to listen to what he had to say to them.

"You're not sorry, what do you want?" Weiss questioned rather sternly and one of the soldiers tightened his grip on his rifle as he stepped forward. But Weiss just gave the soldier a glare, he may be a well trained soldier, but he would not stand a chance against the Schnee Heiress, especially with her older and far more skilled Older Sister in the same room as her.

"Straight to the point as always. Well, fair enough." Killian said, and he pushed himself from the chair. The very motion made Jaune step back and slightly move his hand towards the sheathed Crocea Mors as if he was gonna ram the blade straight through Killian. But he knew that if he did that, chaos would ensue. So many people see him as a hero, and they have no real evidence other than their word behind what he did to take him down.

And even if they did…

…they would be in serious danger.

Killian walked around the room and he slid his fingers across Ruby's table. "A contact of mine has informed me that Jackdaw Branwen has been seen in Vacuo, speaking with a woman named Lil Miss Malachite. I believe your friend Yang Xiao Long had met her daughters a few years back." Killian explained as he stood there and Blake narrowed her eyes as she looked at her boyfriend.

"Why're you telling us this? We can't leave the Academy without Jackdaw's Bombs exploding." Blake questioned.

"Well – that is the second part of the news. My men were monitoring his explosives, hoping we could find a safe way to disarm them. We can't sadly, however they noticed something new. We found that the names of people that can pass include those who have left. And now…all of your names – except for Mr Wukong and Vasillias." Killian revealed and their eyes widen, and Killian could tell that they figured it out for themselves fast.

"It's a trap." Weiss said.

"Most likely." Winter agreed with her sister.

"Perhaps, but when it comes down to tracking your friends, you would be the best people to have at our side. You know them better than I ever could, and you would know their most likely move. They are with Raven Branwen now, that much is certain, meaning they must be with the Branwen Tribe." Killian explained to them all and Pyrrha's eyes widen.

"They…are with criminals?" Pyrrha questioned.

"It seems probable." Killian stated.

"Let's just hope they haven't joined them." Winter said to them all and they all fell silent, and Killian huffed a sigh.

"Look I am not stupid, I understand your reservations on this plan. Jackdaw is a very smart man and he knows exactly how to play the game of warfare. Divide and Conqueror, that is precisely what is happening here. But sadly he has the cards, we need to deal against him, find a better hand along the way. You know your friends, we can take down two birds with one stone. Bring back your friends, and take down Jackdaw." Killian explained to him, and he used the same words that Watts used.

Just in a very different way.

"If we go with you…if we go after our friends…we do not kill them." Jaune demanded and Killian looked right back.

"I couldn't have said it better myself. The Bandits that could be with them though…I will not show the same mercy. End of the day they are dangerous criminals. Ruby Rose and her band of rogues still have a chance to turn back, and if they do I will let them back. They will be punished accordingly." Killian explained to them all.

"Punished? What will such a punishment entail?" Pyrrha inquired.

"If they returned now after we explained the situation…a fine and some time confined to the Academy. Luckily for them…the whole Academy has been confined anyway." Killian chuckled at the irony.

The others however did not laugh, they just sighed and wanted this whole ordeal to be over.

"So…will you help me find your friends? Before Jackdaw Branwen lures them into a trap?" He asked them, and their eyes widened when they heard him say his full name for the first time. They all stared at him with shock.

"Branwen?" Weiss gasped.

"If you help me…I will tell you all about the Branwens and what happened." He promised, even though he only knew as much as Qrow, Raven and Taiyang. They all look at one another and they stammered.

"We will not lose anyone else." Jaune said and they all nodded at each other and Killian nodded back.

"Then report to the rooftop of this building, we have two Wasps ready for take-off." Killian said to them and he walked out of the room.

They did exactly that, as soon as all their essentials were packed they headed up to the rooftop of the building and they all started to enter the two jet black vehicles known as Wasps. They climbed inside but Weiss and Blake said their goodbyes to Neptune and Sun. Weiss held his hands and she kissed him lovingly. "I'll be back soon…keep the Academy in one place for me, please?" She asked him, and Neptune chuckled.

"No promises." He joked and that made her laugh, before they pulled each other close into a warm kiss.

Blake and Sun held each other and they looked into one another's eyes. Cardin walked up the stairs and he stared at them with disbelief. He did not know that they were able to leave, and he saw Sun give Blake his golden necklace and he put it around her neck. "Come back…I'm gonna want that back." Sun joked with a smile and she giggled, and she pulled him to her lips and she softly sighed with love in his embrace. As they broke their kiss she pressed her head to his as she turned away from him and got aboard the Wasp. It lifted up into the air and Cardin stormed out to Sun and Neptune.

"Sun!" He yelled, but the two Wasps soared away from the building and swiftly headed to the boarders. The two of them watched it fade away.

Cardin looked at them with fear. "Oh shit…what did you do?" He asked them.

The two of them turned and looked at Cardin.

And the bombs never detonated.

Jackdaw and Watts were not lying.

And now the hunt begins.

* * *

**Author Note - And so the plot finally begins**

**Must admit I hated writing this chapter for some reason, I struggled through it for many reasons. Health problems or busy weeks were big reasons but Writer's Block was another. However now the story is really going forward and hopefully it should be easier. So I hope this chapter did not feel a bit poor, it could have been better I admit.**

**However, I did like showing an answer behind a question a few people have asked me about Killian. The reason behind him not being removed from office is both thanks to his own intelligence and forces, but also Salem. Anyone that started digging into his past and what he has done mysteriously disappeared or died.**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter - The Hunt Begins**

**\- Matt**


	12. The Hunt Begins

**Chapter 11 – The Hunt Begins**

* * *

**Ruby**

* * *

From Vale to Mistral to Vacuo, their journey has already taken them to many places they had never been to before. But they never expected the heat of Vacuo's Climate to be as piercingly hot as it truly was. They felt their skin turn tight and dry as the scorching sun burned across the landscape.

Ruby emerged from the glowing red portal of which that Raven opened, and her silver eyes were wide with awe when she saw the city. It was totally unlike Vale; the buildings were forged from whatever they could find. Wood, rusted metal, plastic and trash by the looks of things. "I heard the people of Vacuo were suffering, I didn't think it was this bad." Eryka admitted as she stood beside them as everyone emerged.

"Valravn…Valravn…Valravn." The whispers continued around them as the Elder Branwen emerged with them, he walked with the chimes of his staff clinking together, he stared through the eyes of the Raven Skull Shaped Helmet he wore, his red eyes stared directly at Ruby. It truly sent shivers up her spine when she saw the way he glared at her, she could tell that he and the rest of the Branwen Tribe were not overly fond of the Silver Eyed Warriors. It may have been why Raven never wanted to risk being near Taiyang and the rest of her team, in fear of Valravn ordering their assassination perhaps. Valravn Branwen may have been on their side at this moment but none of them were foolish enough to trust him. Any man that hid behind a helmet and had whispering voices projected from his very person into the minds of those around him…is bound to be suspicious.

Valravn walked ahead and he did not even say a word, he just kept moving, the crowds parted to let them pass. They all could see them touch their temples in pain from the powerful voices that burrowed into their minds like termites. Yang stayed close to her sister, Nora to Ren. Raven and Qrow walked side by side, whereas Cinder was wearing a hood over her head. End of the day there was still quite a hefty price on her head for everything that had happened, and she walked by her friends – Vernal and Oscar.

"How can people live like this? It smells terrible." Ruby groaned, which showed her privilege of being born and living in such a fortunate Kingdom. Raven turned to Ruby and she explained why.

"Vacuo was not as lucky as the other Kingdoms when it was founded, Ruby. Vacuo once had massive trees everywhere, it was actually quite a Tropical Desert once." Raven explained to her, and they all looked around with disbelief of her words. To imagine this wasteland of sand, scorched and burned under the gaze of their sun…it seemed impossible to imagine trees and life here.

"What happened?" Nora inquired as she walked beside Ren who looked at the different kinds of people around here. To think that Sun came from here was also hard to imagine, because most of the people here seemed so miserable. Sunburnt and bruised, thin and starving or dehydrated…or both.

"Industry happened. Vacuo is one of the largest providers of the Weapon and Building Trade, or at least it used to be. Atlas stole that honour recently, now Vacuo's main trade is Dust Mining. But when it was built, the colonists tore down every single tree they could find. They built lots of buildings, traded it all with other Kingdoms for supplies. Water mostly, since the nearest source of Water…well it was too far from where they settled the Kingdom." Qrow explained to them all as they walked past the beggars, they had to push past the different kinds of souls one by one. Human and Faunus, but as they went through, they found something else – a Human was tending to a bunch of Faunus Children. She had food and water, and she looked like she needed it as badly as they did, and yet she gave it all to them with a smile on her face.

Even the effects of the White Fang fighting the Black Smog could be seen in Vacuo, many places had started to accept Faunus and fought for their rights harder than they had ever seen before.

"Eventually the environment suffered the consequences of the Colonists and their raping of the land, and the environment just could not recover. So, the Sun dried out the riverbeds, and plants struggled to grow, and in time the place became nothing more than a Desert. There were Deserts around the Tropical Area…but now…it's just a wasteland." Raven explained as she walked with them, and Ruby looked around, she could see the massive Sand Dunes in the distance. It only gave her chills to imagine what monsters could be lurking beyond those Dunes.

The city was built inside of a huge Caldera, with one source of Water in the very centre, a huge lagoon in fact. The city was built into the walls and the ground of the sandstone Caldera with multiple bridges spanned out across the area. Vacuo seemed much smaller than they imagined, they expected this vast city built atop the dunes, but in fact it looked more like a Slum-City. When looking at Sun, they imagined this crazy and awesome place where people were practically shirtless, ripped and epic warriors. But everyone they saw were weak and were dying.

"I expected it to be…I dunno…wealthier than this." Ren admitted as he walked along and Vernal nodded her head.

"It was…once." Vernal admitted, and they looked at her. They could tell she was born in Vacuo; she had the tattoos and the physique. Similar to Sun her clothing was indeed quite revealing, and she had shorter hair than the others, almost shaven completely in fact. She also looked more at home here than any of them.

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked her curiously and Eryka looked back at her as Dulcis landed back onto her shoulder.

"Well, a few years ago the Vacuo Mafia were still around. They took it upon themselves to run the city, since the Councillors here had been doing such a bad job of it themselves. They used their skills, their wide-reaching men and women to start using their income to help the city recover from the Great War. End of the day it was bankrupted by the Atlesians and the Valerians, there's a reason why they hate the two Kingdoms so much." Vernal explained as she walked with them and told the story. "I was once part of them, when I was a kid anyway."

"You were?" Yang asked her, and she nodded her head.

"I wasn't much, just one of their beggars. It was one of the ways they made money, they fed off the kindness of travellers. We also provided them with whispers, stories of the people that came here. People they could make business deals with or can assassinate if they were a threat to the city and its future." Vernal explained to them all and Raven nodded her head as she looked at the Beggars. It was clear that their duty was still present, but now they served someone else. They all glanced at them every now and then, and they watched their pockets.

"Who were they to decide?" Ren questioned with resentment.

"The only ones who could, that's what happens when the people have to rely on a Mafia to keep them safe. Especially when the Council won't do it for them." Vernal scoffed.

"What happened to them?" Ruby asked, and Vernal stopped and she slid her hand across the tent to pick up the sand and she held it up. The grains fell through her fingers as she sighed and closed her eyes.

"What always happens." She told them and turned. "Other Gangs started to want the power that they had, even though they used it for good. These ones however did not have the same plans. They buried most of them, ignited a few Gang Wars and won every single one. But one of them…was a bigger threat than they could have ever imagined." Vernal explained and they kept walking through the Slums, and as they turned, they saw the scars of these Gang Wars. Homes still left destroyed after the fall of the Mafia, bridges with the faded graffiti that marked the names of countless Gangs…all but two were gone and forgotten.

"The Vasillias Cartel." Valravn finally spoke, his voice was still just as coarse as always as he walked atop those stilted legs of his. They looked at him, and they all looked at Eryka.

"Not many people know about Eryka's relation to them, only us." Vernal told them all, which made them raise brows with worry.

"Why?" Ruby asked.

"Have you seen some of the thugs we have in our payroll?" Cinder asked them, the four of them glared at the Fall Maiden who also finally raised her voice after this whole talk. "They're grunts, and many of them despise that name, they fear it. If they knew that Eryka was related to them in any way…how do you think they would react? To learning that the daughter of the Queen of the Cartel was amongst them?" Cinder asked them, and despite how much they hated her, she had a very good point. They could not risk the others knowing, only those that Raven could trust.

"We won't say a word." Ruby promised and Eryka smiled.

"Thanks, Ruby." Eryka said, she ruffled her hand gently.

"What did the Vasillias Cartel do? We knew they destroyed the Vacuo Mafia, but I wasn't sure of how they managed it. Nobody could ever beat the Vacuo Mafia before, how did they manage it?" Ren asked, he may have hated the Criminal Underworld with a passion, but he still heard stories about them all.

"My mother is a smart woman; she knew that attacking them in a full-scale attack like the other Gangs tried would never work. They were almost as skilled as a Well-Trained Military, like Atlas. They had Huntsmen and Huntresses from Vacuo under their payroll as well. She needed to use a more…precise method." Eryka explained and she shuddered.

"Like a Scalpel." Raven added as she walked with them.

"What do you mean?" Yang asked them.

"She set up a Deal, to cease all hostilities with one another and forge an alliance. They all met, and the Leaders of the Mafia all came together. But Lavinia – she never did like working with others. She also snuck her assassins into their home, and they massacred them inside their walls. Stabbed them to death, cut their throats, fed them to hounds." Eryka explained and their eyes widened with horror at her story. "I was only a kid when it happened, and Neptune was too young to understand. When I heard them come home and I saw her cleaning the blood from her hands after she murdered them…I took Neptune and we ran." Eryka explained, and they could understand why.

Lavinia Vasillias sounded like a very scary woman, one who would stop at nothing to get what she desired.

The Entire Criminal Underworld, under her control.

"Now the Vacuo Mafia are gone from the city, and you can see the aftereffects. Unemployment has gone up more than ever, crime reigns and Vacuo's Debt has become completely unpayable. I don't think the Kingdom is long for this world." Raven explained as she walked with them. They kept moving through the dying Kingdom, they saw children being bullied and nobody would help, store fronts that were robbed. "Gangs fight each other constantly now, different symbols everywhere. But the Spiders are the only ones left that are still Organised in some way, they were around when the Mafia were."

"The Spiders. Information Brokers." Qrow scoffed.

"Information can be extremely profitable if you know how to use it, Lil Miss Malachite is no such exception." Raven stopped and she turned to the four of them. "I need you to listen to me when I say this – when we meet with Lil Miss Malachite – be careful with what you say. I know her, she is dangerous, she will use phrases to learn about you. With a bounty on your head she may even try and turn you four in – so be careful. Keep your eyes peeled, she cannot be trusted." Raven stated, and they all nodded their heads. They felt the pain in their hearts of worry.

They had come to a very dangerous place – a Spider's Web.

Ruby rubbed her neck as she felt the searing heat of the sun upon her thin pale skin, and she glanced to her big sister. She smiled and she put her arm around her, and Ruby pulled her hood up just in case. They did not forget what Vernal said about the Beggars, they had indeed come to a dangerous place. But they insisted on coming with them, so they had to be careful if they were to survive.

As Ruby walked along, she saw a little girl walk towards her. She was tiny, could not be any older than six years old, with short dirty blonde hair and large green eyes. She looked up at her and she sniffled, she looked like she had been thrown into the dirt mere minutes ago. Ruby's kind heart flourished, and she crouched down to the girl. "Hello…are you okay?" She asked her curiously and she sniffled.

"I'm…I'm hungry…" She whimpered, and Ruby smiled as she pulled out her purse from her bag and she gave her a Lien out of kindness. Raven stopped when she heard the four of them kindly speaking to the kid and her eyes widen.

"Here you go." Ruby said.

"Ruby STOP!" Raven yelled, when suddenly a boy ran into her and knocked her into the dirt. Yang, Ren and Nora got struck in the head by the same clubs, which stunned them for long enough so then the boy could steal their bags.

"Run!" The boys yelled as they fled, and Ruby looked at where the girl was, only to see she had run away. She was a decoy so then these thieves could take their money. Ruby grit her teeth and she turned and stared at the three boys who were running off, one of which had two bags on them. Eryka whistled and Dulcis took off after them, whilst the victims of these thieves pursued them as well.

"Get back here!" Ruby yelled with frustration as they barged through the crowds of people. One of the boys grabbed an elderly woman and pushed her in front of their path, but luckily Ruby managed to burst into Rose Petals in order to move past her without knocking her over. Ren jumped up and he started to run across the rooftops of the slums after he spotted one of the teenage boys clamber up there. The boy looked back as the Kuroyurian came after him, and he leapt across the gaps between buildings one at a time. The boy was skilled at his parkour, he managed to move fast, but Ren was better. He jumped and he hooked Stormflower onto a long power line, and he jumped off just in time before he could have been electrocuted. Ren slammed down onto slanted roof behind the boy and he threw Stormflower towards him, and the blade pinned his shirt to the rooftop.

He hung off the edge and Ren approached him and stared at the boy with his hand extended, the boy reached for his hand desperately. "The bag." Ren stated and the boy whimpered, and Ren raised an eyebrow, so the boy just threw the bag up to him, and he caught it. Ren then pulled him back up and pulled his pistol from where the blade had him pinned.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" He cried out with relief.

"Next time, just ask for Lien." Ren scoffed, as he shoved a couple Lien Cards into his hands, since he knew that they did this merely out of desperation. He turned and he saw Ruby and Yang side by side as they went after the thief that took their bags as well. Whilst Nora suddenly jumped up into the air with a cheer, the boy writhed around as she held him in her hand by the collar. She and him landed down onto the roof next to Ren and the other boy.

"Whaddya say, Ren? Shall we break his legs?" The crazed Nora Valkyrie asked, and the boy screamed in terror as he held his legs.

"PLEASE NO! I don't wanna have broken legs!" The boy screamed out and Ren chuckled, since this was Nora essentially warning him.

"Maybe you'll have to." He played the game with her and he screamed with terror, pulled the bag from his shoulder and he pushed it to Nora with fear.

"OKAY! Okay!" He cried out, and he whimpered like a child. "I'm sorry…" He whimpered.

Nora smiled brightly as she picked up her bag and collapsed Stormur Skeggox into its Grenade Launcher form and she attached it to the magnetic strips she had built into the spine of her outfit. "Oh. Okay then, thank you." Nora squeaked as she slung her bag over her shoulder, and she walked off with Ren. "That was easy." She gleefully said.

"As always." Ren chuckled.

Then she sighed sadly. "But I didn't get to break his legs." She sighed, and Ren glanced back at the boys.

"Next time they steal some random person's bag…he best pray we aren't nearby." Ren stated, and Nora smirked almost madly at them, which would haunt them for the rest of their lives.

Ruby and Yang were both still on the boy that took their bags, he was by far the biggest of them, and also the fastest. He moved with great speed across the rooftops and he jumped across one and fell towards the lower one. Until suddenly Dulcis swooped in from out of nowhere and caught him by his shoulders. The huge Altum Eagle carried the screaming boy high up in the air whilst Ruby and Yang jumped down into the street to see Eryka at the bottom. "How long till he hits the ground?" Eryka betted.

"Uh…five seconds?" Ruby guessed.

"Nah, probably seven." Yang said.

"What say you, dickwad? How long to you go splat?" She asked him and she could not even hear his crying words from all the way up there. "Guess we'll find out." She whistled and the huge Eagle released the screaming boy. He came plummeting down towards the ground with great speed, about to be splattered across the road.

_One…two…three…four…five_

Dulcis caught him again, after diving down and he dug his talons into his shoulders once more. He stopped right in front of the ground and Ruby cheered. "Yes! I was right!" She danced on the spot and Yang sighed. The boy was still screaming even though he was completely safe from harm. Raven, Qrow, Valravn, Cinder and Vernal arrived with Oscar at the back. Nora and Ren showed up eventually too as they looked at the thief that she caught.

"Oh, shut up already." Eryka whistled again and Dulcis dropped him onto the road, whilst Ruby and Yang snatched their bags back, and Yang gave Ruby three Lien Cards for winning their little bet. The boy tried to crawl back, but Raven walked towards him and she slammed her knee down onto his chest as she tilted her head. Cinder walked over and she stood next to her with her hood up still.

"Who do you work for?" Raven questioned and the boy scoffed.

"Huh? No one! Why would I be stealing if I worked for someone?" He strained as Raven started to push harder and harder onto his chest.

"Ouch…wrong answer. Cinder, you think you can convince him to tell us the truth?" Raven asked curiously. The Fall Maiden smirked as her amber eye ignited and a flame crackled across her hand.

"Oh…hell yeah." Cinder assured with a smirk as she went to torture him.

Ruby and Yang went to stop her, but then they realised it was all essentially just a scare tactic. "Okay! Okay! I work for Lil Miss Malachite…we gather information for her, and steal her marked target's belongings…" She stammered and Cinder looked at Raven.

"Why the hell does Malachite have those four targeted?" Raven questioned, she already knew the answer, she just wanted to make sure the little turd wasn't lying.

"They've got bounties on their head…rogues from Beacon…" The boy whimpered and Cinder scoffed.

"Killian works fast." She said.

"Yeah, he does." Raven agreed, then she took her knee off his chest and she grabbed him by his arm and lifted him up. "Take us to your boss. I'd like to have a chat with her."

"O-Okay…" He whimpered and Cinder shoved him forward whilst Vernal and Oscar followed her. Raven looked back at Yang and Ruby and she approached them.

"Everything still in the bags?" She asked her daughter and Ruby.

"Yeah." Yang said, before she just walked straight past her mother.

They followed the boy through the Slums, and they found her home. It was impressive – in comparison to the rest of the slums – it was a Mansion Sized house that was made from the same materials as the slums, alongside using old rusted out cars to help make the place larger. They could feel the music, let alone hear it, and the flashing lights could be seen as well. "Lil Miss Malachite does like her parties. Don't drink anything." Raven said to all of them, and Qrow chuckled.

"Yeah…I remember." Qrow agreed as he followed his sister inside. They pushed the doors open and they entered, there were tables scattered in different places with thugs all sat inside talking. All of them had the Spider Tattoos and every single one of them were armed to the teeth. There were pretty girls that danced away as well, they wore very little and had some tattoos on their nether regions. They could hear the laughing from other rooms and even moaning in some. The younger ones felt uncomfortable in here, but they had just heard and seen the many ways in which people had to make money in Vacuo. Some had to sell their bodies to pleasure houses, some of them became talented Pole Dancers or you became Thugs for Hire.

Vacuo was a hard place to live in, if you couldn't adapt, you couldn't survive.

Yang walked past some of the people who were in here and she had been to Nightclubs like this in the past, like Junior's. "Man…and I thought Junior's was a dump." Yang scoffed as she walked through and saw some of the rusted cars that were being used as walls. She could only imagine how unsanitary it must have been. But as they kept walking through the nightclub, as they smelt the odour of booze in the air and the overlapped voices, things started to get cleaner the higher up they got. As they walked up the stairs, they saw more of the Hookers around the area, all with black hair and the tattoo on their necks. "Hey handsome…" One of the women cooed to Oscar as she touched his cheek with her hand.

"Careful Oscar, Malachite's Hookers aren't just Hookers." Vernal assured and he raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"People say some interesting things when they're happy." Vernal hinted as she kept walking, and as Oscar looked at her…he saw a scarred mark on her neck. His eyes widened, but he did not ask…but he knew he would have to. It was in the same place as the Hooker's, and her hair was the same colour though.

_Did Vernal work as a Prostitute for Lil Miss Malachite?_

They were about find out, as the boy finally brought them to her. "Lil Miss…"

She was stood at her comfortable sofa with her cigarette in her fingers, and she did not even need to turn to know who was stood there. "Hello, Raven Branwen. I must say it was interesting to see your face in my neck of the woods." Lil Miss Malachite greeted as she blew out the smoke. "And I see you brought back my beautiful little Flower." She said.

Ruby shrunk with fear. "Hello, Vernal." Lil Miss caught Ruby by surprise when she said her name, and they looked at her. Vernal stared at Lil Miss Malachite and she crossed her arms.

"Lil Miss…been a while." She said.

"Indeed, it has been. I see you've done quite well for yourself, considering how you arrived into Raven's Band." She said with a smirk on her face. Qrow looked at Vernal and Raven before he looked back at the Information Broker. "Oh…I see some of you don't know. Well allow me to tell you all the story…quite the gripping tale." She began and Vernal looked down at the floor with a sigh.

As if she were ashamed of it.

"When Vernal was a little girl she worked as a cute beggar like the one that you encountered in my service, except she worked for the Vacuo Mafia. She was good, she was very good. But after the Mafia went bust, I was intrigued by her, so I recruited her. She gave me very valuable intel as well." Lil Miss Malachite explained. "But…when she was eighteen…and she started to mature, I saw her beauty. I gave her an opportunity for more Lien – as a Prostitute." She revealed and Oscar's eyes widened when he realised, he was right. Eryka looked at Vernal and saw her scratch the scarred mark where she must have burned the Spider Tattoo away. "And my, my…she was very good. We got some of my best contracts thanks to how good she was. Men and Women…they tend to say some funny things when they're happy." She said, which mirrored what Vernal said literally moments prior.

Vernal could not even look at her old boss. "Well, until one of Raven's Bandits bought her, and stole her from me. And yet you managed to work your way from being Raven's Prisoner…to her Right Hand. An impressive tale." Lil Miss Malachite flaunted, for she knew all of that thanks to the little whispers she gathered from her many followers across the Globe.

"Thank you, Lil Miss. I wanted to forget ever working for you, and now all those bad memories are flooding back in. Bravo." Vernal scoffed as she held out her arms and rolled her large eyes.

"Have you brought back my little beauty? I'm sure plenty of men and women around here would pay big money for her time." Lil Miss Malachite asked them.

"She isn't yours anymore. She is free to do what she wishes." Raven stated.

"Really? So, if she wished to pack up and leave, you'd let her?" She asked her.

"Hell, I'd make sure she had a home and help her get it." Raven stated, and Vernal's heart warmed when she heard that. Raven had always been very kind to her, ever since she let her free from her cell.

"Aren't you the merciful one?" Lil Miss chuckled, until she heard the whispers in her head, and the others did as well.

"Valravn…Valravn…"

Lil Miss stared at the much taller man amongst them with his Tribal Cane still in his grasp, and the stilts shrunk down so then he was nowhere near as huge as normal. The chimes only clinked whenever he moved. "My, my…Valravn Branwen. I've heard tales about you." She then turned to everyone and she named and described every single one of them.

"Raven Branwen: Born in the Tribe with her little brother Qrow Branwen and Jackdaw Branwen, raised by their parents and their dear Uncle Valravn. Raven Branwen fell in love with Taiyang Xiao Long and had a child, only to abandon the child for her own self interests." Lil Miss Malachite described, and Raven hung her head sadly.

"Qrow Branwen: A Man of Poor Luck, spy for Professor Ozpin and the one allegedly held responsible for the death of Jackdaw Branwen's team. Was once madly in love with the late Summer Rose…and I surmise…you still are." She said as she stared at him, able to remember all these things like she read them yesterday.

"Eryka Vasillias: taken in by the Branwen Tribe after her failure at becoming a Huntress and after the potential seen in her skill as a bare-knuckled boxer. Bonded with an Altum Eagle named Dulcis in the Summit's Claim, the one location my spies have no intel on…other than it is where Altum Eagle Huntresses and Huntsmen are trained."

"Oscar Pine: Aged Nineteen, found his Aunt and Uncle brutally murdered by Jackdaw Branwen and was taken in by his sister moments later, to be trained into becoming a skilled warrior and murderer."

Her eyes now turned and faced the five they were trying to hide – which included Cinder. "Cinder Fall: Wanted by every single Kingdom for the attack on Beacon Academy four years ago, taken in by Raven Branwen and trained to fight for their freedom with the power of her Fall Maiden abilities. Raised by a family who despised her and abused her, left the family after she killed them all with a broken Glass Slipper, before being taken in by Salem of course."

"Alright we get it." Yang interrupted, but then Lil Miss Malachite stared directly at the four of them. The music continued to play around them as the four confronted Malachite.

"Well, well…the fly has flown into the Spider's Web." She said to them.

"How can you possibly remember all that?" Ruby questioned.

"I unlocked my semblance a very long time ago, it allowed me to remember everything as clear as day. Came in handy when I wanted to become an Information Broker. Might not help in combat…but when you have an Empire…who needs to?" She asked as she sat down by her delicious looking dessert. "Knowledge is Power." She reminded.

"There's the old Malachite Motto…" Vernal scoffed as she rolled her eyes.

"You…" The familiar voice spoke, and Yang turned, and her eyes widened. Militia and Melanie Malachite emerged from one of the private rooms with a bunch of Malachite's Prostitutes giggling as they ran out. They walked out and stared at Yang with their weapons at the ready.

"Oh great…you two?" She scoffed.

"My daughters did indeed inform me about your hustle at Hei Xiong's Club. Though sadly we are not here for fighting, are we?" Lil Miss Malachite asked them curiously.

"No, we're not." Raven agreed as she stood in front of the four of them. "I know Jackdaw came here for information. I want to know what he wanted, and where he was heading."

"What makes you think I know his whereabouts?" She asked her and Raven just raised a brow at her. "Alright…I can provide you with what you desire…but first I need something."

"We can pay." Raven assured.

"Oh please, look around you. I have enough Lien to by myself an army…no…there is something else I desire. Something that won't cost you a penny." Lil Miss Malachite explained to her, and Raven crossed her arms with intrigue.

"And that is?" Raven asked.

"Hearthstone Chateau." Lil Miss answered, and that caused Raven and Vernal's eyes to widen with disbelief.

"What? What is it?" Yang asked her mother.

"Hearthstone Chateau is the Manor that the Mafia's Leaders lived in…and where they died when the Vasillias Cartel wiped them out." Raven answered and Lil Miss Malachite nodded her head.

"Indeed, it is, and as you can see, I am in dire need of a new home to live in. If you can clear the Chateau that the Mafia lived in of Grimm for me, I will give you the information that you desire." Lil Miss Malachite explained as she ate some of her pudding with her spoon. They all looked at each other and they nodded to Raven.

Raven turned to Lil Miss Malachite and she extended her hand. "Then you have a deal."

Lil Miss Malachite shook her hand.

* * *

**Sienna**

* * *

On the other side of Vacuo…

…the White Fang have created a secondary Base of Operations. Sienna Khan stood by her throne, still clad in her High Leader clothing and the golden rings in her ears. Her hair was slightly longer, and she had less fierceness to her, since things had been going so much smoother for the Faunus. There were still some armed soldiers in there, but many White Fang soldiers did not need to resort to violence anymore…only protection, from the real enemy.

She stood before the hologram of Ghira Belladonna, who was on the other side of the planet at Menagerie. "How have things been going on your end, Ghira?" She asked her old friend.

"Quite well, the new Human Group – the United – have been a massive help over here. They have been providing us with new crops and business opportunities. The S.D.C are still being quiet, but they must be feeling the heat." Ghira explained with a great deal of pride in his voice and she chuckled.

"Yes, I saw some activists from the Unity. Humans whose goal is specifically to help the Faunus in any way they can. I never thought I would see the day where violence wouldn't be necessary." Sienna chuckled as she scratched the back of her neck. "I'm sorry, Ghira…I was wrong to judge your methods."

"No, you don't need to apologise. Things were bleak back then, Beacon helped us show the world we don't want to kill Humans. Only those who want to kill us." Ghira explained, and she nodded her head in agreement.

"Seeing Humans and Faunus together, working together – it gives me faith. And I am glad to have you with us again. Having a Council for the White Fang is brand new; the Albain Brothers are rather strange though." She admitted and Ghira nodded his head.

"They are a bit more fanatical, yes. However, they know the right people in the right places, they could come in handy." Ghira shrugged his shoulders and she nodded her head in agreement.

"As long as they can get under the idea of no longer needing to use violence to spread the word, they are fine." Sienna said as she nodded her head. But as they spoke, she could hear the sound of fear in Ghira's voice. He was trembling and she could see how tense he was through the shimmering blue hologram of him. "Ghira? Are you alright?" She asked him and he blew out a breath.

"I know Blake is alright…it's just hearing about the attack…Kali is still terrified and so am I." Ghira stammered.

"Blake will be fine. She survived the Battle of Beacon, both times. She survived this. She will be fine." Sienna assured.

"I guess you're right…I just worry about her a lot." He stated.

"She's your daughter, and you're her father. It's kinda your job to worry about her all the time." Sienna chuckled.

"I guess so…I'm surprised you haven't got a kid yet. The way you have managed to command the White Fang, parenting would be easier for you." He chuckled and she chuckled too, and she scratched the back of her neck again.

"I've pondered it…never found the right man though." She shrugged and he nodded his head.

"Never too late." He said to her.

"No…I guess it's not." She agreed. Ghira turned when he heard the sound of Kali calling for him in the other room. Sounded like she finished making their dinner for the night.

"Well…my wife summons me. I dare not refuse her." Ghira chuckled and Sienna smiled.

"Especially not Kali. Talk to you soon, old friend." Sienna said as she bowed her head, and he did the same.

"Hopefully sooner rather than later." Ghira said, then his holographic image cut away and she blew out a breath and walked over to her throne and sat down.

"Getting old, Sienna…ow…" She groaned as she rubbed her back, being stood up in one place for ages did tend to give her a few back pains after all. She touched her hair as she looked down the newly finished hall that both Humans and Faunus worked together to build. No longer bearing the blood splattered symbol of the Fang that Adam wore, just the blue one that Ghira believed in.

As she looked down the hall, she spotted Ilia walking across the room with a plate and some food on it. Sienna got up and called for her. "Ilia!" She called and Ilia stopped and looked at her High Leader.

"High Leader." She went to bow but Sienna stopped her.

"Oh, don't be silly, no other soldiers around us. We're friends." Sienna reminded and Ilia nervously laughed and nodded her head.

"Oh yeah I'm sorry…old habits, I suppose." She confessed and Sienna patted her shoulder, and the two of them walked over to a bench and sat down. She set the plate that had a sandwich and she set the glass of orange juice down as well. "I was just taking that to him."

"I'll do it, don't worry. How's your girlfriend been doing?" Sienna asked her.

"Angel? Yeah…well…yeah…" She awkwardly blushed and smiled, which made Sienna raise a brow.

"Alright, Ilia. Spill it." Sienna said since she caught on. Ilia held up her hand and revealed the beautiful engagement ring and Sienna's eyes widened with joy for her.

"She proposed last night…when we went to see the Sunset." She laughed with happiness.

"Congratulations, Ilia." Sienna kindly said, she wrapped her up in a warm hug and kissed her cheek respectfully.

"It's…really weird. I remember after…after I had feelings for Blake and when she didn't feel the same way…I never thought I would find anyone else." Ilia chuckled. "Then I met her…just a lonely Eagle Faunus…I think I fell for her as soon as I saw her." She giggled and Sienna smiled.

"I'm happy for you. You deserve to be happy; you know?" She said to her and Ilia smiled. "Go on, I can't have you leave her waiting now. Go." She said to her.

"What about…"

"Don't worry, I'll do it. Besides…I've been meaning to fill him in on everything that's happened." Sienna said and Ilia nodded her head. She then wrapped her arms around Sienna in a kind and gentle hug.

"Thank you, Sienna, if it weren't for you…I don't think I'd have ever met her." She said to Sienna, which made the Tigress smile. They released one another and Ilia left the Base to be with her new fiancé. Sienna was alone again…but not entirely.

She took the plate with her into the dungeons and she passed some of the empty cells, since they had never needed to put people in there. Except for one.

She pulled up a chair after she slid his plate underneath the door and into his room. She stared into the darkness of the cell, through the bars.

Then she finally spoke. "It's been a while since we had one of these talks." She said to him in the cell. He did not say a word to her, and she scoffed. "I know, you're not saying a thing. Silence is your virtue, right? But we've made some impressive progress with the Faunus Rights, so I thought I'd get you up to speed." Sienna said to him as she stared at his silhouette in the shadows.

"It's been four years since we fought with the humans at Beacon, to fend off the Black Smog. We helped them repair the Academy and the city of Vale after you attacked the way you did. Things have been taking shape, we've all seen it. It wasn't that long ago really, when the Faunus and Humans were at each other's teeth. When you had our people fighting for Roman Torchwick and his impossible war. And look where that thug is now…"

"It's not like that anymore. We're building, together. Working on a better future. Together. I have seen out there, Humans have created a group called the Unity, where Human Volunteers help Faunus in any way they can. Building homes, helping them find happiness, providing work. The people have started to become more accepting of us in cities across the world, even in Mistral. Atlas…is getting there…and we will help them too."

"And do you want to know why it has all been better? It's because of where you are, we showed that we punish those who try and ruin everything we have worked to create. We punish those just as they would punish their own kind, for breaking the law. Because we do not want to change the world, we do not want to rise above humanity…we just want to live on the same level. And we're nearly there…that's why you're in this cell."

"You never could see the potential; you only saw through your own hate. But if you could have set that aside and tried…you would have seen what I saw at Beacon. We fought with the humans, we bled with them, we worked together. Because we all know what the real enemy is…and it is out there. It is in our nature…to work _together_." Sienna told him.

Then she heard him scoff.

"Do you really believe that?" Adam asked her and she stared at him with narrowed eyes. She could not really make him out in the shadows, but she knew he had grown a beard and he was thinner than he was before. He was wasting away, and yet even after four years…he still has not changed. "Do you seriously think that this ideal world of yours is gonna last?" He asked her curiously.

"It will. I know it will." Sienna stated.

"You talk of forgiveness…and yet here I am." Adam softly snarled.

"You know why you're behind these bars. You cut a teenage girl's arm from her elbow, you stabbed Blake in the stomach. You're gonna die behind these bars, just like any other criminal." Sienna growled as she clenched her hand into a fist.

"I have friends out there in the world…and when they find me…and they will…this peace you have built will go out the window, because I will show you why –"

"Do you ever get tired of thinking you're in charge? That you're this big puffed up badass?" Sienna interrupted.

"Do you?" Adam retorted swiftly and that made her pause.

"All I want is peace, and even after four years…all you want is chaos." She scoffed with disgust.

"Do you really think that because a bunch of humans decided to help some Faunus kids…all to make themselves look better to the crowds…do you think that it will change a thing? It won't." He growled as he stared at her from the darkness. "So, when it all falls apart, I hope you come back to tell me about that too."

"We're thriving, without you. The Faunus are thriving without you, the White Fang is. Blake – is happy, without you." Sienna said, and Adam slowly clenched his hand into a fist as he glared at her.

Then…

He leaned into the light, and she saw his face.

His left eye was covered by a horrible brand, scarred onto the eye itself – which spelt S.D.C. The sclera was red from ruptured blood vessels and the pupil turned grey, he could not see through the eye, but he could still see her perfectly. His clothes were old and tattered ones, and his beard as thick over his jaw and mouth, bristles of red hair and dirt covered his face. His nails were withered away too, from the scratches on the wall, it was easy to guess why. "I will kill her…for how she abandoned me…" Adam promised with a growl.

"No…you will rot in this cell…you will die in this cell. When you're an old man, and you have nothing but regrets of the terrible things you did. So, eat your food, and keep on thinking you're still in charge." Sienna snarled as she got up from her chair and walked away from his cell.

She could hear him begin to laugh, maniacally from inside of his cell, for he has now completely lost his mind.

Inside his cell, he stared at the wall and continued to scratch with his nail into the stone. The symbol of his White Fang, the Beowulf with the three slashes and the blood…his blood on it. He stared at it and he smiled.

"It's never over…until all of Humanity is dead."

"Until Blake screams in agony…and dies…in agony."

* * *

Author Note - Adam has truly gone off the deep end now

It is great writing this version of Adam, since in KoG he was very different. I loved that talk between him and Sienna, I wish it could've gone that way in the show honestly. But alas, my story is not theirs, so y'know. The Faunus Human Relations Campaign has been going very well, but if Adam gets out it could all go wrong. And the stuff at Vacuo was so interesting to write, one of my favourite things about Eclipse is the Criminal Underworld, and I can't wait to go deeper into that at the Chateau. The Vasillias Cartel is quite terrifying, and as is Lil Miss Malachite. She is quite a dangerous lady.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!

Stay tuned for the next chapter - Hearthstone Chateau

\- Matt


	13. The Sea of Sand

**Quick Note - This was gonna be the Hearthstone Chateau Chapter, but I wanted to add in this chapter first, give a bit more lore, and a cool action sequence, and some character development too. So the next chapter will focus on the Manor.**

* * *

**Chapter 12 – The Sea of Sand**

* * *

**Ruby**

* * *

It took them a while to get to the location, but eventually they found it.

The Sea of Sand…

At least that was what it looked like, the mirage caused the sand to look like lapping waves of seawater. But even when their minds were not fixated on first they could still see it, or at least until they got closer. They had never seen so much death, so much emptiness, and yet amongst the ocean of sand…they saw the remnants of what once stood here. Ruby walked beside Qrow and they looked around as Oscar walked up behind them on the Sand Dunes. He held his weapon in his grasp as he stared at the destruction with awe.

"By the gods…I heard that they abandoned the old city…but I never expected this." Qrow said as he stared out at what stood before them.

The bones of the old city, the expansion that was abandoned when so many people left after the water supplies started to run dry. When crops began to fail due to drought, caused by Human Meddling with the landscape. They walked through it all, and they felt it…they heard the echoes of distant children who laughed as they played together in the playgrounds. Yang walked past one and the swing slightly swung back and forth as the wind carried it, Cinder just walked past it all though. Alongside Valravn, who just kept moving, he was like a force of nature, nothing ever seemed to surprise him.

"I know they abandoned it all, but I never imagined it would look like this." Ruby agreed as she stared at what remained of the once prosperous city of Vacuo. The sand dunes had swallowed up most buildings and they were barely standing as it was. There were a few tall skyscrapers, but many of them had already collapsed. Sandstone was forming around them, and with the lack of Humanity to clean it up, the planet took it upon itself. Wildlife looked like it was starting to return around here, but the real population belonged to the Grimm now.

They could see distant Griffins nested inside of one of the still standing towers, hollowed out one of the floors as they nested there. It was strange, they very rarely ever saw the Grimm with nests, or with offspring. But they had encountered young Grimm before, Blake saw a large group of baby Nevermores escape a building back in Mountain Glenn four years prior. And Grimm had appeared in different sizes in the past.

"How do…Grimm even…make babies?" Nora asked softly, then Vernal chuckled.

"Well…a mommy Grimm and daddy Grimm love each other very much –"

"I KNOW HOW THAT WORKS! But Grimm don't have organs like we do." Nora pointed out, and Valravn finally stopped as he walked up one of the dunes, and he looked back at her. His cloak of feathers blew in the wind as he stared down at her.

"Time is not a concept of which a shadow could comprehend, so why should a creature of shadows?" Valravn asked her, and her eye twitched due to his bizarre way of speaking to people.

"Huh?" She asked.

Raven decided to help Nora understand what her Uncle just said. "He basically meant that certain Grimm – when they reach a certain age – will sacrifice their bodies and create Pools of Darkness. They do not fear time like we do, they just decide when it is the right time." Raven explained, and Nora stared at Valravn.

"Couldn't you have just said it like that? So much simpler." Nora scoffed as she crossed her arms. Valravn said nothing, he just glared at her with those burning red eyes in the sockets of his Raven Shaped Skull Helmet.

"Why does he speak in riddles?" Ren asked Raven as he walked next to Nora across the desert. Raven looked at the Kuroyurian and then at her Uncle who kept walking.

"I don't rightfully know…he's driven by something, he just wants to save our family. We're bound by a curse, I know we are…it's one of the few things that Jackdaw and I have an agreement on. Our family always ends up suffering misfortune one way or another, either we inflict it on others or it happens to us. But we have always been divided…long before we were born." Raven explained as she walked past some of the old abandoned buildings. Nora looked at one of them and she only saw the darkness inside, grains of sand that flowed through. Nora wiped the sweat from her brow as Ren asked his next question.

"What do you mean by that?" Ren asked.

"Well, our parents were despondent. Our father was abusive and eventually he left us, and our mother died. I soon found out my father died a few years later. Valravn left not long after that, I went to visit him a few times, but he refused to ever come back to the Tribe. Until now." Raven explained as she looked at her Uncle. In a weird way, he had been a better father to her and her brothers than their real one ever was. And even then, he was not exactly the best role model, but he was always watching over them.

More than their father ever did.

"I know you're an orphan as well, Ren." Raven said as she looked at him, and he looked at her.

"Yes…I lost my parents at Kuroyuri, when the Nuckelavee attacked and destroyed the whole place." Ren explained with sadness ever present in his voice.

"I'm sorry…your mother and father…what were they like?" She asked.

"My mother was loving, she helped people there, loved children and wanted the best for everyone." Ren explained, and Raven raised a brow.

"And…your father?" Raven asked him. "Was he cruel, like ours?"

"No…he was just…damaged inside. He rarely spoke, and he froze whenever I asked him where he went. I never knew what he did for a living…I think he was a Hunter, and he saw some pretty scary things out there." Ren explained, they could only imagine what his father – Li Ren – could have possibly seen.

If it was enough to scare him, then it must have been horrifying.

"He died saving me." Ren told Raven.

"I know, I saw the damage. I knew it was the Kuroyurian Nuckelavee, if I could have been there to help your village I would have." Raven told him and Ren scoffed.

"Sure…then you would have pillaged us." Ren said sternly as he kept walking, Nora normally would be worried when Ren showed his anger, but she was in agreement with him. Neither of them liked having to work with Raven Branwen and her Tribe. Raven stared at the two of them and she stopped them.

"I know you don't trust me, or my Tribe – and I don't ask you to change your opinion. But I do not want my Tribe attacking innocents, our targets have always been other criminals." Raven tried to say, but Nora shook her head.

"What about Matsutari?" Nora questioned sternly, and Raven stared at her – she remembered the name like it was yesterday.

"You know about that?" She asked.

"Yeah…Ren and I saw it when we were kids, we were on the road together for a long time after we escaped Kuroyuri. We saw the damage left behind from your Bandit Tribe…I knew people there. Innocent children…I saw them get thrown into wagons, a man being flayed alive, women…" Nora could not bring herself to say what she saw them do, and Raven froze and closed her eyes. Her fist clenched tight and she shook with anger.

"Shay…" She snarled.

"I wasn't there for long, but I saw enough. You can't control them can you?" Nora questioned and Raven sighed.

"Have you ever tried to control a fire? Sometimes it works, sometimes it only burns the logs…but sometimes the fire spreads. And no matter how fast you can put the flame out…the damage was already done." Raven explained as she walked with them, and Ren shook his head at her.

"You think that forgives it? They were innocent, and they were your men…they should respect you." Ren told her and Raven shook her head.

"Shay is not a man who likes being commanded by a Woman, he never has…he came from another Tribe, and before that he was a killer. The Tribe he was a part of was lead by a man, and they took women like cattle. I had hoped he was a man who would follow orders, but sometimes…I can't stop him." Raven explained to the two of them, but neither of them were letting her get off scot free.

"Everyone who died at that village…their blood is on your hands as much as his." Nora hissed, and the two of them walked ahead of Raven as she slowed down. She stood there in the hot sand and she lowered her head sadly. Yang stared at her mother, and she could see the pain in her heart and in her eyes…she very clearly wanted to control her Grunts, but as she said.

It is not as easy as it seems to control a fire, atop dry grass.

Cinder walked with her hood pulled back now, her short black hair blew in the hot desert wind. As she walked, she turned to see Eryka walk up beside her, her Eagle glided down and landed onto her arm. Cinder glanced at the Eagle but she just stared ahead and sighed. Her determination to stay as unconnected to people was admirable, but sometimes her curiosity would make her want to know more. Eryka looked at the Fall Maiden and she chuckled. "So…Fall Maiden…that's something, huh?" Eryka asked, but Cinder did not say a word. "Can't speak? Doesn't seem practical."

"Back off, I'm not here to make friends." Cinder snarled at her, almost like a dog.

"Wow, that's not very nice." Eryka sarcastically said to her, which made Cinder roll her eyes. "Why are you always so mean?" Eryka asked curiously to her. "Is it because I'm a Huntress?"

"I don't hate Hunters." Cinder said, before she stared at her. "It's stuck-up bitches with crazy coloured hair…that's who I hate."

"So…did you hate Emerald?" Eryka asked her and Cinder rolled her eyes.

"Didn't like her kiss-ass nature, no. But she was useful, but a friend? Gods no." Cinder chuckled, whether or not she was telling the truth was anyone's guess. But Eryka…being Eryka…kept following and talking to her.

"I quite like girls with pretty hair…shows their brave as hell to have their hair in rainbow colours." Eryka chuckled, which probably meant she tried convincing Winter to change her hair colour once…probably to a vibrant pink. Cinder still though was not enjoying this conversation, and she seemed like a wild dog, growling at her constantly.

"Will you just leave me alone?" She snarled viciously at her.

"Y'know, I once felt like I didn't want any friends. I stayed alive for a long time…but gods, was I miserable." Eryka scoffed as she walked with the reluctant Fall Maiden. Cinder stopped and she pushed her tongue against the inside of her cheek, and stared at Eryka.

"You trying to sleep with me? That what's going on her, blue?" Cinder questioned, and she raised a brow suggestively – and sarcastically.

"Do ya?" Eryka playfully bantered, which just made Cinder even more annoyed. If there was one thing that Eryka knew how to do masterfully, it was how to annoy someone to the point of falling to their knees and begging her to stop.

"Nah, rather stick to myself." Cinder stated, which just gave Eryka more ammunition.

"Just your hand? That's no fun at all." She quipped.

"Will you leave me alone?" She begged her.

"Don't worry, just busting your tits." Eryka assured, which made Cinder raise a brow in confusion bat hearing a phrase that Eryka must have come up with on the spot. "Already got someone waiting for me…well I hope so. Probably pissed her off, disappearing like I did. But Winter's a forgiving soul…when she feels like it." Eryka explained, then Cinder stopped and stared at her.

"Winter Schnee?" She inquired.

"You met her?" Eryka inquired.

"You're with Winter…Schnee?" She chuckled, since someone like Eryka Vasillias was the last person she expected someone so uptight to fall for.

"Surprised? So was I…"

"How the hell did an annoying bitch like yourself end up with a stuck-up pompous bitch like that?" It took Eryka having to bite her tongue to not get pissed at Cinder for her insulting words towards her girlfriend, but she managed to keep her cool.

"I guess I rubbed off on her." Eryka shrugged.

"I bet you did." Cinder replied just as quickly, and she kept walking with them. She wiped the sweat from her brow as she walked.

"I guess the two of us are foils for each other. I may not have her skills but I have the humour. We help each other…that's why you should have friends." Eryka stated as she walked beside Cinder, who just rolled her eyes as she walked next to her.

"How the hell has a mad woman like you survived this long?" Cinder questioned. Eryka grinned.

"I'm a damn good shot." She said as she showed her an arrow, and Cinder stared at it. That at least was something these two had in common, they were both pretty handy with Bows and Arrows. But Cinder just kept walking as Eryka let Dulcis take off once more.

Ruby walked past the two of them, and Vernal approached her. "You're like a walking clone of her." Vernal chuckled, and Ruby jolted, turned to see Raven's Right Hand Woman walking behind her. "And just as jumpy." It made Vernal laugh to see how sweet such a skilled Huntress was.

"M-My mother? Did you know her?" Ruby asked Vernal as she caught up to the Silver Eyed Girl.

"Not personally, no. But Raven always had stories to tell about her, the shenanigans she would get them to go on." Vernal explained, Ruby looked at Yang and they both looked at Raven. That sadness they could see was very similar to Qrow's expression, she very clearly missed Summer, she was a very close friend, maybe her best friend that did not include Taiyang. "She misses her, a lot. She told me stories when I was having drinks with her once, about how Summer would always wake her up in the morning. Suddenly the curtains would open and she would scream _RISE AND SHINE SLEEPYHEAD!_" Vernal laughed, which made Ruby giggle as well.

"Really?" She asked.

"Uh-Huh…still wake up early because of her." Raven chuckled as she approached them as they walked past the destroyed and abandoned buildings.

"I remember those mornings…she had me once blare the loudest music possible because you tried using ear muffs." Qrow chuckled and Raven laughed too as she nodded her head. Valravn kept walking but he turned his head slightly when he heard both Qrow and Raven laughing. It was a sound he had not heard in a very, very long time. They could not see it, but they was a smile underneath that mask.

"Sounds…familiar, doesn't it?" Yang asked Ruby and she started poking her fingers together.

"Yeah…Weiss has threatened to beat me to death with a pillow every time I did it." Ruby softly said, which made Raven chuckle, since it just proved Vernal's point. Ruby Rose was quite literally a carbon copy of her mother.

"Yang too…the only differences between you and your mom really are the hair and eyes." Vernal said to Yang, but the Brawler glanced at her mother and she narrowed her lilac eyes.

"A bit more divides us than that." She said.

"I believe Jackdaw's return could be a good thing for us all." Raven said as she walked with them, and they all stared at Raven with confused looks.

"How's that?" Oscar asked as he jumped onto the collapsed and buried buildings in front of him.

"It's given us a second chance…I hope I can use it to mend some of the mistakes I have made. I know I cannot be forgiven for them all." Raven said as she looked at Ren, she remembered what he said and she agreed with him. But when she looked at her gorgeous daughter, she just hoped she could fix the things between them.

"I wouldn't hold your breath." Yang stated, then Valravn stopped again.

"Hate is a plague, once it has been sewn into one's soul it will spread and destroy." Valravn stated as he looked at Yang. Raven's daughter stared at him and Raven was about to translate his riddle, but Valravn did it for her. "Hate was what tore this family apart, it crippled my eldest nephew…turned him into the beast we now hunt. Do you wish to end up the same way? Do you wish to let your darkness be unveiled?" Valravn asked her, and Yang felt rather overshadowed by the old man, yet his words were so wise.

"Hatred and Revenge can cut deeper than any knife." Ruby also said, for she showed her own wisdom.

"Maybe we don't need to understand any more than that…maybe that's enough." Valravn said to them, and Yang sighed.

"Yeah…maybe that's enough." Yang agreed and they continued up the dunes. As they approached the peak of the lapping dune, they stared at the city as it stretched out before them.

"Gods…why is this damned Manor so far away?" Cinder groaned as she leant forward and rubbed her raw sunburnt knees.

"Technically it's not…there's just a huge chasm, too dangerous for us to risk crossing. Going through the Abandoned City is the smartest move." Qrow said as he looked around. Oscar stood next to her as he stared out at the huge landscape before them…and he pulled his binoculars that hung from his neck to his eyes. Raven looked at him after noticing the action.

"What is it?" She asked him, he saw movement down on the ground. Most of the Aerial Grimm were not a problem really, since they were too far to sense them. But the ones on the ground were worth their attention. He saw it move, it was big and the long curved tail was the last thing he saw.

"Grimm…big one…" He described.

"What kind?" Eryka asked.

"Looked like a Deathstalker." Oscar told her, and they all got ready, since they knew it was possible that this Deathstalker could attack them.

"Alright everyone, be careful. This city belongs to the Grimm now." Qrow said to them all as he drew Harbinger, and they all slid down the steep angled dune. For his old age, Valravn could still move quite nimbly as he slid down and nailed the landing. He drew his two primitive yet lethal looking sickles, crafted from his surroundings. Wood, bone, stone and flint – with a couple of feathers and wind chimes as well. He walked with his Nephew and Niece and the others followed behind them.

Oscar walked next to Ruby as they looked around the old destroyed city, destroyed by time itself as they kept moving through. "The Sea of Sand…how long do you think it will be before this whole city is completely buried?" Oscar wondered as he looked at the tall buildings. Most of them had already collapsed, but they looked like they could be toppled over any day now. A powerful Sandstorm could be enough to finish them off. They had thousands of completely shattered windows.

The people literally packed up and left, either stayed in the Caldera of Vacuo, or they moved to the other Kingdoms. Ruby looked at Oscar as he walked with his Chained Hammers in his grasp. "I…I don't really know." Ruby said to him. "Maybe a few decades."

"For hundreds of years, after the Great War ended, the Vacuo Building Trade was the best in the world. They learned how to use the environment to their advantage…they were the best…for a time. And then…" Oscar spoke well, despite the fact he was taken in and pretty much raised in the Tribe after his family was massacred by Jackdaw Branwen.

"…and then they weren't." Cinder said, her voice caused Ruby to flinch and turn to stare at her. Cinder did not even give Ruby a look, they just kept walking. Ruby scoffed and nodded her head, since Cinder was correct.

"And then they weren't." Oscar agreed.

"You can thank the Atlesians for that, they bankrupted them, and their constant building they were so famous for…it caused their collapse in the first place. Now…it's just a matter of time before everyone leaves Vacuo, and the Kingdom is forgotten." Ruby explained as she walked past the buried cars that were just abandoned when people were evacuated from the main city. There were some areas by the Caldera still in use, including the main road and bridge across the Chasm. But considering the Chasm Bridge was looking pretty damaged and the area was so open…it was too dangerous to take the fast path.

Nobody would follow them through the Sea of Sand.

As Oscar walked, he spoke of a chillingly beautiful short story that summed up what happened here.

"The Wanders of Sand and Sandstone held each other close, as they turned their backs on their legacy.

The Sandstorms raged, as they swallowed their homes, the lakes and rivers dried, and their crops crumbled into the very storm that consumed them.

The Oncoming Storm blew so hard, so hot, that even the Grimm fled in fear, as the windows melted, and the paint peeled from the aesthetic.

But that was never the final sight, that the Wanderers of the Sand would see of their beloved home as they fled the wall of sand.

No, for it was the view of their home…barren and laid bare…as the sun baked their homes…as the storm finally arrived…they saw everything they ever worked so hard to build.

Disappear, as if it were all a story to begin with."

Oscar's words sent chills down their spines, and Yang looked at the young Bandit as he walked next to the Fall Maiden, whom he trusted with his life. "Did you come up with that just now?" Yang asked him, and he looked at her.

"It was a story I read, my Aunt had it. She was a Historian…" He said to them and they all bowed their heads. They all knew about what happened to his Aunt and Uncle, so they decided to not press the matter any further as they kept walking. Valravn walked further into the Sea of Sand…and then he stopped and he held his fist above his head. They all froze in position.

And they felt it…

…the rumbling.

"Deathstalkers…" Raven softly said as she chose her Red Blade and drew it fast.

Suddenly the sand exploded before their very eyes, as the huge arched tail, glowing yellow bulb and stinger emerged from the sand. The black and white rose up from the dunes and snapped its massive pincers at them as it deeply hissed in their direction. Ruby spun Crescent Rose round and glared the beast in its four eyes. When unexpectedly a second and a third emerged from the desolate city, buildings erupted into a thousand pieces as the large Arachnids emerged from the ground. They all snarled as they snapped their pincers and roared at them viciously.

"Attack!" Ruby yelled as she blasted towards the Deathstalker, but the huge beast spun round and swung its tail into her, so hard that it sent her flying back, and crashed straight through the window of one of the buildings. They all split up, and Valravn moved fast as the whispering voices kept muttering in their heads. He leapt up and he spun into a cyclonic charge, and he slashed his two sickles across its armoured spine The sickles were all inside of his staff, since they connected together and he manually folded the blades inwards, which meant that when it came to combat, he could most certainly handle himself.

Nora grinned, and she took Stormur Skeggox and he blasted towards the huge beast and she swung the axe into its leg, and she severed it, and the creature screeched in agony. Black smoke poured out from the wound, and the Pincer suddenly snapped down across her torso, it lifted her off the floor and slammed her down into the ground. "Nora!" Ren yelled, as he threw Stormflower towards it, the weapon spun through the air like a boomerang and cut across the creature's eye. The giant Scorpion screeched in agony as the eye burst like a bubble being popped. Nora flopped onto the floor but she rolled aside just in time as the massive stinger came crashing down towards her, but she kept crawling back to avoid the huge stinger that kept stabbing down at her.

The beast roared as it lunged toward her, when Oscar's hammer came blasting in over their heads, and collided right into the face of the Scorpion. The Deathstalker grunted and staggered back as the Bandit went rushing towards the giant beast. He jumped up and he launched the hammers down into the ground, and the impact caused a shockwave that carried him up above the Deathstalker. He then pulled the long chains over his head and the hammers came crashing down with great force atop the beast's head. The creature bounced from the strike, and snarled as it staggered back, and Oscar landed between Nora and Ren.

The other Stalker challenged Vernal and Cinder, and the two Bandits worked together with efficient combat strategy. The creature charged and went straight through the old sandstone house, and the adobe walls exploded into dust particles. Vernal aimed both her firearms and she fired two long lasers of electrical energy across the thick white bony armour of the creature. "C'mon you overgrown critter!" Vernal yelled, when Cinder held up her hands and the sand rose up around her. She used her semblance to the best of her abilities, she may not be able to use her telekinesis to lift anything bigger than a grain of sand…but that did not mean she could not lift a large cloud of the stuff.

It hovered around her hands, and she ignited the sand and melted it down into shards of glass, and launched it towards the enraged Deathstalker. It roared in pain as the sharp shards cut through the armour and Cinder jumped over the beast as it staggered towards her. Vernal rolled aside and she spun through the air after jumping like a buzz saw. Her curved circular blades cut through the armour and the soft layer of tissue underneath like a hot knife through butte. The creature growled in anger and in pain, when Cinder also suddenly cut one of the huge legs off the giant, which left seven, like the one Nora's trio were fighting against.

The Deathstalker turned and suddenly took both Pincers and grabbed her, slamming her up against the wall of one of the buildings. The wall cracked upon impact, as the stinger arched above the creature's head and aimed down to take her down. When suddenly a Sickle came spinning towards it and cut the stinger from the whole tail. The Deathstalker shrieked in agony as the tail came plummeting off into the sand. Cinder gasped and she turned to see Valravn stood there, as the Sickle came spinning back round into his open palm.

"Valravn, Valravn…" The voices kept whispering into the back of their minds, and he stood before the creature. He was calm and collected as he stared it down, smoke trailed from the beak of the mask where the herbs were burning. The Deathstalker swung round and threw Cinder towards the Priest-Like Tribesman. Valravn merely stepped aside as Cinder screamed past him and Eryka slid down the dune behind the giant beast and fired an arrow. The Deathstalker snarled as it felt the arrow puncture between the plates of armour in its rear.

"RIGHT IN THE ASS! YEAH!" Eryka cheered, until the Deathstalker spun its tail and slammed it right into Eryka's chest. She cried out in pain as her incredibly thin aura broke instantly from the high damage attack from the Deathstalker. She tumbled across the terrain as the Deathstalker turned to her, and charged forward, and stabbed the ground where she was stood. Vernal suddenly leapt at the creature where the stumped tail slammed down. She swung her bladed firearms and they slashed across the stump. The creature roared in pain and staggered back, right towards Valravn who was pacing back and forth behind it.

He jumped up into the air and he slashed his dual weapons across the spine of the beast and it snarled in agony.

On the other side of the battle, Ruby got back up as the Deathstalker charged towards her and it shrieked at her. Ruby's large silver eyes bulged out as she gasped and the creature went for her. Until Yang dropped down in front of the Deathstalker, and with her cybernetic fist she ploughed it right in the face with a single strike. The Deathstalker roared in pain, staggering back as the shockwave from such a punch caused the huge beast to stumble away from her. "Back off." Yang hissed, and Ruby smiled.

"Nice one, sis!" Ruby cheered.

A Raven and a Crow came flapping over to them and they both transformed out of thin air, and they slashed their swords across the armour. The Deathstalker roared in anger and pain as it felt the blades cut straight across the armour plating. The creature turned as the sparks rolled down the scales and it slammed the stinger down towards Raven, but she bounced back and she slashed her sword towards it, and sheathed it. The next sword she drew was a Wind Dust Coated Blade, and with such a blade she stabbed it into the sand and she spun it round, which created a mini sand tornado that she sent towards it. Then, she switched to her fire blade, and swung the blade at the tornado, which sent an arc of fire towards it. The flames were caught into the powerful cyclone, which forced a fire and glass tornado.

The shards of glass slice through the armour of the Deathstalker in places, which caused the beast to bellow in agony and stumble. As it staggered across the sand, Qrow took the opportunity and he span through the air, and slashed the sword repeatedly across the armoured plates which protected its head. Every strike inflicted multiple deep lacerations into the armour and black smoke poured out from each wound. It hissed at him and smashed its pincer into his face that sent him tumbling back. The Scorpion then stabbed its huge stinger into a lump of old concrete and it swung the tail round, launching it into Raven.

The block exploded into dust upon impact, and threw Raven into the sand, she groaned as she felt her chest beating from the pain. The Deathstalker suddenly charged towards her and went to devour her whole, when suddenly Yang dropped down in front of her, and caught its large mandibles as they snapped towards her. Raven stared at her daughter with awe as she held the huge beast back, she dropped to one knee from the immense weight of the monster.

"Ruby!" Yang called, and Ruby blasted up into the air and she fired down towards it, and she stabbed the blade of her War Scythe down into the roof of its head. The beast roared in pain and she pulled it away from Raven and Yang, and fired repeatedly into the body. But it was still alive, snapping massive Pincers repeatedly.

Ruby turned when she saw the sky darken, and pink bolts of lightning came crashing down into Stormur Skeggox, and Nora leapt towards the titanic creature. She yelled with fury as she took her axe and she slammed it down towards the creature, but it swiftly retreated back to avoid the deadly strike. Nora channelled the lightning that crackled through her arms and in her hands, right into her axe and she threw it towards the creature. It lodged right into the shoulder of the creature and it came right back into her magnetic pieces in her hand. She caught the huge axe and she threw it a second time. It impacted the armoured head and blasted a powerful shocking pulse of pink lightning into its body.

The Deathstalker roared in agony as the molten forked pink light stabbed and burned into its body. It staggered and she charged the energy through the axe and into the head of the blade, and she aimed it at the creature, and blasted that thick beam of pink energy into the pincer. The pincer was severed in seconds and it fell to the ground with a heavy thud. The long beam of energy eventually ceased, and Nora spun Stormur Skeggox through her fingers. Ren charged past her with Oscar flanking the creature. Oscar spun and he launched his chained hammers forward, the blunt and hard strikes caused the creature to stagger, and it gave Ren the chance to run across the severed pincer and onto the arm of the creature. He leapt onto its head whilst Oscar swung his long chains back and forth, the motions blew off chunks of armour plating faster than they could even blink. The creature kept snarling with pain.

"Nora! Hit Stormflower!" Ren called as he stabbed them both into the roof of the creature's skull. Nora turned to Oscar, since she had a genius plan.

"Can you throw me up in the air with those chains?" She asked him and he nodded, and he jumped atop one of the old stone pillars left behind from the old city. He stood atop the pillar and threw one of his chains down to her, and it wrapped around her body. He roared as he swung her around, and launched her up into the sky. She flipped through the air and thrusted Stormur Skeggox over her head. The clouds formed and darkened the sky as pink lightning channelled above her head and came raining down into the head of her axe. The electricity coursed through her veins and she carried the lightning and she blasted it down from the head of her axe.

It crashed down and Ren jumped off just in time, as the pillar of light impacted his weapon and the blade directed all that energy inside of the beast. It screeched in immense pain as the lightning cooked it from the inside out. Flames ignited across the plates of armour and it turned charred. Nora landed down with the electricity coursing across her body and her eyes glowed a bright pink as she grinned. The Deathstalker slumped to the floor, and its huge body crumbled away into smoke before their very eyes. Ren pulled his trusty Machine Pistol from the sand where it fell as the body faded away.

He flinched from the heat that covered the blade and he holstered them. "Great work, Nora."

Nora squeaked a smile. "You too, Oscar. We make a great team."

Oscar smiled.

On the other hand, Cinder blasted her Fall Maiden powers of fire and ice into the Deathstalker, but it jumped and it buried down into the ground. Her attack exploded a nearby house, which caused multiple nested birds to flee from their home. They all looked around, and Valravn watched and felt the ground as he stood there. The sand began to vibrate violently as the creature dug towards them. The sand erupted before them and the huge creature landed right in front of Cinder, which knocked her to the ground.

Dulcis glided overhead and started to harass the huge beast whilst Eryka – who was forced to take a back seat due to her weak Aura – fired multiple arrows from a safe distance. Each arrow hit their mark, punctured straight through the soft membrane of darkness. One arrow hit the kneecap of one leg and brought it down to its side with a grunt. That gave Cinder the chance to form her Axe and she swung it directly upwards and right into the chest cavity that was less armoured than the top of it. The Deathstalker roared in agony, and it retreated back from them, limping on its damaged legs.

Valravn and Vernal charged forward, and the younger Bandit slid underneath the attacking pincer of the huge Arachnid. It snapped at where she was and as she slid underneath its arm, she fired both of her pistols up into the bone. The beams of energy cut through the membrane with such ease, but as soon as it hit armour, it was no as useful. The Deathstalker stared at her with a snarl and it slammed the stump of its tail down at her again, it may not be able to stab and poison people anymore, but it could still crush them with the power of a massive blunt tail colliding into them.

Vernal slid across the sand and she kept firing Wind and Fire at the creature, but it used its thick armoured pincers to block the incoming shots. Until Valravn ran across the buildings with great speed, and he jumped onto its back and stabbed both of his sickles into the top of its head. The creature roared in pain as he held onto the beast. He pulled it around and he did not even make a sound, no straining or yelling whatsoever. The Deathstalker reached up with its pincers to try and pull him off but he pulled back and ripped some plates of armour back and they came clean off. It revealed the soft tissue beneath, and he would have gone for its head, if the Pincer did not grab him.

It swung the old man round and threw him straight through one of the buildings. He finally made a sound, he grunted and crashed into the sand as the whole building collapsed. He body slid to a halt and Cinder forged her Obsidian Axe and she charged towards the giant. As she charged towards it, it snapped the pincers at her and she rolled out of the way. She blasted herself up into the air with her Fall Maiden Powers, and with both hands she slammed the axe into the top of its head. The blade cut straight through and the Deathstalker shrieked in agony. She held it there and she twisted the axe, the shriek fell silent and the whole body collapsed with a heavy crash.

Cinder exhaled with relief, and wiped the sweat from her forehead as she looked at Vernal and Eryka. "I've always hated Scorpions…" She said, as she referenced the insane Faunus she was working with back when she was with Salem.

Finally there was one Deathstalker left, and it was up to Ruby, Yang, Raven and Qrow to bring the giant down. It roared viciously as it kept trying to pull Ruby from its head where she had her Scythe impaled into. And finally it managed to get her, as the stinger slammed into her back and smashed her face first into the ground. She groaned in pain, stunned from the sudden and hard impact to her back and to her face. If it were not for her aura, she would have been killed by that.

Raven fired her Odachi from the Scabbard with the Fire Dust blade attached to the hilt and she cut straight through the stinger that was diving down towards Summer Rose's daughter. The flames caused the armour to melt and the golden stinger plummeted from the tail, Raven slid across the ground and she sheathed the blade and switched to Ice. She stabbed the blade into the sand which sent huge spikes of ice to erupt from the ground into the creature. However, due to the lack of water in both the air and the ground, the shards of ice shattered on impact, thus were nowhere near as strong as they could have been.

But the plan was never to impale the creature, but merely to stun it so then Yang can fire forward and punch the beast in the side of the head. She fired her shotguns built into Ember Celica as well, the shrapnel cracked and damaged the armour plating which caused the weaknesses to become clearer and clearer. Qrow yelled as he flew over the creature and he sliced the pincer on the right arm of the Deathstalker off in a single swing thanks to Harbinger being used in its Scythe Form. The Deathstalker growled and it stared at Ruby as she got up and aimed her Sniper Rifle at the creature.

It roared, and it jumped at her with a horrible shrieking roar, mandibles open as it went to devour her whole. "RUBY!" Yang screamed, but Ruby was fearless, for she loaded an explosive bullet into the chamber.

And she fired it, right into the open black mouth of the Deathstalker.

It went right down its gullet, and detonated, the armour plating around the skull of the creature exploded and was sent everywhere. Black blood and smoke spewed everywhere as the massive arthropod fell limp and collided into Ruby. The two of them crashed through the sand dune behind them, and landed back in the centre of the field of skirmish. They all ran – except for Valravn – to help Ruby out. They forced the huge body off and dragged the giggling girl out.

"Ruby! Are you okay?" Yang worried as she checked her over, but Ruby just laughed, and gave them a thumbs up.

"That…was…AWESOME!" Ruby cheered and kicked her legs back and forth.

"You silly little…oh c'mere!" Yang sighed with relief as she squeezed her sister in a loving hug.

"Sis…stop…you're embarrassing us…" Ruby wheezed, whilst Vernal shook her head with a smile as she looked at Raven.

"Was Summer like this?" Vernal inquired.

"Oh yeah." Raven assured as she sheathed her sword and helped Ruby up to her feet. They all stood together and they looked ahead to see the rest of the city was cleared out.

They continued on their path through the Sea of Sand, round the rest of the Caldera…when they finally found it.

It stood amongst the Dunes with plenty of defensible Positions, larger than any house they had ever seen at Vacuo. It had huge Corinthian Arches that connected the many roads to its position…

…there was no doubt in their mind that this was the place.

They had found the Hearthstone Chateau.

* * *

**Author Note - They've made it to the Hearthstone Chateau**

**If you have read Knights of Grimm, then the Deathstalker Battle may be quite familiar, because I did have a similar fight there. But I have learned a lot and have improved my writing since, so I thought it would be fun to see how much better I can make that battle work here. And man, it was just as fun the second time. I love the lore of Vacuo in this story, the fact it is a dying Kingdom and soon will be abandoned due to the lack of materials and money to have continued existence.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite! If you wanna join my Discord, I have placed a Link on my Profile (I spaced the link out letter by letter, so just paste that and get rid of the spaces and it will work).**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter - The Hearthstone Chateau**

**\- Matt**


	14. The Hearthstone Chateau

**Chapter 13 – Hearthstone Chateau**

* * *

**Oscar**

* * *

It stood before them…or at least it was almost stood.

The wood that the building was crafted from looked like it was inches from collapsing due to time and the weathering from sandstorms that hit it. They would need quite a lot of repairs done to this house if they meant to reclaim it for themselves. Ruby and Yang approached the closed front doors, and she pressed her hand to the sun scorched wood, and pushed it open. It creaked loudly as it opened up, and the dust blew inside of the house. The rusted lock shattered so easily, it was quite frightening how easily it broke. But what was more concerning was the fact that it was locked from the inside.

Ruby looked at her sister as they stood there, and Qrow walked toward them with his hand held close to his sword. "Careful, kids – remember what Malachite brought us here for. We need to clear this place out of Grimm. So be ready. They could be hiding anywhere…" Qrow advised, before he drew Harbinger once more. They all entered the building and looked around, they listened to everything that surrounded them.

As they entered, the door slowly closed behind them, with a slam too. They all jolted when they heard the sound. The dust fell from the ceilings and the cracks in the walls. There was such a creepy feeling to this place, they felt like they were constantly being watched. Silence was never there, it was always interrupted by something. Be it the howling winds from outside…or the caws of Ravens watching their every move…or maybe it was the mysterious disembodied bootsteps that paced from hall to hall.

"Are you sure it's just Grimm? Sure it isn't abandoned?" Yang inquired nervously, very rarely did places like these hit her nerves, but this place was so different.

"Nobody lives out here Yang…nobody can." Raven told her as they walked in, so they kept moving. Ruby walked with Oscar towards one of the old abandoned rooms. Everything was as if they left it, they both entered this old Entertainment room. The dust had settled and claimed this place a very long time ago, and yet everything looked like it was waiting for them to get back. Glasses were still sat on the tables or on the edge of the pool table. The television just left there, dust gathered over the screen.

"This is weird…" Oscar said as he walked around the room, he pushed a couple books aside as he looked around. Ruby nodded her head, she checked underneath one of the tables as they looked for the mysterious Grimm. She looked at the wall to see spider webs, absolutely everywhere. But not gigantic – not like some of the Orb Weavers they had come across in the past. They were normal sized in fact, there were just so many.

"Yeah…you've never looted a place like this?" Ruby asked him, and Oscar scoffed.

"No, never been to a creepy haunted Mansion before." Oscar stated as he picked up one of the old antique glasses that were just left there. They could sell those and make a damn huge load of Lien. There were some Black Market Dealers that would make a killing for something like that. But he set it back down, they did not have the right equipment for fragile treasures like this, but at the end of the day, most of them were thieves, so it was their internal nature to start taking whatever they could find. The difference was very clear when in comparison to Ruby, who still had not even glared at anything to steal it, she just kept looking around.

Oscar could see what kind of a girl she was, a girl who was raised by a family who loved her and wanted her to be good and just. This was not something he liked, for a simple reason. _My parents died because they were good. My Aunt and Uncle got butchered, because they were good. Kindness gets you killed…and it will get her killed too._

His thoughts were practically screaming at him, demanding that he would tell her the way things were, and unlike Ruby – he did not swallow it down. "I know what kind of a girl you are, Ruby Rose." Oscar told her, Ruby paused in her tracks and turned to face him.

"Excuse me?" She asked him.

"You judge me for looking for things that can help the tribe, but sadly that is the way things are. People who try and only do good things in their life die. I've seen it so many times, and I'm done seeing it again." Oscar explained rather sternfully as he kept searching, Ruby looked at him and it hurt, since she only wanted to make conversation, not a confrontation with him.

"I didn't judge you." Ruby defended innocently.

"Oh don't even try and lie. I've had people like you sneering at me for years for how I live my life, so don't try and act like the perfect girl. Because your not." Oscar snarled as he kept opening up the crates, only to find out of date snacks and some old alcohol bottles inside.

"I never said I was perfect." Ruby stated as she started to clench her fist.

"You didn't need to." He scoffed in return, suddenly Ruby kicked the table.

"I'm NOT PERFECT!" She yelled at him, and he stopped, and turned to stare at her. He did not think she had the stomach to scream at him like that. Oscar saw her large silver eyes stare straight into his hazel coloured ones. She then pulled up her shirt, and showed him the scars. The scars she got when Neo stabbed her in the stomach, the most painful experience she had ever known in her entire life. "You see these? I was stabbed twice by a girl who nearly opened my throat for a crime I never committed. My mother was murdered by a madman, and I watched my best friend get ripped apart, because I couldn't save her. Don't you dare ever assume that I think I'm perfect…judgement goes two ways, Oscar." Ruby hissed at him, and Oscar stared at her as she yanked her shirt back down. She turned and she walked away from him, and that left Oscar on his own.

He pressed his hand against the wall and he sighed, deep down he did not mean to upset her. She did not seem like a cruel girl in his eyes, and now he felt like he was the cruel one. He closed his eyes as he exhaled.

"Oscar…" A voice whispered behind him, it came out of nowhere so he spun around and saw nothing there. There was a chill in the air, and he felt the eyes watching him from somewhere.

He could hear the bootsteps and the sound of a door creaking open nearby, it creeped him out to his very core. "Ruby?" He softly said as he looked for her.

He blinked and it all changed, he could even taste it in the air. It was almost metallic as he looked around the place, it all melted away before his very eyes. The horrors that he always knew began to form, the eyes of his dead Aunt and Uncle stared up at him. Their bodies cut open and chopped up by the blades of a monstrous foe. Oscar staggered back as it saw it, the blood that left their mouths, and then they rose up before him. He backed up against the wall as their corpses stared directly into his eyes.

"A-Auntie? Uncle?" Oscar whimpered, he suddenly felt like he was only fifteen years old again, then they spoke. Their voices malformed and horrific.

"Why did you hide? You wanted to help them…wanted to protect them…but you hid like a coward. Why?" They both spoke at once, and Oscar pressed his hands to his head as he fell to the floor.

"S-Stop…go away…" He whimpered and they stared at him menacingly. He closed his eyes, he had not suffered from these hallucinations in a very long time, but as he opened his eyes. They were still there, and a dark terrifying monster was between them. It was tall with massive bladed wings, a sharp beak and glowing red eyes. It laughed darkly as it stared at him, and it suddenly leapt at him with a haunting roar. He screamed and he covered his eyes…only for nothing to touch him.

Vernal suddenly rushed into the room where she found him whimpering in fear. Ruby did not even hear his scream, she just kept walking. Vernal approached the young boy and she crouched down beside him. "Hey…you alright, Oscar?" Vernal asked him with a worried voice, he looked around. The blood was gone, the darkness was gone…the monsters were gone. The Monster he saw, the giant creature with feathers and a beak…it was what his young mind saw instead of Jackdaw when he opened his door.

"Didn't you see it?" He whimpered as he shook, Vernal looked around and still saw nothing.

"Oscar…it's alright, they can't hurt you. Come on, let's just keep looking, huh?" She asked him as she held his hand and helped him back up. He was nearly an adult now, and yet he still clung to Vernal like a mother. She was always the one who helped him when he needed it, Raven did the same but Vernal was always there.

The two of them exited the room, but as Vernal was about to go…she felt a pair of hands wrap around her waist…and a cold breath on her neck. It brought back bad memories as she turned round, and saw nothing there. She squeezed her eyes shut and she shuddered, and continued to move on with Oscar.

But one thing was certain now…this place was getting weirder by the second.

* * *

**Ruby**

* * *

Unaware of what Oscar just experienced, Ruby just kept walking, as always. She blocked out her thoughts about what he said to her, and she started to look for those she knew. Ruby always suffered when it came to talking to people she didn't know, all because she assumed that they all hated her. And sadly, Oscar did not help that theory of hers, since his first idea when she just tried to have a conversation with him, he threw some verbal abuse at her. As Ruby looked for either Yang, Nora, Ren, Eryka or Qrow, she turned a corner and her eyes widened with disbelief of who she found instead.

The very last person she wanted to find.

Cinder Fall.

Cinder glared at her as she turned the corner and she had her fist clenched, Ruby looked at the bandaged arm and saw the scarring. She did not even need the wraps anymore, but it looked like she wore them merely for the aesthetic of it. Ruby and Cinder shared this tense moment of silence between one another as they stared at each other. "It's a good thing I'm loyal to your sister's mom, kid…otherwise I'd kill you right now." Cinder snarled, her constant self-absorbed nature angered Ruby to a point she wanted to kill her right then and there. But then her kindness stopped her from ever wishing death upon another living thing.

"How can you possibly be that self-obsessed, Cinder? I mean…Gods…what is wrong with you? You look at me like I'm the bad guy, but do you even remember what you did at Beacon? You killed one of my best friends! You nearly killed Pyrrha right in front of me!" Ruby argued, and Cinder laughed at her naivete.

"You're stupidity baffles me, Rose. It really does…you look at me, and you see a crazy terrorist, don't you?" Cinder questioned aggressively at her, and Ruby shrugged her shoulders with a scoff.

"Eh, destroying my school and killing hundreds kinda gives you a reputation, y'know?" Ruby pointed out, and Cinder scowled at her.

"Try standing in my shoes, girl. You've had it easy your whole life, fed cookies and cooked meals…not overshadowed by a monster." Cinder snarled viciously, Ruby knew who she was talking about. They heard her mentioned back at the Academy when the Black Smog were attacking in great force.

_Salem…_

She knew next to nothing about this mysterious woman, the Dark Queen that controls the Grimm and uses them to wage war on everything created. She knows nothing, and yet she scares her more than Killian or even Jackdaw Branwen. She stared at Cinder, and despite how afraid of Salem she was…she was still standing there, _against_ her. "What? You want me to cry for you? Oh poor Cindy Cinder grew up in a bad place? Guess again, I haven't forgotten what you did. Want me to forgive you? You gotta try better than that." Ruby snarled, and she pushed past her. Cinder recoiled slightly and she reached out to grab her, embers trailed from her amber eyes. She gritted her teeth and wanted to kill Ruby right now, to make her pay for what she did to her eye. But then…she lowered her hand and she blew out a breath from her mouth. Stood by the doorway was Raven, she saw the whole thing, and there was a small smile.

Progress…

Slow going, but progress nonetheless. The Cinder Fall she met when she saved her from certain death would have killed Ruby in seconds, but the woman stood before her now actually hesitated. It was small, but it was something. Cinder sighed and she kept walking around the room.

Ruby kept moving away from Cinder all, her heart was pounding. She managed to hide how afraid she was to stand before the same woman that killed Penny Polendina. She hated Emerald too, and Mercury…but it was Emerald that made Pyrrha kill the poor girl. But even she was acting on orders, ones made by their main foe…at the time. As Ruby kept walking through the house, she found her sister. She was stood inside of some kind of old Armoury. All the weapons had already been taken from the place, only cobwebs were left behind, thick white almost mist like webs that smothered the racks that once held rifles and machine guns. Ruby stood next to her sister as she looked around.

"Hey sis." Ruby gently said to her sister.

"Hey…" Yang said as she mooched around the area, she checked certain things. They were searching for anything, any sign of Grimm activity. But so far all they had uncovered were some spooky noises and weird hallucinations, like what Oscar had just felt earlier.

"You alright? This place…it feels kinda…"

"Weird? Yeah I know what you mean. Keep feeling like we're being watched." Yang said as she looked over her shoulder. There was nothing there when she looked, but as she turned to look at her sister. She suddenly screamed and fell back, straight into the cobwebs. Ruby yelped from the shock and she pulled her sister from the webs, and pulled the webbing from her soft blonde hair as well.

"Whoa! Yang…are you okay?" Ruby whimpered with fear.

"Did you…didn't you…" She stammered, and she pressed her hands to her head, and it kept flashing in her memory. She saw him, his smirk, that damn mask over his damned eyes. The red blade, the red hair. She saw Adam again, but it really looked like he was right there. It scared her so bad it nearly gave her a heart attack.

"Adam?" She asked her with concern, she held her older sister's hand gently.

"Mhm…I seriously thought he was behind you…and if he was…I screamed and I fell over…he would've killed you." Yang stammered, it terrified her that her first instinct when she saw Adam was to scream and try and run away.

"It's alright…trust me." Ruby said to her, and her constant confidence in people always amazed her, but also her understanding. She would never act like she knew what someone was thinking, especially when they were the ones who suffered opposed to herself.

"It's not you I don't trust…I…If I stumble and I panic…if I ever see him again…if that ever gets you or someone else hurt, or even worse – killed. I'll never be able to live with myself." Yang said with tearful eyes, but she sucked it up, and found her comfort around her sister. She held her close and buried her head into her sister's soft head of hair.

* * *

**Raven**

* * *

Raven watched from the stairwell, Cinder was still walking and looking around whilst they had their moment. Raven went up the stairs to investigate the bedrooms where she found Vernal. She was stood at the foot of the bed, staring at it and her hand was shaking.

"Vernal?" She asked with worry.

"Oh! R-Raven…sorry…I uh…" Vernal stammered, but Raven saw the way she was staring at that bed. She walked over to it and sat down on it. She looked at Vernal and she tapped the side of it so then she would sit down next to her. The Former Spider did as her saviour asked of her, and she sat down slowly on the bed. Raven also saw how her hand jolted upon touching the bed, it brought back memories she so desperately wanted to bury.

"You seeing things too?" Raven asked her, and Vernal nodded her head. "I've heard stories about this place, that Grimm that lurked here fed off the suffering that happened here. It's made whatever is hiding here extremely powerful." Raven stated as she looked around for it, but she could not see it. Any Grimm that uses hallucinations to wither their prey down would normally be quite weak and cowardly in comparison to other Grimm, hence why they do not use physical means of taking down their prey.

"Well…I can tell…I keep…I keep feeling it again. The things some of those men and women…what they did to me, all for information. What I did to them too…I don't want to remember it. It's a time of my life I just want to forget…and I can't escape it." She shuddered, she rubbed her arms and she felt so small and fragile. She was paid by many for her services, she was never raped but it was still uncomfortable for her. She never wanted to be a Prostitute, Malachite simply gave her two choices. Accept the upgrade, or remain a street rat that suffers. But she never wanted to be used like that…never…

"I'm sorry, I know you must be sick of hearing me say that. I wish I could help women who end up in that kind of work." Raven said to her, and Vernal sniffled and nodded her head.

"Yeah…not great. I used to know some girls who dreamed of sleeping with the richest men in the city. Trust me…those men were just fat creeps who could barely get up in the morning. I may have had control in the bed, and I learned what I could from them…but I still hated it." Vernal explained, and Raven looked at her and she gently patted her shoulder.

"I know…the things we do for money, huh?" Raven scoffed, and Vernal did the same.

"The things we do for money." She said, and she looked over to the bedside table of the room. She saw the faces of the couple that slept here, the frame was covered in sand and dust, but it did not completely fade. Vernal approached the frame and she picked it up, and blew the dust from the glass. Raven got up and walked over to her. "Who were these two?" Vernal asked.

"Giovani and Zara Dijon. They were the Leaders of the Vacuo Mafia. Married couple, met when they were kids and helped each other form an empire. I heard they had six kids." Raven said as she looked at the bed where they were probably conceived. She looked over and saw the cot in the corner and she approached it. It was empty with nothing but dust and an old mouldy teddy bear inside.

"They were rich…even had a note here, for the Vacuo Councillor at the time." Vernal said as she picked it up, clearly it had not been sent. Or it was an old version, due to the crossed out parts.

"Likely an old one, Giovani couldn't write but Zara could. She came from a richer family." Raven said, Vernal turned to her leader.

"You know a lot about these two." She pointed out.

"I did a few jobs for them, to get information for Ozpin back when I was one of his little Huntresses in Training." Raven explained as she tucked her hands into her pockets. Vernal began to read the letter of which they wrote.

_Councillor Valery of Vacuo_

_We are writing to you as a response to your previous letter about the coming Drought. We do pray that you are joking, you surely do not mean that you want to keep all of this a secret? To completely lie to the people? Crops are dying faster than they are growing, the rivers are drying out and children are dying. This is no heatwave, we have some geologists with us and they have informed us that this is a side effect of all the deforestation your company has inflicted on the land._

_There isn't enough oxygen being converted, meaning less air for things to breathe, meaning less clouds forming in the sky to give us rain. We need to start planting trees in areas where the soil is still rich, before this land is killed for good and we cannot keep lying to the people. You need to start building up an evacuation order, in case things get worse. Because they will, the city does not have enough essential resources to keep the people alive. If this is not sorted out soon, you could have a serious riot on your hands._

_The Mafia is more than willing to help sort out this problem, we can use our connections to get facilities built to repair the atmosphere. But I cannot do this without your help, Councillor._

_Please…this is the fourth letter I have sent you now, I beg of you, heed our words._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Giovani Dijon_

Vernal set the letter back down and she scoffed, and looked at Raven. "The Councillors of Vacuo did not say a word about the Drought? They kept it a secret?" Vernal asked her, and Raven nodded her head.

"It was bad when I was here, people were dying in the city and they desperately needed water and sustenance. But the Vacuo Councillors? They just assumed it was a bad summer…they were wrong. And now the Kingdom is facing destruction – the Dijon Family were right, they should have listened. Because now Vacuo will most likely be gone in the next twenty years." Raven explained to Vernal, and she scoffed.

"All because of Lavinia Vasillias." She said as she slapped the note back down where she found it.

"All because of Lavinia Vasillias." Raven agreed.

* * *

**Ren**

* * *

They were not the only ones who had found some interesting things, down below, Ren and Nora kept walking around. The creaking and unsettling nature of the building was just getting stronger and stronger with every step that they took. Ren held out Stormflower as he walked into the room. "Where're the Grimm at?" Nora questioned, and that was indeed a question that was eating away at Ren as well. They should have come across them by now. This place looked like a haven for them, and yet they experienced more Grimm activity on the way over.

And yet…there was still something very unnerving here. The creaking boards, the whispery voices they heard every now and then, and even some doors that would open and close. It was like something, or someone, was moving around the house, looking for something. Nora had Ren's back like always, Stormur Skeggox held high with crackling pink electricity coursing through the head of the weapon. She kept her wits sharp about her as she walked inside behind Ren.

Nora lowered her Axe from what she saw…a man was pinned to the wall inside of this room by what looked like an Ornate Spear. His blood had faded and stained the wall, but the clothes were still wrapped around his skeleton. Moth eaten and weathered down from sand and erosion, Nora approached him, and crouched down before his bones. "Ren…" She said to get his attention. He turned and saw the body who was brutally murdered by the Vasillias Cartel who attacked them…the question was still lingering in their minds. How could the most powerful Crime Kingpins in the world – the Mafia – be beaten by a Cartel that had half the firepower and manpower?

They couldn't figure that one out.

But they knew one thing, this man was part of the Dijon Mafia, he had the same symbol that was on the bedframe of Giovani and Zara's Bedroom. It was a Lien snapped in half by a shooting star. It was quite the artistic marking, and the spear was rammed straight through the badge over his chest. The soldier must have done that on purpose, Nora turned when she saw that Ren found something on the table. The room they were in looked like a Forgery of some kind, there were falsified documents left here alongside laundered Lien. None of it was taken by the Cartel…

"It's a letter…there's two of them, one of them to the Councillors…and another one to…Lil Miss Malachite." Ren said as he looked at Nora. She got up with curiosity as he read the letter.

_Councillor Valery of Vacuo_

_What have you done?_

_You told the other Kingdoms that the situation was under control? Are you insane? People are going to die, you are all going to destroy your people. I tried to help you save your Kingdom but clearly you don't care. I had one of my spies get inside of your little safe house…you're preparing flights to ditch us, aren't you? Take a cushy job in Atlas? Damn scumbags, you have just doomed millions because of your own selfishness and cowardice._

_Well, if you aren't going to do it then we will. We're taking over command of your Kingdom, and we are going to try and save it. Really shows how messed up things have become when a Crime Lord cares more for his Kingdom than the people who actually run it. I am going to utilize the many eyes that the Spiders have, and I am going to work to make sure that we save this city, no matter the cost. Even if we must sacrifice the Main City and evacuate people to other safe havens._

_Vacuo will survive…I will make sure of it._

_Not like you care, hope you enjoy your comfy jobs and homes in Atlas. Keep an eye over your shoulder, you best pray I don't decide to cut off loose ends, Valery._

_Giovani and Zara Dijon_

Ren set down the note and he scoffed with disgust, because he never thought the day would come that he would actually side with the criminals. "That's…horrible. The Councillors just abandoned their people, I actually applaud the Mafia for trying." Nora said as she stared at the note that Ren just read out. Ren holstered his dual machine pistols as he looked down at the note he just looked through.

"Lies…that's what killed Vacuo. The damned Vacuan Councillors wanted to make the situation out to be okay to protect their reputations. And when they knew that the situation was worse than they said…they all up and run." Ren scoffed as he slammed his hand against the table. There was nothing he hated more than liars, especially lies that get people killed. It was one of the main reasons why Ren hated Killian so much, his way to get away with some of the worst deeds thanks to a good lie…it made his blood boil.

Lies…lies will always get people killed…every single time.

"Are you okay?" Nora asked as she held his hand, he looked at her and squeezed her palm.

"Mhm…just sick of all the lying. I hated leaving Jaune and Pyrrha like that…I just want all of this to be over." Ren said, and Nora chuckled.

"We only just got started, Renny." She pointed out with a smile, which made Ren chuckle.

"I guess I always have been one to get bored quick, huh?" He asked her, she giggled and smiled brightly.

"Good thing you got me, hmm?" She asked him as she slid up and she fell into his arms like she swooned, she smiled up at him and he nuzzled his nose on hers. As they went to kiss, they noticed a chilling shadow walk past. They even heard the sound of its bony hooves as it walked past, the Imp's long boneless arms dragged across dirt as it groaned. The Horse growled softly as it kept moving. They knew that shadow all too well and they spun round…

…only for it not even be there.

"This place…it's messing with us, isn't it?" Ren asked.

"Yeah…there's no way that thing could have travelled across the ocean to get here." Nora pointed out, since the shadow resembled the exact same Nuckelavee that destroyed Kuroyuri. The arrows and spears were sticking out of the Imp's spine, which made it extremely recognisable.

They both calmed down after they saw it and they found comfort in each other's arms. Nora pressed her head to Ren's chest and listened to his heartbeat with a smile, he felt so warm and gentle. "I've got you." He promised.

"Right back at ya." Nora promised. They released one another and they turned back to the table to the note that was left there. They both read the last note that was left behind.

The one that was sent to Lil Miss Malachite.

_Lil Miss Malachite_

_The Councillors have abandoned us, but I bet you already knew that thanks to your many spiders you have in your company. I need your help, you have the most information in the whole world, you're the best Information Broker there is, and I need you to locate the best conservationists. We need to rebuild the eco-system to help save Vacuo, this drought will destroy the Kingdom forever if we do not stop it. It will spread and spread and spread until the water sources are all gone, and no food will ever be harvested._

_Even the Caldera will run dry, we need to prepare._

_I propose the idea of rebuilding the forest that the Councillors destroyed, then we can build a dam that we can use for both sustainable power and sustenance for our people and the eco-system itself. I believe this is the best option we have left for the Kingdom…the Vasillias Cartel has already decided to help us in this endeavour. Their money and resources will come in great handy._

_I hope this message finds you well._

_Zara Dijon_

"That was only by the wife, Giovani didn't even have a hand in this message." Nora pointed out, Ren nodded his head since he also noticed another important name.

"The Vasillias Cartel…they cut a deal with them." Ren pointed out, then their eyes turned to the body of the Mafia Soldier that was butchered by none other than the same Cartel.

"Looks like it didn't pan out well." She said with a sigh.

* * *

**Eryka**

* * *

She walked with what could have almost been described as Elegance, she slid her hands across the dusty handrails of the stairs as she walked down them. Dulcis was circling the skies outside and would call them if there were any Grimm headed their way. She turned when she saw Valravn and Qrow walking down the hallway towards her. "Anything?" Qrow asked curiously.

"Nothing, just spiders." Eryka said to him as she shrugged her shoulders. The three of them looked around, Valravn said nothing yet their still heard the mysterious whispers that seemed to surround him. Eryka stood next to Qrow and she whispered into his ear. "What's with the voices? I never knew." Eryka asked curiously, she was very rarely in the company of Valravn when she was still part of the Tribe.

"It's a damn long story." Qrow said to her as he walked down the hallway to follow Valravn.

"So where do you think these Grimm are? Or where the hell the Mafia Leaders are? I heard about what the Vasillias Cartel did to them, it was a damn dirty move." Eryka explained and Qrow nodded his head.

"I know. I've seen a couple skeletons here and there, but there were just dead thugs. No sign of any important folk around here." Qrow explained as he walked beside Eryka. She looked around and listened, her senses had always been sharpened thanks to those who trained her how to hunt with an Eagle. You learn their senses that way, you become one with them.

"This place gives me the heebie-jeebies." Eryka shuddered as she walked, Qrow nodded his head in agreement.

"Tell me about it. Seen a few weird things already. Hoping the explanation is some sort of Grimm, not sure why Malachite would want this place. It's run down, Haunted and has bodies everywhere. Not exactly the nicest place to live." Qrow chuckled as he walked with Eryka towards the closed double doors that Valravn approached. He stared at the doors and he breathed softly as he opened them up. Their eyes widened from what they found inside…

There was a large table, it was nearly as long as the entire room. It had gold and silver ornate markings across it and old plates with rotted away food left behind. Glasses smashed and their bodies littered with holes. Some with shattered ribs, broken skulls or merely stabbed to death. One of them still had a knife plunged into the eye socket. "By the gods…what the hell happened here?" Eryka asked, but then she figured it out.

"One final meal…for one final betrayal." Valravn spoke as he walked around the table, they all looked at the bodies inside. Qrow stared at two bodies and he recognised them…they were the Married Leaders of the Mafia. Giovani and Zara. They both were murdered, shot and stabbed to death, due to the holes in their clothing. Qrow looked at them and found that Zara and Giovani tried to fight but clearly were overwhelmed in seconds.

"It's them…it's Giovani and Zara Dijon." Qrow realised as he pointed at their heads. He could instantly tell by the fact they were sat at the head of the table, and by the old moulted hair on Zara's head. Her jewellery was snatched off her too, she seemed like quite the Jewel Enthusiast.

"How the hell did this even happen?" Eryka asked with disbelief, and Valravn gave them yet another hint.

"Spiders in large webs can catch larger prey." He told them, Eryka looked at him and she did not even need to be a master wordsmith like Valravn to figure out what that meant. She looked at Eryka and it gave them chills.

"Lil Miss Malachite…she worked under them for a while as a Spy Network. It was how they managed to keep people in check, back before the Kingdom was starting to fall." Qrow explained as he walked around the room and he sighed, pinched the bridge of his nose as he circled the table with Valravn and Eryka. They kept looking at the scene of this horrendous massacre.

"So, what? Lil Miss Malachite got them in?" Eryka inquired.

"No. The Spider's Venom can be hard to trace, until it has made damage that cannot be healed." Valravn explained, he looked down at a letter and he gave it to Eryka for her to read it out.

One more letter to bind this terrible story together.

_Lil Miss Malachite of the Spiders_

_Mrs Lavinia Vasillias and Mr Roland Vasillias of the Vasillias Cartel_

_I humbly write to you all, as a thank you for your agreement to assist us in the reparations of our great Kingdom. The Governments of Vacuo could never see the future that we see, and we will make sure that the people of this Kingdom live long and prosperous lives._

_And this is all thanks to you. _

_Together we will fix the eco-system of which the Democrats of this land had raped and destroyed for their own benefits. With our combined efforts we will rebuild the land, let the rivers flourish and let the air breathe again. Just as it should have done for thousands of years. The Kingdom of Vacuo will never forget the service in which you have done for it._

_Which leads us to this – we will be hosting a dinner, in which we can celebrate this new alliance we have created._

_I hope you can make it, and I also hope that this alliance shall prosper and live on for generations._

_I thank you…and wish you all the best._

_Giovani and Zara Dijon_

_Of the Vacuo Mafia_

Eryka set it down and she sighed, it made them sad. They truly believed they were going to save the Kingdom of Vacuo, and not for power or for money. They simply did it because they wanted to protect the people, they wanted to atone for their past sins by using what they attained for good. "Why? Why did they kill them?" Eryka asked as she set the note down on the table, and Valravn sighed.

"The Food Chain…the big fish eats the little fish…and yet the smartest of them keeps on swimming." Valravn told her, she looked at the bodies and she could see it now. All of them sat around at dinner, cheering and thanking the Vasillias Cartel and Spiders. From the way in which everyone in the Mafia was massacred that night, there must have been guards on the walls. Who must have been working for both the Cartel and the Spiders, and then they made their move. They were butchered at their own table, stabbed, beheaded, broken, and ruined. There were even the bodies of children here…six children…the Dijon Children. Murdered by Lavinia Vasillias herself…Eryka could still remember her mother returning home after she said she finished it.

She killed the children herself, alongside Zara and Giovani.

"Lavinia Vasillias didn't want any competition, and Lil Miss Malachite is a survivor. She will always bet on the winning side, and sadly Lavinia had better cards. She may not have had the numbers at the time, but she was smarter and more cunning. Giovani and Zara were idealists, and they wanted to make the world a better place. Their kindness…was exploitable." Qrow explained to her as he walked around the table and he sighed as he looked at their bodies. Murdered in such a horrible and honourless way.

"But why? What did my mother have to gain? Sure she got rid of the competition…but she must have gotten something…" Eryka assumed and Qrow shrugged his shoulders.

"Vacuo isn't worth anything anymore. The Relic is all that matters now." Qrow explains. "The Dust Mines ran out years ago, the Councillors destroyed their forests and all the water is gone. All they have now is sand." Qrow explained, and that made it hurt all the more. They could have made something beautiful out of all this sand.

Instead?

All they have now…is a desert of death and deceit.

Qrow reached into his jacket and he poured some of his alcohol into one of the glasses. "For Prosperity." Qrow said as they paid their respects.

They all remained silent, and they paid their respects with him.

To honour these men and women…who tried…fought…and lost.

* * *

**Ruby**

* * *

Ruby and Yang walked through the old abandoned home some more, and they headed outside to look around. The Sand Dunes still stretched out for miles and she sighed as she sat down on one of the rocks. "Needed some fresh air." Ruby said with a chuckle, and Ruby nodded her head, which made Yang chuckle.

"I don't blame ya, sis." Yang said as she rolled her cybernetic arm round. She popped the stress from her neck and she looked around some more.

She looked up at the window and she narrowed her eyes.

Something was staring down at them.

It grinned…

And disappeared.

Yang stood up slowly after what she saw, which made the curtain inside blow slightly. "Ruby?" She asked.

Suddenly the ground exploded beneath them and threw them both against the wall of the building. They both grunted and they looked up with widened eyes as they saw the creature rise from the ground. Its telekinetic power lifted the rocks, the metal from the swings and even parts of the shed nearby into the air, to form its massive body. The huge arms and legs formed, and the white mask like face appeared in the centre of the torso with a hiss.

Ruby narrowed her eyes as she glared at the Creature of Grimm.

It was not what was responsible for the Hallucinations…

…but it was the Poltergeist.

"Geist…"

* * *

**Author Note - I love this location, the past about Vacuo and the Fall of the Mafia, and of course the creepy nature of it with the Geist...and whatever that other thing was that has been causing the Hallucinations. I will give you a hint, it does exist in the RWBY Mangas. I've given it my own cool name though, since it never had one in the Manga.**

**It was kinda sad writing the past of the Vacuo Mafia and what they wanted, and how it was what destroyed them. They used their power and their fear and wanted to turn it around to save the very Kingdom they had been terrorising with crime. The Councillors didn't care, they just wanted to have a comfy life somewhere with no consequences. But because of that, the Mafia dealt with smarter and more dangerous people, who could get them out of the picture and take that power of themselves.**

**Do not mess or deal with the Vasillias Cartel, or trust Lil Miss Malachite. They made it this far for a reason, they play dirty.**

**I also love showing the characters and their fears, be sure to see more of that for certain characters. And now they need to fight a massive Geist!**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter - The Widow's Tear**

**\- Matt**


	15. The Widow's Tear

**Chapter 14 – The Widow's Tear**

* * *

**Qrow**

* * *

Ruby and Yang's Uncle walked through the abandoned bones of the Hearthstone Chateau with his sister beside him. Valravn and Eryka had continued to search for the Grimm, for this was before the Geist had revealed itself to Ruby and Yang outside. "It's a shame it took all this chaos to bring our family together." Raven sadly said as she lifted up one of the knocked over bookshelves to get it out of their way. She leant it against the wall and Qrow walked past her, he did not say a word. She looked at him and she narrowed her eyes. "Qrow?" She said, then she reached out and grabbed his shoulder. "Did you hear me?"

"Yeah, I heard you." He said, rather coldly to her, and he continued to walk through the house. Raven noticed his cold nature and she could not help but raise her eyebrow once more at him as she followed him.

"Alright, go ahead, say it." She demanded as she followed him, he stopped and turned to face her with a blank expression.

"Say what?" He replied.

"Don't insult my intelligence, brother. I know you, and I know when you have something on your mind." Raven stated as she crossed her arms, with her right brow still pushed upwards judgingly.

"Fine…you want me to be honest?" He asked her, since for the first time it was just the two of them. He leant against the wall and he started to swipe some of the dust from it. "I think…that if you didn't run when you did, if you didn't abandon Tai and Yang…I dunno maybe things would give gone a bit more differently." He said with a sigh, Raven scoffed and shook her head.

"You do know…that me doing that allowed your favourite daughter of Tai's to be born, right?" She asked him, and he rolled his eyes.

"Ruby isn't my favourite; I love both of them. I was there for them when they needed me, when Yang went searching for you when she was a little girl. Did you even know that?" Qrow questioned sternfully as he stared at his sister, who glared right back. They both had seemed quite good with each other at first, but there were moments like these were their problems and differences would arise.

"Yeah…I did…she shouldn't have been so naïve. She would have gotten herself and Ruby killed that night." Raven stated, and Qrow shrugged his shoulders.

"Maybe if you hadn't, that whole ordeal wouldn't have happened. Maybe Summer would have been safe from Jackdaw, and maybe Yang would still have her arm." Qrow growled with anger, he managed to reserve his resentment for his sister's past decisions on most occasions but in this situation…he couldn't stop himself. Raven on the other hand, her eyes were fiery with anger as she stared him down, and she stepped forward as if she was about to punch him.

"I…tried…" She growled.

"Well, not hard enough. Adam Taurus still cut her arm off and caused her to suffer for years after…I get it, we're working together to take down Jackdaw once and for all. But if you expect me to forgive you for everything you ran from…you got another thing coming." Qrow growled as he stared straight into his sister's eyes.

"Is now the best time for this, brother?" She questioned.

"I dunno…is it?" He replied.

BANG!

The whole building shook when the Geist suddenly erupted out from the ground outside, as it tore the ground apart and used the boulders to form its sandy body. They could hear the ghostly howls of the monster from within the building, it's very movements made the entire old building shake and creak, dust fell through the cracks and holes in the Chateau. The Branwen Twins stared up at the ceiling as the sand fell and the shaking ground from the powerful footfalls of the titan outside, the huge rocks casted shadows over the searing hot light of the sun outside.

Eryka slid down the stairs and she landed down in front of them, and Valravn slowly walked down the stairs behind them. Everyone emerged from where they were, Cinder from the Kitchen with Oscar, Nora and Ren were in the Offices still and Oscar was examining the Bedrooms with Vernal. "The hell's happening?" Eryka called out.

"GEIST! GEIST!" They heard Ruby and Yang both scream from outside. Qrow and Raven seemed to snap out of their butting of heads, and they suddenly leapt up into the air, and shifted into their Corvid Forms. They flew up into the air and they soared through the creaking old house, and then they took off up into the ceiling and through the holes in the rooftop. The sun was almost blinding, and they dove down towards the battle outside.

Where Ruby and Yang were battling against the Geist together.

The Geist bellowed a haunting howl as it swung its massive arm towards the sisters, gigantic boulders bound and woven together by black telekinetic smoke, just like the Praetorian Knight that they faced years before. Yang punched her metal fist straight into the stone that came towards her, and she held her ground, the Geist forced her boots through the ground as she pushed her fist against its arm, and then Ember Celica popped out from her wrist. She fired and the impact caused the titan to recoil back with a grunt. Ruby shot past her sister in a flurry of red petals, and she slashed Crescent Rose straight across the stones, but the impact had very little effect on its body. It staggered from the sudden impact and it trampled through the dead Crop Fields left behind from the farm that this Plantation owned.

The ground almost seemed to be fluctuating with gravitational anomalies due to the presence of the massive Geist that had possessed all those boulders. It growled as it towered over them, a single glowing red white bone skull that protruded through the stone itself. Ruby saw it and she aimed her Rifle at it and fired, until the Geist blocked the attack with its massive arm. The bullets bounced off the huge boulders that floated and formed the forearm of the giant. It suddenly swung round and collided the other arm into her, so hard that it sent her crashing through one of the old Farm Sheds left behind. It shattered as she landed in there, planks of old wood crumbled and fell upon her where she landed.

She coughed the dust from her lungs, and she got up slowly, only for the surrounding shed to suddenly join the Geist in its form, which created a large wooden blade that it sharpened. It walked towards her and it went to crush her beneath its blade with a roar. Only for Yang to suddenly blast towards it and punch the blade with all her might. The fire from her Gauntlets blasting into the wood set it aflame, and it staggered away from where Ruby was. It snarled softly as it turned back and stared straight at the sisters who stood their ground. The wood crumbled into ash from the fire that burned it, and it growled creepily as it glared right at them.

Ruby spun Crescent Rose through her fingers and she looked at her sister. "Got a plan…hop on!" She called out, she held her scythe behind her and Yang jumped onto the curved blade. Ruby spun round and she fired, which launched Yang towards the huge Geist. She fired behind her body as well as she arched her cybernetic fist back to punch it straight in the face. The impact hit, and the Geist staggered back with a grunt, Yang landed atop the rocks that were scarred with glowing red veins of dark energy. She pounded her fists into the rock to break it apart repeatedly.

"DIE, PLEASE! She screamed as she continued to blast it apart, until the rocks started to shudder and vibrate, which allowed the creature to suddenly unleash a powerful blast of energy, that threw Yang off its twenty-foot-tall body like a toy. She yelled as she fell into the sand and turned to see Ruby bravely charging forward. She blasted through the legs, but the black smoke just pulled the pieces back together. She gasped and her silver eyes bulged wide open as she stared up at the giant hulking mass of rock and sand as it all swirled around within the armour.

It turned and suddenly brought the fist of stone down into the ground right in front of Ruby, the impact blasted hot sand into her face and threw her like a ragdoll across the desert and she crashed into the wall with a grunt. Her hood and whole red cape fell over her head and she squeaked in panic, trying to get it off, for all she could see was red. "HELP ME!" She screamed desperately.

"Ruby?" Yang asked as she tumbled next to her and pulled her cape off her face. She gasped with relief.

"Oh, by the gods! I thought I was swallowed by a BIG RED MONSTER!" She screamed with her legs shaking, and Yang sighed, shook her head before she just lifted her red cape back over her head, Ruby stared at it and her silver eyes grew. "Oh…" She softly said, even sounded disappointed too.

"You adorable little thing, I wish your cuteness could bring Grimm to their knees though." Yang sighed as she stared at the pacing Geist that stared at them. It roared and that caused their hair to blow from the wind that was created from its powerful howl. Their eyes widened from the sudden roar, and their cheeks flapped in the gust.

"Wanna give it a shot?" Ruby asked, but then it started to charge straight toward them with a bellow, and it jumped at them, and her eyes widened. "I…don't think it's gonna work!" She screamed.

Suddenly the sky darkened and crackling pink forks of lightning spread through the dark clouds when suddenly Stormur Skeggox smashed through the old broken glass, charged with powerful explosive dust, it collided into the chest of the Geist. The roar of the creature was interrupted and there was a bright and large flash of electrical energy that blew the body apart, at least momentarily. It staggered back and the black smoke yanked the parts it had collected back onto the body, it spun and twisted as it stared at them, the rocks damaged badly from the attack. The Axe came spinning round and landed into the open hand of Nora Valkyrie, stood behind Ruby and Yang. The Geist growled as it approached them once more, and it started to gather the sand from the dunes around it, and it used it like a barrier.

Nora helped Ruby up and she checked her over. "Are you okay?" Nora asked with a worried voice, but luckily Ruby's aura was still strong, despite the hard hits she took from the Geist.

"Yeah…big guy packs a punch." Ruby said, Nora grinned as she stared at the creature and she held Stormur Skeggox tight and spun it through her fingers as Ren ran up to her side with Stormflower in his grasp. Suddenly two Corvids finally arrived, and they flew right past them all and they dove straight towards the creature and transformed back into their Human Forms. They both cut through the stone that surrounded the arm and Qrow fired his shotgun at the same time, whilst Raven used her fire blade, which dealt fire and explosive damage to it. The rock became superheated and exploded into a hundred pieces, pieces that the Geist swung round and launched towards them all with great force.

Qrow spun his sword through his fingers and he deflected the sharps shrapnel one at a time, and he landed down on the ground, and slid across the ground. "Sorry we're late…" Qrow said to them as he held Harbinger in both his hands. Raven landed down beside him, and she stared the creature down, and watched its every move. Oscar leapt out of the window with Vernal and Eryka, who landed with their weapons at the ready.

Eryka drew her bow and whistled as Dulcis glided overhead and let out a cry, Oscar spun his chained hammers round like he was using grappling hook, and Vernal aimed her duel Wind and Fire firearms, blades sharpened and at the ready. Cinder landed too and she formed her Obsidian Axe from glass and fire, and she turned to see Valravn emerging from the darkness with his long staff in his hand, walking atop those stilts of which he had made for himself.

"Valravn…Valravn…" The voices kept creeping into their minds even now.

"We need to take this thing down." Ruby said as she got up and spun Crescent Rose round.

"Any ideas? This thing's old, will be a tough one to take down." Cinder asked as she bounced on her toes.

"Geists rely on their surroundings, we need to break apart whatever it takes for armour. Eventually its form will lose strength and be destroyed. That's when we strike and land the killing blow on the Geist itself. It's not liked the Praetorian Knight back at Beacon…this should be easier." Qrow explained as he stared the Geist down as it paced back and forth. It was old and smart enough to know when to strike, unlike most Grimm that they would encounter that simply attacked as soon as look at them.

This one is smart.

"Alright…we'll work together, we need to destroy it, piece by piece." Ruby said to them all as she aimed Crescent Rose at the creature. "Surround it and keep hitting it as hard as you can. Eventually its strength will give in, it's not like the Praetorian Knight. And remember, aim for its face. It's the weakness." Ruby explained, and despite their differences, Cinder and Ruby agreed that they had greater enemies to face than each other.

Ruby shot forward with Yang, Nora and Ren, and she launched Nora just as she did with Yang. Nora darkened the scorching hot sky with her semblance, as she called upon the heavens and she blasted the lightning down from above and brought it down onto the top of the Geist's head. It roared in anger as the electricity coursed through the glowing red veins of the beast. It staggered from the attack, and Nora flipped through the air as her Axe shifted back down into its Grenade Launcher form. "Whoo-hoo!" She cheered with immense joy, and fired the grenades from the barrel which exploded against the side of its head. The titan staggered away from the attack, when Ren sprinting with Yang and he jumped up and bounced off one of the rocks that protruded from the ground.

He dug Stormflower into the stone and began to climb his way up, to try and get to the face of the monster. He jumped up and he fired at its face, only for it to plough him down into the ground with immense force. He yelled in pain as the stone forced him down into the sand, so Yang blasted towards him to provide assistance. She punched straight through the stone and she rolled across the ground. Ren was free and he nodded his head, as he began to fire with Yang as the Geist launched the rocks down towards them. Cinder suddenly jumped in front of them and her eyes ignited, and she lifted up the sand with her Semblance, and thanks to the Fall Maiden Powers, she melted it down into strong glass. The impact caused the rocks to shatter, then she broke the glass and launched the shards up at the creature.

She nodded at them and she spun her Axe through her fingers as she blasted up into the air towards it. She flipped through the air and dug her axe into the chest of the creature which caused it to stagger back. Qrow on the other hand was coming in, and he slashed Harbinger in its Scythe form straight through one of the legs. The beast roared with agony as it collapsed down to one knee. It tried to get back up but Vernal blasted both of her firearms into the face of the creature, which scarred and burned the white bone matter that its face was made up of. The creature stumbled once more, which gave Oscar the chance that he needed.

He launched the hammer upwards and it collided into the knee, and they all started to work together. Raven stabbed her sword into the leg and she melted the bone down into lava, before switching blades into the ice dust coated one, that froze it down into obsidian instantly…which created a small explosion that blew the leg apart. The Geist howled in agony as it started to collapse to the ground.

Ruby looked at Yang and they both nodded, whilst Valravn watched from the building. He did not seem to be helping at all…until they looked up at the Geist…and suddenly its strange behaviour made sense. There were Crows and Ravens harassing it constantly, whatever his gifts were they clearly were powerful, and he managed to distract and disorientate the beast long enough for them all to deal some impressive damage. Eryka slid down the rooftop and she fired one of her explosive arrows from her Bow, which exploded as Dulcis slashed his talons across the face of the Geist.

It groaned in pain as Ruby and Yang got ready and they stared at the beast as it stumbled. They both blasted towards it and they slammed their weapons straight through the armoured body, which shattered into a hundred pieces. The Geist shrieked in shock as the body became useless, and it fled when Ruby and Yang passed by it and landed in the sand. Ruby spun round and aimed her Sniper Rifle at it.

But it was fast, and it suddenly dove down into the crop fields…

* * *

**Yang**

* * *

Ruby turned to Yang as she rounded the side of the barn.

"Yang! Crescent vortex!"

Yang huffed, rolling her shoulder. "Ruby, we haven't tried that one since before graduation!"

Ruby turned back to the Geist as it moved like a sludge through the farmland. Even in the blistering sun she could see the cornfields crack and shiver as something black and monstrous moved within... towards the tractors and Combine harvesters. Ruby's eyes widened in horror.

"Yang now!"

Yang groaned and lifted her fists. "This better work, or it's your head!"

Ruby gave a sheepish chuckle. "If it doesn't work... technically it'll be your head." And with that she spun through the air and threw crescent rose at Yang. Yang reeled her fist back and - with one eye slammed shut - punched the Scythe's hilt, giving it an almighty boost, sending a red glowing propeller of sharp metal whizzing over the daytime farmland.

The Grimm sludge of rocks, corn and metal reared it's ugly head of the farm equipment, growling and breaking the tractor down into hunks of metal and rubber tyres.

Then, like the clap of rotor blades overhead, Crescent rose connected with the beast, beheading it and dropping it in a huge pile of smoky black rubble. Crescent rose skidded across the floor, stopping at the sole of Ruby's boot.

Yang's boots crunched gravel as she ran to her sister's side.

"Nice! Way to go, Ruby!"

"Thanks, sis." She picked up her weapon. "Your fists gave it the boost it needed."

"But it was your guidance... " Valravn's tones filled the air, startling the sisters. "... Your ability to look into the darkness and light up a small path to victory... without relying on your eyes."

Ruby watched the towering Branwen skulk out of the shadows, closing her eyes to deafen the constant echoes of his name.

"Thank you... Valravn." Ruby grew small, in on herself under his masked stare. The whipping winds made his wind chimes sing, drowning out the sounds of warping metal and rummaging rocks.

"And you... blood of Raven." He looked to Yang. Her returning gaze wasn't welcoming. "... You're taming of your rage is something I think all of us will watch with great interest."

"What does that mean?" Yang snapped. Valravn stared at her, before whipping his head to the creaking tractors and Combine harvesters.

The machines crushed and dented inwards, forming a mangled metal torso. Legs of rubble and corn sprouted, black smoke oozing through the gaps and onto the soil.

The Geist reared it's head with a gurgle and brandished the Combine harvester's blades - now turned sharpened claws.

"It's not dead!" Ruby lifted her weapon.

"How observant." Valravn spun his staff through his fingers behind Yang and Ruby. The Geist growled and swiped it's huge paw of metal straight into them - as Valravn wrapped himself around the two children in a ball of black corvid birds.

The trio crashed and tumbled through the wall of the house, careening through the living room and eventually coming to rest at the leg of a grand piano. Yang's head hit the side and caused several notes to chime from the instrument.

Silence reigned, until Ruby stirred and sat up. She blinked groggily, as Valravn rolled off of them with a groan. Dead ravens lay across the floor, before fragmenting into feathers, and fluttering back soundlessly to Valravn.

Ruby panted, before wheezing and coughing through the settling dust.

"Yang?" She spluttered. Her sister sat up with a groan, rubbing her head.

"Wha? What... where are we?"

"In the house." Ruby looked to the way they came in, the hole sealed with rubble and wood. "We can find another way out. C'mon, get up." she helped her older sister up.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Yang said repeatedly to Ruby's doting. "I'm fine!" she snapped, Ruby flinching back. Yang softened instantly. "I-I'm... I'm sorry. Just... C'mon. We got a monster to kill."

"I fear... " Valravn was stood in the room, fingers brushing over the psychedelic cobwebs across the ceiling and walls. "... We're the monster's prey."

"It's a Geist, I've killed many of em." Yang took Ruby's hand. "C'mon Ruby, we gotta go help the others."

"Val! Val, c'mon!" Ruby called back, echoing up the stairs. Val sighed, picking up his staff.

"Yang!" Ruby tried to break her grip as she dragged them down the stairs, through cobwebs, thick, thick cobwebs. "Yang, stop it!"

"Forget him, Ruby! My priority is you, okay! My... " Yang sighed. "You're what I have to protect."

Ruby sighed, nodding at her shoes, before looking back up.

"Yang, I-"

She didn't say another word, only slurred, because of the arrow through her eye and protruding out the back of hr head. Yang didn't say anything. She just looked at what her brain wasn't processing. Ruby slurred and swayed, before her eye became lifeless and empty, and she fell to the floor with a thump.

"Ruby..." Yang said it like a question. "RUBY!" she suddenly screamed, turning to see her attacker over her shoulder.

There. An amber light at the end of the dark hall. Her bow raised, flames crackling around her fingers. Long black hair over her shoulder, a horrid smirk on her face. A dress red and ornate with flames and swirls that glow like embers themselves.

"Aww... " Cinder cooed. "Just like the girl I killed on top of the tower. An arrow tends to put most things beautiful and pure to the same end."

Yang screamed and cried, turning to Ruby's body... as it dissolved into millions of spiders, scuttling away into the darkness.

"W-Wha? What I?" Yang staggered back, tripping down the steps to Cinder's clacking heels. She sat up, shaking her head. Cinder's heels stopped clacking with each sultry step. The sway of her hips faded; the womanly physic shifted male. Dark and foreboding. Jet black, with veins of glowing red running up the torso.

No. Not veins. Stems. Connected to Roses.

The hair turned red, and horns sprouted from the brow.

"Couldn't even protect Blake." He snarled, lifting his sword. "How on Remnant were you going to protect your sister?!"

Yang screamed and lifted her arm to block the blade. It cleaved through the arm like it was nothing. Yang, panting and crying, looked to her flesh arm as it melted and flaked into embers and ashes, blowing away to reveal the robot arm beneath.

"A pale imitation of the real thing, huh?" Adam's voice echoed as Yang tried to steady her shaking wrist. She sat up, trying to get her head under control. "Blake's blood. Ruby's blood. Weiss; blood. All that red... staining you in and out... cos you couldn't save them. Not a drop of them."

Yang looked down at her clacking knees, to see her outfit soaking dark red, up and over her thighs, to her hips, to her stomach, up and over her shoulders. Even her hair dyed red with blood. She trembled in the darkness, until suddenly Adam was before her, grinning down at her.

"You'll carry the weight of their blood forever. Me? I carry it till I wipe my blade clean." He laughed. Yang screamed in rage as her eyes finally joined the rest of her in turning red, punching Adam so hard he shattered like a mirror. His laughed echoed and faded throughout the house.

"A mirror can be broken. A reflection can be shattered. But a shadow? That's forever." Adam's voice echoed.

"Unless you shine a little light." Yang shakily said. She blew out a breath. "R-Ruby? Ruby, where are you? I know this isn't real... I... W-Was I drugged? How hard did I hit my head?" Yang rubbed the spot.

She pressed her hands to the walls to try and feel her way through the dark house. A hand reached out and she accepted it.

"Ruby!"

She tugged the wrist, and she pulled the tall blonde out of the shadow, bumping into her. Herself.

Yang staggered back, looking her up and down. it was her. From day one at Beacon.

"Don't worry, sis! I'll look out for you!" She cheerily said. Current Yang looked her up and down.

"Naive." Yang frowned. She couldn't help but look at her older self's arms. Both pale skin. She looked at her own. That shaking metal. "I was so naive."

"Still are." Yang replied, startling her to the sadistic grinning younger self before her. "Just some blonde bimbo playing in the big leagues. Nothing more than a hot head."

Yang stepped back from her approaching self. "Aww, what's the matter, Yang? Running out of arms to trade for your friends lives. How many screw ups till you're more metal than skin? How many more screw ups?"

Yang held her trembling metal wrist. "Many more... I'm sure." She blew out a shaky breath. "But I learn from them. And I grow. So yeah, I'll screw up again. But I'll learn from it!" She opened her eyes and gasped.

Salem stood before her. "You don't get a second chance. Not with me." She lifted a horrific black sword and swung, cutting Yang down into fragments of ash.

Yang looked down at the sword in her hands, at the Yang she'd just struck down. She dropped it with a soundless clang, staggering back, bumping into-

"Yang!" Ruby touched her shoulder, Yang screaming and turning so fast she nearly broke her back. Ruby quickly took her sister's shoulders in her hands. "Whoa! Whoa! What's wrong?"

Yang, eyes filled with tears, hugged her sister. "Please be real! Pleeeeeaaaase." She sobbed into her sister's neck. Ruby - very confused, slowly began to hug her sister back.

"What happened Yang?"

"I dunno." Yang sniffled, never letting go. "I don't wanna know."

* * *

**Ruby**

* * *

Ruby frowned, before pulling her sister back out of the hug. She flashed her a warm smile.

"I'm here. I'm real." Ruby beamed. Yang smiled, then smirked.

Then she stabbed Ruby in the belly. That thin rapier-like blade straight through the scar tissue of where it got her last time. Yang smirked and grinned, before shifting back into Neo. Pink and brown eyes glared into Ruby's as she slowly slid back off the blade, staggering and cupping the slipper red wound.

"Ho, ho, little red, little red!" He stepped out the nearest doorway, twirling his cane and wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "C'mon let's take a walk, you and me!"

Red hair tucked under his hat as he slipped it on. "Been a while, huh?"

Ruby panted, looking down at her wound. She wheezed, tasting copper at the back of her throat. Roman pat her back.

"Yeah, been a while. I mean, gotta say, well done! You looked the end in the eyes, and you gave em the ol' razzle dazzle, huh? I mean what?! Glowing eyes that turn stuff to stone?! Wow, imagine what we could have done, if you hadn't killed me."

"I didn't... I didn't mean for that-"

"I know, little red. I'm in your head, remember. I mean, between you and me, it was kinda the Grimm that got me, so don't go stealing all the credit. Ah, we're here. Stop number one on Ruby's mind trip."

Ruby stepped forward, cupping her wound and looking up at the sky above. Full of stars encircling a broken moon. She turned to the chill racing up her spine. A bow, aimed at a misguided, brave girl. She panted, dropping to a knee on the rubble strewn roof.

"Pyrrha?" Ruby panted.

Roman sighed, crouching at her side. "What could have been."

Cinder released the arrow and through it went. Pyrrha spluttered, grew limp, and faded into glowing embers.

"But we look at door number two..." He angled Ruby's tear dripping chin down to the puddle below. "You see? That's what happened. She lived, She and her lover to be, all happy and together cos you got there on time."

Ruby let a small smile grace her lips at the reflection, until her tear splashed the puddle and distorted it.

"But... you disturbed that image, didn't you? Didn't trust em enough for this little adventure you're on. Friendships boiled away..."

Ruby looked at the reflection. Weiss and Blake, fighting with Yang and herself. Jaune and Pyrrha battling violently against Nora and Ren. She shook her head, splashing her hands in the puddle to change it, until she pulled her hands back. The ripples faded, and the calm water reflected her mother's face.

"Oh." Roman said. "Momma Rose, I assume?"

Ruby smiled, sniffing and wiping her eyes. Then a bead of red from her wound spilt into the puddle. Blood ran like ink, up into Summer's face. She gasped, and her throat slit open, to join Ruby's blood in the puddle.

"Mom!" Ruby screamed as Jackdaw's face grinned over Summer's lifeless head. Then Ruby's eyes ignited white and wiped the canvas.

Ruby sat up off the floor, shaking her head. Roman sat up beside her.

"Whoo! What a set of eyes you got on ya, little red!" He chuckled, patting his pants free of dust. Ruby looked at her wound, cupping the slippery surface. "Oh, c'mon. That'll be fine. Just a scratch."

Ruby looked down the lengthy corridor of darkness, until a flickering light at the end illuminated a huge black silhouette. Then the silhouette began to move towards her. A top hat sprouted above his head. And long blades extended from his wrists, scraping down the hallway walls.

Ruby yelped and shuffled back on the ground as the huge silhouette made it's way towards her, sounds of metal scraping metal echoing down the hall.

Then the entire hallway rolled over onto it's side, crumbling away and vanishing completely, leaving Ruby to thump her head back against the floor, groaning and clutching her wound.

Then she blinked up at the stars forming in the darkness above her. Each one twinkling and glistening. The Moon rose overhead, looming above silently. Then a sharp whip of light cracked against the moon, wrapping and coiling around it's broken surface. The taut cable of light began to drag the moon down, the debris of it's broken body following it down and eventually slotting all the pieces back into place.

Ruby went to sit up, but a foot slammed down on her chest, making her cry out. Her wincing eyes opened and tracked the pale white calve up over the black dress with red embroidery. Then eyes of the same colour stared down.

"Never fear the shattered Moon... " Salem said, holding the full moon in her hand. "Fear the moon becoming whole." She grinned, before crushing it into powder.

Ruby screamed just as the hallway lit up and she was back to foot of the steps, panting and drenched in sweat. She gulped to wrack her breathing, cupping over her pounding heart. She moved her hand away from the wound, to find nothing there, not a tear in fabric, not a belt out of place. She blew out a trembled breath, hugging her knees and taking a moment to understand all she'd seen. If anything was real.

* * *

**Qrow**

* * *

The Geist roared as it slashed the massive shards of metal it used like claws at them, Qrow rolled back and he deflected the incoming shards and rocks launched from it. The Geist was not giving up, and none of them had any idea of what Ruby and Yang were experiencing inside the Chateau, and nobody had seen Valravn. They all had lost all sight of him, Qrow grit his teeth and he charged forward and he slid underneath the diving attack from the creature as it slammed down into the ground with great force. It spun round and the armour plating formed together to construct a shield that blocked Cinder's fireball that she launched towards it.

It staggered from the fiery attack, but it had very little effect as the flames burned across the flammable wood that was contained inside of its body. It marched closer and Raven kept on slashing through its body with Vernal beside her. She landed down behind the Geist with Qrow next to her and she looked around. "Where's Yang and Ruby?" She asked with worry, whilst Cinder took her axe and she roared. She rode the hot air and the fire beneath her as she buried her axe down into the shoulder of the creature, and she started to send icy cold energy from her body into the metal to try and turn it ridged. But the Geist suddenly broke apart, the telekinetic energy seemed to explode its body so then it would throw the Learning Fall Maiden from her position on its body, and then it came back together.

That…that really did make them remember the Praetorian Knight, and how that monster fought. It was a real pain.

"Yang? Ruby!" Qrow called out desperately, but they could not hear him inside the house. Nora landed down behind them after she dealt quite a heavy blow to one of the arms, pink electricity crackled across her body as she stood there and she nodded with glowing pink eyes.

"What's wrong?" She asked with concern.

"Ruby and Yang…we can't see them." Qrow answered.

"Valravn neither." She added.

"I'll find them. Eryka, Oscar! Follow me! We need to find them!" Nora called out, neither of them decided to argue with her. They followed her as she ran under the legs of the Geist and headed towards the open doors of the Chateau, which left the following outside:

Qrow, Raven, Cinder, Vernal and Ren.

Qrow turned and he stared at the massive Geist as it turned to face them with a growl, he looked at the others and they were all ready. Cinder formed a second Battleaxe in her other hand and her eye ignited into fire. Raven drew her sword, Ren spun Stormflower through his fingers and Vernal charged up her duel pistols. "Let's bring this bastard down!" Qrow said with a confident smirk as he flicked his sword upwards and the blade extended. He charged forward and the Geist roared furiously, and it slammed its metal and rock fist down into the ground where he charged. He rolled aside from its attack and he transformed into Crow form, and he flew around its body, and as he glided around it, Cinder blasted straight through the shoulder of the giant and it staggered. It turned to stare at the Fall Maiden who twisted round and launched her Axe down towards the giant monster.

The axe spun through the air and it exploded into flames and ice as soon as it crashed into its arm, the stones and metal started to fall one by one as the strength that the dying Geist had was starting to wain. The Geist growled and it suddenly ripped an old rusted car from the ground and launched it towards Cinder and she gasped, and she dropped down to dodge the incoming attack, where Ren slid across the dunes of sand and he fired Stormflower repeatedly at it as he moved around it. The giant watched him and Ren smiled, and he threw his second Automatic Machine Pistol towards it, and it spun like a boomerang into the face of the creature, which cut a deep wound into the bone. It staggered and snarled a deep growl, and it opened out its arms as it roared, and suddenly red crackling energy built up around it.

"It's going berserk! Keep your eyes open!" Vernal warned as she ran like Ren was, he did not have the ability to use the sky like Qrow, Raven and Cinder could, she vaulted over the rocks that started to fall from the sky, firing Wind and Fire into whatever weaknesses she could find on the creature. She looked up and her eyes lit up with hope, for she saw an old crane that must have once been used for moving large shipments was still up, so she fired a beam of energy into the support, which caused the hook top plummet down and puncture through its arm. It staggered and roared in pain, Raven shot up towards it with her brother as he transformed and slashed Harbinger through the spine of the creature and fired his shotgun at the face of it. Raven caught onto the hook of the crane and she wrapped it around the arm and she pulled it with all her might as she fell.

The energy could only stretch so much, and it roared in agony as the black smoke tore and the arm completely crumbled around it. The red glyph formed where the arm once was and the long creepy humanoid Grimm Arm emerged from the body and it stood before them. It took that arm and it slashed it down at Ren as he rolled out of the way. He slid across the sand and fired both Stormflower Pistols at its face as it stormed towards him, until Cinder dug her Axe into the side of its head, and the Geist roared in agony as she held onto it, blinding its one eye. It staggered and tried to pull her off. "YEAH! THAT HURTS, DOESN'T IT?" She yelled, twisting the obsidian blade inside of its face.

"Hold it there, Cinder!" Qrow called as he transformed and flew up into the air with his sister. They both formed back into their Human Bodies, and they twisted round with their swords extended. They both yelled and they blasted down towards it, and slashed both the Odachi and Harbinger straight through the whole body. The metal and the rock exploded into a thousand pieces, and the Geist was thrown from the destroyed body again. They both landed and Cinder slammed down on one knee behind them.

The Geist released a creepy whispery snarl, and it stared at them, and tried to flee. Ren threw Stormflower and it spun after it, it turned and the single damaged eye widened, before it was beheaded by his pistol. It returned back to him and he holstered them both with a stylish twirl.

The Geist was dead.

* * *

**Nora**

* * *

"Ruby?! Yang?! Oh c'mon, where are you guys?!" Nora yelled, echoing through the house. Then a sound caused her to look down. A small orange haired girl peaked around the door. She was no older than two or three. Very, very small.

"Oh... hey little one. I'm not going to hurt ya." Nora cooed, trying to coax the whimpering child out. "Kiddo?"

"She can't hear you." Came a demonic voice behind, startling Nora to turn around. Two huge hands shot of the dark, wrapping themselves around her neck and lifting her off the ground. Nora wheezed and spluttered, barely able to hear the clacking hooves in the shadows.

The long arms choking her quickly withdrew back into the darkness with her in grip, right up to the skeletal horse's head, and the imp's glaring stare atop it. Nora tried to cry out but couldn't.

"... She can't hear you, nobody ever has, have they?" The Imp's glowing mouth hung limply. "A small orphan lost and alone. No Mother. No Father. No Uncle. No Aunt. Nothing. All left you, didn't they? In a thatch cot, at someone's rainy doorstep. Only they didn't answer. Nobody did. Nobody wanted an orphan, especially a Valkyrie with no wings!"

He threw her down and she hit the shadowy floor with a thud. She wheezed and coughed, spluttering. The hooves trotted slowly around her as she coughed and gagged.

"... A mother. A Faunus, yes? Yeeeees, A Faunus. Beautiful wings on her back, almost deemed fit by Pegasus himself." The Imp laughed atop the Nuckelavee. "But it wasn't to be. The townsfolk, they don't like it..." The Horse head loomed over her shoulder, foggy breath trembling over her skin. "They see her without deer Husband Valkyrie one day... A baby in the pram."

Nora shut her eyes, hugging her knees.

"... Knives were drawn. Together a town united, to clip a woman's wings. They left. She bled. You cried in the pram. In the end. In the end. A Father's depression and despair turned to hatred... of an innocent baby that reminded him... of her."

Nora sobbed. "Pleeeeeaaaase stop."

The Nuckelavee laughed, rearing it's heads back up. "So, he left you. Lost. And alone. On a doorstep. A doorstep to a home you could never be part of!"

Nora screamed and shot her hands out at the beast, waves of crackling pink lightning ripping through the roaring beast until it fragmented into lotus flowers, fluttering through the breeze-less air. Her eyes streaming, she looked to her hands. trembling, yes, but a static buzzed around them. Pink in hue.

"Nobody cares about you." Ren said, Nora startling to the voice.

"Nobody at all." Jaune's usually warm voice snapped. Nora flit her head to the darkest corner it came from.

"Who could love a motherless? A fatherless? A... loner." Pyrrha laughed uncharacteristically. Nora shut her eyes and clapped her hands over her ears.

"You didn't trust us, Nora." Jaune scoffed. "The only family you've ever had, and you turned your back on us? I thought you'd be grateful!"

"Thought you'd be happy that at least someone accepted you!" Pyrrha snapped.

"We obviously weren't good enough for her." Jaune slurred.

Nora shook her head. "That's not true! I love you, you three are all I have!"

Silence.

"Then why didn't you come to us?" Jaune and Pyrrha said, just as Jaune's hand wrapped around her throat. He grinned down at her horrifically, lifting her off the ground. His armour was dark, the gold now bronze. His eyes were crackling and black, with piercing purple irises. Nora wheezed and kicked her legs uselessly, stretching her hand out at the dark and pressing the pad on her glove.

Stormur Skeggox flew out of the shadows and into her hand as Jaune laughed demonically at her, rearing his sword back to cleave flesh. Nora screamed through tears and slammed the axe down into his shoulder, parting him in two and burying the axe blade deep into his ribs.

She blinked and gasped over fresh tears as Ren wheezed and spewed blood, looking at the axe in his chest. "Nora? Why? I-I was the only one who loved you? Why would you hurt me? Why would you kill me?"

"No, no, no please, please! Stop this please! PLEASE!"

Ren grinned and drew the axe from his chest, bringing it down on Nora, who awoke in the room on the floor, panting and scrambling along the polished wood.

* * *

**Eryka**

* * *

With her bow raised, she stepped through the house. Blinking her eyes, they turned gold. She scanned the trails of aura moving through the house, until she came to the ajar door of a child's room. It was obvious. The hand painting all over the door, the crooked keep out sign.

She blew out a breath and slowly opened the door, each creak of old wood making her wince. There, in the middle of the room was a small cot. She looked at it, and a familiarity washed over her. She knew this room. The finger painting on the door, the toys in the corner, the box decorated with two names written in blue:

Eryka and Neptune's toys!

She lowered her bow, frowning in confusion. A gurgle came from the cot. She slowly approached, loomed over it in the dark and looked in cautiously to the fidgeting baby with blue hair. She gasped and stepped back, just as the door slammed behind her, startling her to spin around, bow raised.

A little girl with a blue ponytail ran past as if Eryka wasn't there, trembling in her small onesie.

"S'okay, s'okay Neppy! M'here!" The little girl said through tears, picking up the bread knife she'd brought in, holding it towards the door, setting the cot behind her protectively. Neptune cried in the cot as the door's handle jiggled. Adult Eryka stepped back and lifted her bow, pulling back on the string.

Then the door opened, slammed open. Two smoky silhouettes stood there, looking in, eyeless.

"Oh shit, Yo this house ain't empty after all! They got kids in here, Vermil!"

"No parents though, so who cares. Just loot the place, c'mon. And be quick about it!"

"Err, this girl's got a knife though."

"Yeah, and you got a gun? It's a kid, bro! Just hurry up, before anyone gets back!"

"St-stay away from my baby brother!" The little girl screamed, the knife shaking in her grip.

"You're not gonna do me with that knife kid. Now c'mon, put it down."

Then the little girl screamed in rage and ran at the men, lifting the knife.

"Whoa, whoa!" He cried, lifting his gun. A loud flash and the whole room crumbled into ashes, blowing around Eryka as she stood and stared at the scene before her.

"She wasn't a mother. A mother care's for her kids, not just gives birth to em!" A teen woman's voice cried in the murky haze, until figures of smoke materialised around her.

"And in the red corner! They call him the blood bringer, cos he'll beat the red stuff outta ya! It's Blood Kane! And... in the blue corner... s-some chick from Mistral, I dunno. I know who my money's on."

"And I won." Eryka mumbled, looking down at her trembling hands, the gloves and tattoos that attempted to hide all her scars.

"The girl won! I don't believe it! The girl won!"

"People didn't like that." Eryka shakily said as the smoky silhouette of Blood Kane stood and drew a long knife, running at Eryka's smoky shadow in rage. "And I definitely didn't win that." She blinked as tears dripped off her lashes, running her hand over her taut stomach, the raised ridges of scar tissue.

The realm of ash and murky white light faded away, until whizzing chunks of metal whipped by her head at supersonic speeds. She yelped and ducked, as all those blades and knives flew up to form the shape of a man. A floating man with huge wings on his back.

His eyes flit down and his bottom jaw turned from human flesh to mechanical pieces. Like a permanent gas mask, set further back than his original jaw.

As skin and flesh began to bubble up and over his torso, his formed body dropped to his feet with a thump. He looked up, those mechanised wings whirring on his back.

"I flew too close to the sun? I did?! You can't protect the old man from me forever! YOU CAN'T!" He roared, launching forward and grabbing her throat, using his wings to roar across a landscape of corpses. He slammed her down and dragged her through the bodies - all of which were Neptune. An entire field of dead Neptune's.

Eryka screamed and clawed at her assailant to free herself, and he suddenly shot upwards into the sky, holding her out as they drew near the sun. A squawk got her attention. With a giddy smile of relief, she watched Dulcis fly straight up towards them to save her.

But the nearer they got to the sun, Dulcis began to melt. His beak dripped like wax, his feather's fell away, until nothing but feather's in the breeze remained. And even they caught fire and became embers. Eryka stared in horror at the embers of her beloved companion falling to the meadows of dead Neptune's below.

"Ya flew too close to the sun, girl." Her assailant scoffed with metallic breaths. Then he let go, and let her fall back to the world below, straight into the piles of Neptune's bodies.

She clawed her way to the surface, but the bodies suddenly sat up, decaying Neptune's clawing at her and trying to drag her under, until her screams faded to nothingness.

And she gasped awake in the house.

Alone…and back in reality.

Whatever was causing these hallucinations…it had to be found, before they lost their minds.

* * *

**Ruby**

* * *

She staggered through the bending hallways, where she saw the hands of everyone she feared to lose, as they climbed out from the walls and groaned like zombies. She could not even shake the feeling as she tried to find a way out, the voices were completely unnatural, and she could not even identify what they were saying. But she kept moving, no matter what she kept moving. She had to, if she stopped they would take her. It felt like Neo was right behind her, but she knew she wasn't…she couldn't be.

This place, it was endless, it felt like it was anyway.

The Hallucinations, the Illusions…it was starting to become difficult to tell what was real and what wasn't. She turned and she screamed in terror, as suddenly a pair of arms wrapped around her. She staggered and she opened her silver eyes, arms were not around her…not like she thought…they were just on her shoulders. "Ruby? Are you with me?" Oscar asked her as he looked into her silver eyes. Her dazed expression started to fade and her silver eyes almost seemed to light up.

She was back…at least…for now…

"I…I…" Ruby couldn't speak, her mind was still melted from everything she had just experienced, and it was clear that Oscar was starting to experience it as well. He shook his head and he rubbed his eyes as he looked around. His pupils shrank with fear and then they dilated, it was bizarre. "Oscar?" She slurred, she held onto him, and it felt like everything became extremely heavy, and something was watching him. That was when they both saw it…the manifestation of their fear.

They saw the floorboards crack and burst open, as metal clawed hands suddenly emerged from underneath them, and it rose up from the surface of the floor. Their eyes widened from what they saw, as the bones snapped and bent in ways they shouldn't, it set the top hat atop the ripped and rotten skin as it stared into their eyes with burning red irises. It had a long beak and a feathers made from swords.

They wanted to run…

They were going to…

"Do not flee from it." The voice of Valravn finally returned, and they both turned to see him behind them. He held his staff in his hand as he stared at the hallucination that they could see, which meant he was seeing the same thing.

"H-How can…" Ruby slurred, it was like she was drunk.

"The Creature of Grimm we seek, it would only show the same image to those who were close to finding it. Remember this – a reflection could be horrifying, but like a shadow, it cannot cause a bruise." He spoke, which simply meant, it was not real. Ruby and Oscar shook their heads to push this drowsy feeling from their minds. So they heeded his advice and they approached the twisted and demonic form that must have been what they pictured Jack the Ripper looking like.

The closer they got…it started to fade away…the visions were becoming less and less powerful on them, so they kept moving. They turned the corner and they found the Bedroom that Vernal found earlier, and they stared at it…

…they saw it…

The Source of the Illusions.

There was a Spider in the Mirror by the bed, it was black with white and red markings, and yet it could affect an entire house. Ruby stared at it, and she tried to lift her Rifle, but the weight suddenly became so great that she could not even do that. Neither could Oscar…even Valravn was struggling to stay upright, he was hugging his Staff to stay upright, leant against the wall as well. "The Spider…must…be eradicated." Valravn softly said to them with his dark and croaky voice.

Oscar collapsed, he could not withstand the power that the small spider was inflicting upon them, but Ruby kept getting closer. And with every step, she started to see things again. Neo leapt out from the closet to stab her, Roman was laughing at her Cinder's voice was nearby and she felt the bad memories. On the bed she saw the mangled remains of Penny, where Pyrrha accidentally shredded her body.

It nearly did the same…

…but instead…she closed her eyes.

She blinded herself from the pain that the Spider was forcing her to see. She just…listened…she just…focused. She held her Sniper Rifle and Valravn watched her with disbelief, as the barrel and the crosshairs faced the little Creature of Grimm. She blew out a calm and focused breath, and her large silver eyes opened, and all the hallucinations were gone. She could see and think clearly…and she had one thing to say to the creature.

"I see you…" She said, and pulled the trigger, the rifle cracked and launched the bullet towards the creature and it shattered then mirror. The Spider disintegrated immediately and faded away from them all…and every single web in the entire house crumbled away into dust around them. Nora and Eryka got up off the floor and so did Yang as they looked around with widened eyes. As soon as the webs were destroyed…the effects were lifted.

And for the first time since the Vacuo Mafia were slaughtered…the Hearthstone Chateau felt…at peace.

* * *

**Valravn**

* * *

"The Widow's Tear…" He began, they were all sat outside, and Ren was helping them all recover from what they experienced in there. He calmed their emotions with his semblance as he held their hands, Nora was leant up and rested her head on his shoulder, hugging his arm and holding his hand. Yang was next to Ruby and so was Oscar, Eryka was sat and she held her fist where the scars of her past had been made.

They took a hit…one to the mind…

"It is a very rare Creature of Grimm." Valravn spoke, and strangely, he was not speaking in riddles like he normally would be. Perhaps, he did not need to be speaking in Riddles right now, the mysteries continued to surround this man but at least one was answered…his Riddles in his sentences were not something he naturally did. "I should have expected it would be here, as soon as I saw the webs and sensed the illusions, I should have warned you all." He explained to them all.

"What do you mean?" Vernal asked curiously, so Valravn leant forward.

"Well, Widow's Tears are drawn to places of great tragedy and betrayal. The residue of negativity would bring them here and they would feed off that. But if others arrived, it would amplify those emotions with hallucinations…ones that it spread with the webs that released hallucinogenic pheromones into the area. And I don't know if you noticed, but the whole house was covered in webbing." Valravn explained and they all shuddered.

"I…I just thought that was from spiders." Cinder assumed.

"And you were right to think so, Widows Tears normally are found long before they could have the effect we experienced." He explained to them as they all nursed their wounds. He then looked at Ruby. "And I was impressed to see you manage to resist the level of hallucinations that it was hitting you with at the end, Miss Rose. Very few have that drive." He explained, and complimented. Qrow and Raven looked at their Uncle with surprise.

"With the Widow's Tear dead…and the Geist killed, is our job done?" Yang asked softly, and Qrow nodded his head in agreement.

"We better get paid overtime for this one." Cinder scoffed.

"That makes two of us." Raven agreed with the nod of her head. But there was one small thing that lingered on Ruby's mind as she looked at Valravn. Nothing ever seemed to get to him…so why was his hand shaking?

"Valravn?" She asked, and he turned sharply. She jolted at first but her nerves calmed. "W-What…did you see?" She asked him, and he stared right at her for what felt like an eternity.

"Nothing…just dust in the void." Valravn swiftly answered and he looked down at his hands as he sat there.

Ruby did not press further but she was not stupid, she knew he was lying.

And so did he, because he could see what the Widow's Tear showed him…

…his one fear.

He saw them all.

Qrow…

Raven…

…Jackdaw…

All dead.

And he wasn't.

His one fear? Is losing the only thing that has ever mattered to him – Family.

* * *

**Author Note - Fun fact, the Widow's Tear was actually in the Blake Manga book in the last story of her book, it was inspired by the Spider Grimm that was in that page. I really loved that idea, the fact it was just a spider Grimm, yet it could mess with people from within a mirror. Really cool concept, so I thought I would play with it some more**

**And man, that Geist battle was great fun. Shout-out to David for those awesome Hallucination Sequences, I normally write them myself but I struggled with this chapter due to some intense Writer's Block. But...alas...managed to get the chapter out! I might soon just ditch the actual Schedule and just write whenever I feel like I can. Because man...it is really getting to my head, writing three stories at once on a schedule.**

**Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter - Bargain Completed**

**\- Matt**


	16. Bargain Completed

**Chapter 15 – Bargain Completed**

* * *

**Jaune**

* * *

The sun was beginning to set over the Vacuo Dunes, the Black Gallows Wasp soared across the eb and flowing sands.

Sat inside of the Wasp were the Hunters: Jaune, Pyrrha, Weiss and Blake – with Winter and Killian with them as well. Jaune had his arm around Pyrrha who was leant up against him affectionately and she was still asleep. He gently caressed her firm hand as the Wasp jolted every now and then from the turbulence of Vacuo's Summer Winds, they could feel the heat even from inside the heavily armoured and air conditioned aircraft. Weiss and Blake looked at the two of them as they sat there, and then at Winter who was stood up, her hand held onto the handles that stuck out from the ceiling.

"Vacuo…what a wasteland, and we haven't even gotten to the Kingdom yet." Weiss sighed as she stared out at the deserts, and Blake felt the same way, and was also stunned.

"No wonder Sun had such negative things to say about Vacuo, Fox too. Not exactly picturesque." Blake stated as she stared at the lapping waves of sand, and the swallowed towns that sinkholes and sandstorms had consumed over time. They even could see the faint black blotches of where Grimm were lurking. Like the Black Smog but nowhere near as massive, literally like dark imperfections on a canvas of sand.

"Makes sense why he preferred Beacon over Shade Academy…and his wardrobe decisions makes more sense…at least it used to. How is he doing by the way? He still buttons up his shirt." Weiss commented, everyone noticed that change in Sun's style. He no longer wore the same white T-Shirt, completely unbuttoned and exposing his muscular chest, but the truth was simple.

He was struggling, badly, with his new insecurities. "The scar still gets to him, I'm worried about him, honestly. He keeps telling me he's okay…but I sometimes wake up in the night to hear him crying. Or he isn't in bed…or something like that." Blake explained as she looked at Weiss. The Schnee nodded her head, she could relate to Sun on this topic, and she touched the scar down her eye.

"Yeah…I know what he's going through. Not on the same level, mind you, but I know. Has he been going to therapy? Having his girlfriend with him helps, but there could be smaller things eating away at him. Remember how much he blamed himself for what happened to Oobleck?" Weiss asked her, and Blake nodded her head with a sigh. It was the most frightening thing in the world for a partner, to see their other half struggling in such a terrible way, against something that could not be patched up with a bandage.

"He does…but he would sometimes find some kind of get-out clause to be able to avoid going there. Maybe he wanted to just hang out with me, or be with his team and Neptune…or something else would come up. I really worry about him…he never lies to me, he can't lie to save his life, he's dangerously honest." Blake even giggled at that, it was something she found absolutely adorable in her boyfriend. It was completely unlike what she was used to expecting from people after being with Adam, since he would lie and mess with her head all the time.

But Sun?

He was honest, completely honest, even seeing him try to lie was adorable because he couldn't be more obvious and would fold as soon as he told the lie. Weiss chuckled too, because it was something similar with Neptune. "Yeah, Neptune's just like Sun in that kind of way. Except when he tries to lie to me, he constantly makes stupid puns and jokes." Weiss stated, which made Blake chuckle as well and she shook her head.

"Sounds like Yang." Blake said.

"She still not give you back that book?" Weiss inquired and Blake shook her head with stern amber eyes.

"Nope…I promise I'm not bitter." She sarcastically stated, since Yang…pretty much never gave the books back when she agreed on it. Yang was not an avid reader like her Team Partner was, so it would take forever for her to give a book back to her when she was done with it.

Weiss chuckled, Blake had gotten much funnier than she was back in the early days of Team R.W.B.Y, she was more comfortable around them, and parts of both Yang and Ruby had rubbed off on her. She was more open with them, and was happier to show her emotions to people. Hell she even liked talking to Team C.R.D.L now, even after how their friendship with the team started out. But they made great leaps to make things right.

They looked at Jaune and Pyrrha to see the red headed Spartan finally wake up again, she managed to sleep so peacefully on an aircraft for ages. She rubbed her exhausted emerald green eyes as she sat upright. "Welcome back." Weiss greeted with a smile.

"Oof…how long was I asleep?" She curiously inquired with a heavy yawn.

"About…six hours?" Winter chimed in as she turned to walk over to the seat next to her little sister.

"Six?" She asked and Jaune nodded his head.

"I can feel my shoulder again…" He chuckled as he rolled his arm round, and felt the shoulder blade pop. The door to the cockpit opens, and they all turn their gaze to see Killian emerge from it. He was in there, speaking with the pilot for around half an hour before he came back. He walked inside and he sat back down.

"We're about thirty minutes out from Vacuo." Killian informed as he sat down in the seat and he grabbed the collar piece that the device attached to his sternum was attached to. All five of them were curious about this device. It was unlike any medical respirator they had ever seen, it was extremely complex and seemed to require quite a lot of power. They even saw some kind of cable that went round his back and there was some sort of…generator, small and silent and constantly gave power to the device.

He scratched his square jaw as he sat down.

Jaune had to ask him, simply out of curiosity. "What's with that thing? On your chest?" He inquired, and Killian glanced at it. He tapped the metal and he exhaled through his nose.

"A story for another day." He said to them. "Warfare leaves a fair few scars on you…most of which had nothing to do with Grimm." He explained and he opened and closed his fist over and over again.

"I can imagine fighting Grimm is easier." Weiss stated.

"Indeed, Grimm luckily are predictable, but a smart human with strategy? That's a whole other obstacle to tackle…I guess you could say this little contraption acts as a reminder to me of why the Black Gallows were built band what our purpose was…even when I would be confused myself." He said with a sigh, and Blake raised a brow.

"You? You would lose faith?" Blake questioned.

"Not faith…I just sometimes wished that we would focus more on the threat of the Grimm, not Humanity and the Faunus. I envy the Huntsmen and Huntresses in that regard, at least you know who your enemy is." Killian scoffed, they may not have known it but it was clear to those who followed Salem that he had his doubts about her. And yet, he helped her…which meant that whatever she hopes to achieve…or has told him…must be best for Remnant.

"I'm surprised you would even say something like that, I thought you hated all of us." Pyrrha assumed.

"I have doubts, but I do not hate you. I hate people who slaughter innocents for their own personal gain…" Killian explained, and Winter scoffed as she stared at him. He was such a hypocrite, she knew what he was getting at but she was not blind, she knew of the things that the Black Ops Operators had done, crippling towns and even Kingdoms. It was possible that he even had a hand in what happened to Vacuo.

"Hmm…you must really hate your reflection, huh?" Winter grilled, and Killian stared at his hands and he chuckled softly.

"What I did was not for me…it was for Remnant." He stated, and Winter had heard that crap before, multiple times.

"You keep telling yourself that. Keep telling us that you believe you were wrong to do what you did at Beacon…innocents died by your hands so then you could push your agenda against us." Winter snarled, she could see right through him, she saw his plans and how he viewed sacrifices…that it was always necessary if it was in the wellbeing for Remnant.

Killian stared at her and he narrowed his Onyx Eyes.

"Judge me if you wish, but I know they are more dangerous threats to the world than the Academies and their lack of security. Believe me…" He said as he touched the device once more.

Jaune and the others could not stand to look at Killian, and he knew it, and he did not care for it. Nathaniel Killian may have had Remnant's Best Interests at heart, but who was he to make that call?

"For example…" Killian sat back and he started to tell them a story.

"Oh for gods sake, not a story from you about how Huntsmen are terrible things and you're the good guy…" Weiss groaned.

"You're under my command here, Miss Schnee. You will listen to what I have to say, and besides, if you were listening you would know this story has nothing to do with Huntsmen." He stated with a growl in the back of his voice, that made them all silent, and they listened to the story he had to tell them.

"When I was younger, in my early twenties if I remember correctly, I fought in the Valerian Military. We were sent out to face this organisation of Humans who wanted to kill the Faunus Species, wanted them all to die simply because they feared them." Killian explained to them all, Blake's ears shot up, and she could remember that Cult.

"I remember…the Poached Souls…they hunted my people like game, killed them and…well I heard some disturbing things about what they did. Burned them and sold their dust on the Black Market as a drug…they stuffed us like animals…hell some of them ate us." Blake explained, and this tale made them all shudder at the thought of it, they were already long gone by the point their were born, but history still told of their misdeeds.

"Correct, and like the White Fang they were a side effect of the Faunus War. Just as the Kingdoms were with the Academies after the Great War. The Valerian Military for the most part did not get involved in these matters unless it was causing extreme damage. It was, because the Poached Souls were not just attacking Faunus, but they also killed anyone who disagreed with them. Started to bomb buildings where there were Faunus inside…attacking schools that had three Faunus children inside. They were monsters and had to be stopped." He explained to them all.

He was right about one thing…at least the Grimm just attacked anyone they saw, and were not sentient like the Poachers were. Sometimes the Human and Faunus threats in the world were more frightening than the beasts.

"We managed to track their forces down to an old abandoned fortress, one that was used during the Great War by General Lagune." Killian told and Pyrrha and Blake remembered the name of that Fortress from Oobleck's old teachings.

"Fort Castle." They both said in unison.

"Correct, our forces attacked but it went wrong, they were expecting us and set traps. It was a bloody fight against the Poached Souls, and it reached a point where the Grimm started to come after us as well. The Siege lasted a whole day…and I was hit with napalm in the process." He explained and he pulled his sleeve up to show some nasty burn scars across his whole arm where the fire had stuck and melted his skin. "It was one of the most painful experiences of my life…and I would have died, if not for our reinforcements…that arrived late. It was this battle that inspired the idea of building more Military Outposts around the Kingdom, opposed to one in each. The fact the Council never thought that this would be necessary…well it still baffles me. But I know why…it was because it was too expensive, and they wanted to keep the money for themselves." Killian explained, and they scoffed.

"I doubt it was that simple." Weiss stated.

"You would be surprised." Killian said and Winter nodded her head.

"I told you…Vale's Bureaucracy was something to be desired." Winter stated, and Weiss looked up at her sister as she said that. Sadly the Politicians in charge of the world all had their corruptions.

Atlas was plagued with Paranoia and Money Makers.

Vale was infested with people who just wanted fame and power.

Mistral had intense Faunus Relations issues from racist leaders.

And Vacuo was filled with criminals.

It was something that they all finally could agree upon, the real thing that needs to be replaced and improved was the politics itself.

"Our reinforcements arrived and destroyed the Cult once and for all…it was a bloodbath, and if we had better information from our superiors the operation would have gone over much smoother. Something I feel all of you could agree with me on." He stated and they stared at him.

"Yeah…I get that, but do you seriously expect us to believe you will tell us everything we need to know?" Weiss questioned. "We may agree with the Vytal Consensus, but trust me…that's it." Weiss stated.

"Understandable. However, I think you will agree with me on one thing, when you see where we will arrive at." Killian said as he stood up.

"What's that?" Jaune asked him.

"The problems with the way in which the Government favours its protectors. They give the Academies more funding than they do with the Military. Atlas is the only one that does not have this problem, thanks to what Ironwood put in place. Our safehouse today is going to be the Vacuo Veteran's Home, there you will see why I believe the Consensus is necessary. Because it doesn't just help you…but it will help others as well." Killian explained as he walked over to the cockpit.

Weiss watched him approach the door and it closed behind him.

She shook her head and she sighed. "I hate that I agree and disagree with him at the same time." Weiss sighed, and they all agreed.

"Tell me about it."

* * *

**Ruby**

* * *

They were back in Vacuo now, and were returning to Lil Miss Malachite with the news of their succession of clearing out the Hearthstone Chateau of the Grimm that infested the location. Ruby walked with Qrow towards the building, but then they hung back and she wrung her hands together. Qrow slowed and looked back at his niece, glanced to his sister and the others and gestured them to keep moving, since he'll see what's wrong. But Yang, Nora and Ren refused to follow them and wanted to stay with Ruby.

The others walked towards the entrance of the Spider's Web, and Qrow crouched down in front of his little niece. She may not be as little as she once was, but he still saw her that way in his eyes. "What's up?" He asked her, she was strong but she was not stupid. She saw what she saw in there…and it frightened her.

"I…I'm just worried, Uncle Qrow. I don't know if I want to kill Jackdaw or not…I mean when Roman died, Neo nearly killed me…I've never been more scared in my life." She softly said, and her hands went to her belly. She suffered from ghost pains, memories of the pain she endured when that dagger stabbed into her stomach twice…the feeling of that cold blade pressed to her neck. That was nearly the end of her life, and it would have been over something she had no control of.

"Neopolitan is insane…you didn't kill Roman, the bastard killed himself." Qrow told her and she nodded her head.

"But…what if killing Jackdaw…what if I become like him?" She asked fearfully.

"You won't." He promised.

"All it takes is one drop of blood…one death on my hands…and everything will change. I've never directly killed anybody before…only Grimm…I don't know what will happen to me if I do. People keep saying a part of you dies when you murder someone…I don't want to…I don't want to be like my enemies." Ruby said, and Yang gently held her sister's hands in hers.

"It's okay Ruby…you don't have to be the one to do it…Jackdaw does have to die, it's why we're doing this. But it could be any of us…and I know you won't change into him. You're a good person…the best person I have _ever_ known." Yang lovingly said to her baby sister, she smiled at her, and Nora chimed in.

"Why do you think we followed you, dummy?" She asked her with a kind smile. "I love Jaune and Pyrrha…but you're also one of my best friends in the whole world. If I can help you find the answers you need…then I'll die to do that for you." She gently said to her, and Ren held Nora's shoulder supportively.

"And so would I." Ren agreed.

"So would we all." Qrow added, he held Ruby's shoulders with a smile and she smiled back. "C'mon, kiddo. Let's go hear what Malachite has to say to us…" Qrow said to her.

"She better give us overtime for what we fought." Yang stated with a smirk.

"That makes two of us." Qrow agreed

They caught up to the rest of their Party and they headed into the building. It was as if no time had passed, all the dancers were dancing away on the stages and around the poles. Men and women drinking and flirting with each other. Prostitutes teasing the different men and women around the area for their services. They all watched them, kept their hands closed to their pockets to not lose their lien they had on them.

They walked up the stairs together and they approached her little throne room, which was just a couch. They stood before her, the Malachite Twins by her shoulders, and she was leant back against the spine of her couch with a sinister smirk on her face. She held her fancy cigarette between her fingers and tapped the burnt remnants into the ash tray. "I see you have returned…with good news I hope?" She asked her clients, and they looked at each other.

"Hearthstone Chateau is clear of Grimm. There was a Geist there and a Widow's Tear…must've been there for a damn long time." Raven told Lil Miss Malachite, and they flinched slightly from the whispering voices of Valravn.

_"__Valravn…Valravn…Valravn…"_

"Well, well…you never cease to surprise me Ms Branwen." Lil Miss Malachite congratulated with the clap of her hands. Raven did not even seem bothered with her false praise, now she wanted what they agreed upon. Information on where her Older Brother was heading, what information she traded with him in general.

"We made a deal…you clear out that old Mansion, you give us the information you traded with Jackdaw Branwen." Qrow said to her, since he wanted her to get to the point already. She softly giggled, it sounded sweet yet even that was unnerving, and then she stood up, and held out her hand to Melanie. She picked up a data pad and handed it to her mother, who carried it over and set it down on the table, pushing it towards Raven. It brought up a large Holographic Display of information.

Many things…but it all surrounded the exact same thing.

"The Black Gallows?" Ruby inquired.

"Good eyes, my dear…very pretty ones too." She said as she leant forward with a smirk, she saw her Silver Eyes once again. But Yang stood in front of Ruby, she may be able to handle herself, but she was Ruby's older sister…which meant it was her job to protect her no matter what.

"What the hell does Jackdaw want with the Black Gallows?" Cinder questioned as she stared at the Information Broker.

"Well there's the interesting part…he was very vague, but he told me that there was something going down in Atlas…and the facility was his target. He did not deign to inform me of whom he was working for, but I could tell that this was not for his own interest." Lil Miss Malachite explained, which made Nora scoff.

"How'd ya get to that conclusion?" Nora questioned.

"Because Jackdaw Branwen's file has never made him out to be the…adventurer…more of a mad killer. So why would he hide out in the middle of the Atlesian Wildlands? I never got my answer…and my spiders lost sight of him as soon as he left this building. However…if he is headed to Atlas, the best and fastest way there would be through Argus. If I were you, I would head to Anima and go to the nearest Train Station. Board the Argus Limited, if that is where you are heading." Lil Miss Malachite advised, and Raven pondered on this idea.

"We can't risk taking the Argus Limited from Mistral itself, Killian most likely already has bounties set up for us. We'll need to find one of the other stations in Anima, out in the wilds." Raven explained to her team, and Lil Miss Malachite smiled as she closed the data hologram, and pulled out the memory stick and gave it straight to Ruby, not Raven. She held it and Malachite held her wrist, and stared at her.

"Dangerous thing, sweetheart…having eyes like that…if you ever want…better…more fun work…come to me." She whispered sinisterly, but Vernal was the one to take Ruby and pull her away.

"Don't listen to her…I made that mistake." Vernal growled directly at Malachite.

"Oh, Vernal, darling…you're going to break my heart." She sadistically spoke soft sarcasm as well.

Ruby tucked the data stick into her pocket, and Raven nodded at the Silver Eyed Huntress and looked back to Lil Miss Malachite. "Always a pleasure, Lil Miss Malachite." She said, and they all turned to make their departure. But before they could get to the stairs, Malachite spoke one last time.

"It was a pleasure working with you, Ms Branwen, it's very rare someone ever brings me such beautiful little gifts." Malachite said with a smirk before she smoked her cigarette once more and blew out the smoke. Raven turned away from Lil Miss Malachite and they kept walking away.

Leaving the Broodmother and her Spiders behind, as they headed for the exit.

The heat from the air was still there, even with the sun setting behind the dunes that rose up for miles like mountains. Eryka whistled and Dulcis descended to her and landed on her shoulder and he chirped in her ear and she pulled a fresh rat she caught in the Chateau and threw it up in the air. He caught it in his sharp beak and swallowed it whole. "So what now? Do we go to Argus?" Vernal inquired, but Raven was not foolish.

"Not yet, we need to restock our ammo and sharpen our weapons before we head to Anima. The Wilds are extremely dangerous and we'll undoubtedly encounter plenty of Grimm or Mercenaries along the way." Raven explained and Cinder nodded her head in agreement.

"Locating an isolated Train Station could take us ages, even if we follow the tracks." Cinder said.

"We could look over the maps back at Camp." Vernal suggested and Raven nodded her head in agreement.

"Good idea, we'll lay low here in Vacuo for tomorrow, get stocked up on supplies and then we'll head back. Vernal, Cinder – I'll open a portal and the two of you will head back home, keep an eye on things there. Look after Amber, and see if you can find a Station out in the wilds of Anima." Raven ordered.

"You got it." Vernal agreed with the nod of her head, Raven drew her Odachi and swung it, cutting open a portal in the air that allowed them to leave. They both walked into it and left the hottest Region on Remnant.

The others needed to lay low for now…

…for as long as they could.

* * *

**Cinder**

* * *

The dark red portal opened up into the Tribe, and the Fall Maiden emerged first, she looked around the area as she walked out. Vernal followed from behind as the doorway closed after they exited it, the cooler air of the Anima Climate was a great shock, and the sun was still in the sky. They both shuddered from the colder climate for a moment after getting used to it, and then they walked forward, and looked around. They saw the Grunts walking around with their weapons, some were sharpening them and others were drinking as they chatted.

"Welcome back." One of the Grunts greeted as he approached them, and he had a collar made from the bones of a creature he managed to hunt down and kill. "How'd the mission go?" He asked, he was one of the nicer ones.

"Fine enough in the grand scheme of things. We're gonna go check over the map, plot out our next location." Vernal told the Grunt and he nodded his head.

"You didn't find him there?" He asked them.

"No, he's still ahead of us but we know where we're headed. We need to get to Argus, but we need to board the Argus Limited at one of the Isolated Stations." Vernal explained as she approached the largest of the tents, the one that belonged to Raven herself.

"Should we get ready to pack up and leave?" He asked her.

"Probably, yeah. Black Gallows could be anywhere, need to stay ahead of them." Cinder told the Grunt and he nodded his head and he walked around the camp to let everyone know that they should get ready.

"Good thinking, travelling Anima is hard enough as it is. Would be safer with a larger group." Vernal said and Cinder nodded her head. They entered Raven's tent and they looked around, and found the large map of Anima rolled up on the table alongside the other maps she had there. They rolled it open and flattened it down on the wooden table, and started to go over it, searching for the best possible locations. "Alright…where's the nearest one?" She wondered, and Cinder tapped her bandaged finger against the Mountains.

"Well…there's that one." Cinder said, Vernal scoffed in disagreement.

"Yeah, the one that belongs to the Vasillias Cartel? After what we saw in Vacuo, do you really think going to them is the best idea?" She asked her, and Cinder sighed.

"Probably not."

"We need to steer clear of those mountains, the Cartel are more dangerous than the Grimm that lurk around the place. Sphinxes and Manticores are deadly, sure…but they don't have the cunning that Lavinia has." Vernal explained as she trailed the maps to figure out what the closest one would be. She stopped on one location and she sighed, and leant back against the back of her chair. "I mean…there is Kuchinashi…but it's a damn long walk." She said.

"So the closest one is the Vasillias Cartel…and the other one is further…and means going through Highly Infested Grimm Territory?" Cinder asked her and she sighed with the nod of her head.

"Starting to wonder which one's worse." Vernal chuckled.

"Let's just circle them for now…Raven can make the decision, she'll know best." Cinder said, she picked up the marker pen and she circled the two locations and set the pen back down on the table. They stepped back from the map and Vernal pushed her hands through her short black hair. Cinder scratched an itch that flared up under her eyepatch and she groaned.

"So…what now? Tribe seems perfectly normal, if there's one nice thing I can say about the Grunts is that they don't ever cause problems when we're gone." Vernal said as she walked across the tent with Cinder towards the outside world. They walked out and they approached a table and two chairs that they pulled out and sat down upon.

"Well…I dunno…I guess we could play a game?" Cinder suggested with the shrug of her shoulders. Vernal looked around and she picked up a box that made her curious. She gasped and her eyes widened with joy and she spun it round, and Cinder sighed. "I…was hoping…it would be a bit more creative."

_Jenga_

They had already started to make one hell of a tower, and were sharing stories back and forth with one another. Little things, the biggest Grimm they had ever seen, and Cinder would always have her beaten on this challenge. The Wyvern would always trump any Grimm, from Blind Worms all the way to Sphinxes. But they both had experienced some pretty nasty things over their…rather short lives in the grand scheme of things. "Been a hell of a ride, huh?" Vernal asked her.

"Yeah…not proud of all of it though." Cinder stated as she pulled one of the logs of wood from the Jenga tower and placed it on top.

"None of us are, I'm afraid. Trust me, that feeling will never go away." Vernal said as she pondered and stared at the tower. They had many blocks at the top now, so things were about to get really intense for both sides. Neither of them wanted to risk that tower crashing down on their heads. It would not be pretty, not in the slightest. "When I was still pretty new here…we were on a raid. Some bandits had holed up nearby, and we were killing them, clearing the area out and taking their things that they stole. But when I was going through the area…someone grabbed my shoulder…so I shot my gun." Vernal explained as she carefully slid one of the blocks out from under the roof. "It was a kid…"

Cinder, sadly, did not even seem shocked by this. She felt for Vernal, but it was not like it wasn't something she would have done before. Because she had done it before, she had killed a child once…her sisters. "That…sucks…I'm sorry, Vernal." Cinder said to her friend, almost sympathetically.

"You…oh gods I'm sorry, here I am talking about how hard it was for me to cope killing a kid I never knew…when you had to kill your sisters." Vernal apologised, never something she would have expected to apologise for. Cinder looked at her and she lowered her gaze.

"I didn't…have to…I murdered them, Vernal. Yours was an accident, I killed them because I hated them. Before you even try to call yourself a monster, just look at me. Not many people compare to me, and I'm not about to try and make things right. I am what I am." Cinder stated as she looked at the tower and searched for pieces to remove from it. Her words were hateful but only directed towards herself.

"It's never too late to change, Cinder…because by that logic I am still a prostitute." Vernal pointed out, and Cinder scoffed.

"That's different…when you kill your whole family out of hatred, Vernal…it's not the same as escaping a bad life. That sticks with you…I saw it when I was there." Cinder explained and she pulled out one of the blocks of wood and set it down on the table Vernal raised a brow curiously.

"At the Hearthstone Chateau?" She asked her, and Cinder nodded her head.

"It wasn't for very long…I nearly missed it…but when Ruby stormed off from me, I saw it. The chandelier and their bodies…I could still taste the blood in my mouth. From when I stabbed my father in the throat…I still remember the blood on my face…the taste of it…I was sick after I did it…and I was lost. It brought back bad memories." Cinder said as she stared at the tower and she sighed.

Vernal chose one of the blocks. "I'm sorry…that place…it was bad." Vernal said, she remembered Cinder's old home. It may have been run down and abandoned, but they could feel the pain that she felt at that place. How her family would judge her and force her to do the things she never ever wanted to do, made her believe she was a hideous beast and would never make anything of her life. "I saw things too…I saw the bedroom and it brought back some memories too, I kept hearing them…the voices of the men I…pleased. I could feel it in my body, the things I let them do to me and what I did to them." Vernal explained as she held her forearm.

"Why'd you even do it? You're strong enough to have turn down that kind of life." Cinder pointed out with confusion.

"I am now…but then? I needed to survive…and Malachite gave me a choice…the streets…or the bedroom." Vernal explained.

"That's no choice." Cinder pointed out.

"It was to a young…blind fool like me. I assumed I would find the best men and women in the world, beautiful and handsome…and some were…but not all." She said with a sigh. "And most of them…were not very kind."

"I'm sorry." Cinder apologised and she sighed.

"That place was screwed up." Vernal commented, which made them both chuckle at how much of an understatement that was.

As they played their game of Jenga together whilst waiting on the others to return the following day as planned, Shay and a few Grunts walked past. He stopped and he held an old piece of jewellery they had stashed here for a while. "Hey Vernal, Cinder." He greeted, oddly politely, the two attractive women turned to him as he stood there.

"Sup?" Vernal asked him curiously.

"You're pretty good when it comes to jewellery, the boys and I went looting on some of the abandoned homes we found around here. We found some jewels hidden away…how much do you think we could get for this one?" Shay asked her, so she pulled out another log of wood and she turned to him. She held it up to the sun, and she could pick up on the specks of grime and dirt that had covered the stones.

"Hmm…if you use some of the cleaning stuff in that tent over there, could get a few hundred Lien for it…good find." Vernal complimented as she handed it back to him. It was hard to believe but he was actually quite nice to people he knew…especially to Vernal, she wasn't stupid either. She knew he had a thing for her, but she liked to keep him guessing. He took it and he nodded his head.

"Thanks…how'd your job go, at that Mansion?" He asked the two of them, and Cinder poked out her tongue playfully as she carefully squeezed the piece of wood out from the tower, making soft squeaking noises in the process.

"Could've been worse, could've been better." Cinder strained as she carefully yet desperately tried to get the tight wood from the tower of Jenga pieces.

"We cleared it out for Malachite, but there was one of those damn Widow's Tears in there, and a Geist. That one was kinda easy in comparison, at least Geists don't get in your head and mess with you." Vernal chuckled and he laughed with them, and he nodded his head.

"Well, have fun you two. I'll go sort this out." Shay said to them, he took the necklace and left the two of them to it. They both looked at each other and Cinder raised a brow.

"I think he has a thing for me." Vernal commented.

"Oh you think?" Cinder questioned after she finally managed to pull the piece of wood out. But as soon as she does it, she gasped and the tower of Jenga pieces suddenly toppled over and fell right onto her. She let out a yelp, something that was extremely uncharacteristic from her, and she held them atop her chest. Vernal laughed silently, clapping her hands, and despite her urge to not do it…Cinder actually softly giggled with a bright smile.

It was a feeling she never felt, true friendship.

"Ow…" Cinder laughed as she pushed the pieces of wood back onto the table. She picked up some of the ones that fell past her and turned to hear the giggling from Amber who just walked over. "Tell me you didn't see that?" She begged her, and she smiled adorably and put her finger to her lips. "Good girl." She winked.

"Well…as fun as this was…I need to go around and check our inventory, before Raven gets back and gives me an earful. Think you can watch over Amber?" She asked as she walked away from her. Cinder's amber eye widened and she spun round.

"Wait WHAT?" She asked fearfully, since she still did not feel overly comfortable looking after children.

Vernal was suddenly gone, her chair was spinning round on the spot where she shot off to do her duties. Cinder bit her lip and she sighed, and squinted her eye shut in annoyance. She then swivelled round and stared at Amber. "So…what do you wanna do?" She asked curiously.

"I dunno." Amber answered.

"Okay…well we could do with some fish for dinner. Wanna learn how to fish? It's a useful skill to have." Cinder suggested, and a bright smile squeaked onto Amber's adorable little face and she bounced up and down excitedly.

"Yu-Huh!" She giggled playfully, and Cinder softly chuckled as she got up and she walked over to the little girl. She followed her like a little growth as Cinder went over to one of the tents that had the fishing gear inside, rods and bait that they needed to fish. There was a beautiful river nearby that they could use to their advantage, and the little girl followed her towards the stream.

She held out the smaller Rod and Amber held it in her tiny hands. "Thank you." She adorably said to Cinder.

"Alright…you're not as big as me, so yours is a bit smaller. But it still works the same way, you throw in your bait and you hold the rod. You feel a tug? You turn this and you real it in, if you feel it try and get away from you, pull back but don't reel. You don't want to break the line, okay? When you get the fish, you put it inside of this bucket so then we can cook 'em up." Cinder explained to her, and Amber smiled with the nod of her head.

"How do you know so much?" Amber asked sweetly.

"Ha…I'm not as clever as some." She said with a smile and she ruffled her hair. Cinder stood up and she sat down on one of the chairs that was left there, Amber sat down on the dirt next to her. "I did a lot of fishing when Raven took me in, I was badly hurt…as you can see." Cinder said as she pointed to her eyepatch and then at her arm she had wrapped up in the white bandage like wraps. Her arm was still badly scarred from the burns by Ruby's Silver Eyes. "It helped me do something when I couldn't fight, when I had to recover. I owe Raven a lot…especially after what I did."

"What did you do?" Amber inquired.

"Bad things, kiddo…" Cinder told Amber, and she threw her bait in, Amber watched her do it and she mimicked her, and threw in the line. "Look at you, fast learner, huh?" She asked her and Amber blushed.

"Thank you!" She squeaked.

They both sat there for a while, and Amber seemed to know that the fish would be scared by her voice. Cinder glanced at her as they waited and after all this time they managed to catch around three fish…quite large ones too. "How have you been doing, kid? After what you went through…you seem to handle it pretty well considering." Cinder asked her, and Amber looked at her.

"I…I miss my mommy and daddy. They were really nice to me…I miss mommy's bedtime songs." She said to her, yet she was not tearful. "But crying…crying won't bring them back…it was what Shay told me."

Cinder looked at her and stared at Shay over her shoulder who was cleaning the jewellery like Vernal suggested. She tightened her grip and glared angrily. "Did he now?" She asked.

"Mhm…but he's right…it was mean, but I want to help. I don't like being useless." Amber explained as she sat there, and Cinder nodded her head. She knew exactly what she meant, it was why she enjoyed fishing.

"That's why fishing is great…I like it because it helps me forget the bad things in the world and our biggest mistakes. Just makes me focus, y'know what I mean?" Cinder asked her curiously and Amber smiled and nodded her head.

"Yeah…I like it too." Amber said to her, and Cinder smiled as she looked at her.

"You're a good kid." She said to her kindly and Amber smiled. She ruffled her hair gently and Amber squeaked happily.

Whether Cinder wanted to or not…she was bonding with the girl…and was bringing out her better side just as Vernal did.

* * *

**Jaune**

* * *

They have arrived at Vacuo.

The Wasp soared across the sky, and it descended towards the landing pad on the rooftop that was the Veteran's Home inside of the City of Sand. The long wings folded away and the back of the vehicle opened up so then the people inside of it could exit. Killian emerged first and he looked out across the city of Vacuo, Jaune stood next to him, and Killian gave him a glance. "C'mon." Killian ordered, he walked ahead of them and Jaune nodded to them all. They all followed him as he followed Killian into the staircase.

They walked downstairs, they felt the sand that was on the steps crunch beneath their boots. Weiss looked around at the place, and she could see the amount of beggars in the streets as soon as she exited. "By the gods…I heard things were bad here in Vacuo, but I didn't realise things were this bad." Weiss stated as she walked down the stairs.

"Enjoy your stay while you can, it is very likely that this Kingdom will be gone in a few years time. The Government is losing funding and drought is slowly killing everything that they built. Soon refugee camps will be filled with the people of Vacuo. I want to make sure we have things set in place to help them." Killian explained as he walked down the stairs to the lobby.

"What kind of things?" Pyrrha inquired.

"Improved Camps, making sure people get fed and we help them find homes and jobs. And we need to keep families together, that will always lead to failure." Killian explained to them, and nothing would cause rebellions than families being torn apart by those who stood above those weaker than themselves.

Killian opens the doors to the main lobby where they could see some tired Veterans in there, and they could instantly see what Killian meant. They never realised how poorly the normal soldiers were treated by the government. Killian immediately walked forward, but then he stopped and looked back at them. "If you don't trust me…then I ask you…to speak with them. Hear their stories, believe them if not me." Killian asked them, he walked ahead and he approached a group of Ex-Soldiers who were sat down at a couch.

They could not hear him talking to them yet they could all tell from the ways in which they reacted to seeing him that they had faith in him. Jaune looked at everyone that surrounded them, so he and Pyrrha walked over to a man who was in a wheelchair. They could tell why as well, his legs were both missing and were completely deformed. He did not even have any prosthetics. There was a second one who had no arms, he was sat down next to him and the man in the wheelchair extended his hand with a smile. "Good evening, how are you two doing?" The Veteran asked the two of them.

"We're okay…how are you?" Pyrrha sweetly asked her.

They both looked at their injuries and they chuckled. "Well…could be better, but hopefully things will change." The Armless Veteran said to them with a shrug.

"By the way? Are you Pyrrha Nikos?" The Wheelchair Bound Veteran asked her and she smiled and nodded her head.

"I am." She answered.

"Oh wow! Hey…could you sign this for Billy's daughter? She looks up to you like crazy, and…well…after he lost his arms on the field, he just wants her to smile. Just an autograph." The Wheelchair Bound Veteran asked her desperately, and she smiled and she obliged happily. She took the card that had a picture drawn by the little girl of her father…and he looked so sad. So she signed it.

"Thank you, Ryan." Billy said to his friend, and Ryan patted his shoulder with a smile.

"What's her name?" She asked.

"Karen." Billy answered proudly.

_This is such a beautiful drawing, Karen!_

_I know you will be an incredible artist one day, I hope I can meet you!_

_With love, Pyrrha Nikos_

She gave the card back to Ryan and he held onto it for Ryan until his family would come by to bring him back home. "Thank you…so much." Billy was almost in tears with happiness. "This will make her so happy…I may not be able to hug her again, but at least I can give her this." Billy said tearfully. His words nearly made Pyrrha cry, and she lowered her head sadly.

"The Government never…gave you any prosthetics?" Jaune inquired, and he shook his head.

"Nope, I don't wanna sound like an asshole but the Councillors put most of their Military Funds into Shade Academy. It's the same for many…it's why we believe in Killian. His Consensus will help balance the funds and care for both sides. If it goes through…and it works…I may get prosthetic arms…so I can hug my baby again." Billy said to them both, Jaune looked at Pyrrha and she looked at him.

This was a factor they never even thought of…and it actually made them believe they chose the right side more.

Not for Killian, but for the Veterans.

Weiss stood there and she looked at the names that were on the board, she had her arms behind her back as she stared at them.

_Have you ever seen the Demons we all see? Come to Garland's Hope, where we can help you and many others get over the past together._

"Excuse me?" A soldier spoke, and she turned to see a soldier who had a deformed face from a severe burn, and Blake approached with this Human Soldier. She looked at Weiss and she noticed that he also had his vision damaged from a battle that cracked his skull.

"Hello." She politely and kindly spoke to the soldier.

"Are…are you Weiss Schnee?" He asked, he was a young man and Weiss approached him.

"Yes, I am…who are you?" She asked him with a smile.

"Uh…Max Delphine." He answered slowly, he had a slur as well, and it really did seem like it was hard for him to speak. "I…I just wanted to say…I really appreciate to see that you came to visit us today…" The Veteran said to them.

"Of course…it's my pleasure." Weiss said to the nice man. "May I ask…how you got your injury?" She asked him curiously and he nodded his head.

"I…worked for your father as a Guard." He revealed and her eyes widened. "We were attacked by the White Fang…lead by Adam Taurus…he attacked me with his sword, and he exploded a cannister of fire dust next to me. The explosion nearly blinded me…and deformed my face…we begged Mr Schnee for my medical bills to repair the damage…but instead he fired me." Max revealed and Weiss clenched her fist in anger.

"Father…" She growled.

"But I know you're not like him, Miss Schnee. You are kind…he would have never come to see us. Just you coming here today? That means everything." He said to her, and then he walked away. Weiss watched as he went and she looked at Blake…they both felt guilt.

Killian was right…there were other threats to the world outside the Grimm and the Academies…the most dangerous threat were the corrupt Businessmen and Politicians…who would cause the problems Killian was trying to solve in the first place. "These poor people…I'm starting to agree with Killian's goal…I just want to try and convince him to change his ways." Blake said to Weiss and she sighed.

"I hate that I agree…these people look up to him. We should see if we can convince him to try things differently." Weiss agreed, and then they turned to see Killian stood there and he held his hands together. They were shaking…and they could tell that he was just like them in the mind. But then they saw a woman approach him…she was unfamiliar to them…but not to him.

Killian turned and his eyes widened with disbelief. "Veronica Chamberlain? I was not expecting to see you here." He said to her.

"And I am surprised to see you here…have I got a stalker?" She asked with a grin.

"Oh – uh – n-no." She awkwardly stammered, and she chuckled.

"I'm just teasing ya." She said as she stood with her used Prosthetic Leg the military gave her after she lost her leg in the field.

"How are the people doing here?" Killian asked her.

"Well…just look around…things were better in Vale and Mistral because they had better funds. But Vacuo? This Kingdom is on the brink." Veronica sighed as she crossed her arms.

"I know…" He sighed. He then looked at her and he held his arms behind his back and he stammered. "Hey…I've got nothing on tonight…what about you?" He asked her, she raised a brow and she smiled.

"Nothing." She replied.

"Can I…buy you dinner tonight?" He proposed, and a smile formed on her beautiful face.

"Sure…I'll see you at eleven. Have you seen that Restaurant called The Mountain Mockingbird?" She asked him and he nodded his head.

"Yeah…so…I'll see you at eleven?" He asked her, and she kissed his cheek affectionately.

"See you there." She agreed.

Asking her out…was a lot easier than he expected, he never even expected her to have had a thing for him as well. Weiss stood there, and she never expected to hear Killian sound like that…

…like a human being.

* * *

**Author Note - About to show a very different side to Killian, one that is completely different to the ice cold Commander of the Black Gallows**

**I love Veronica, the fact she was a soldier like Killian and lost her leg, it made her such a great little character. Will really enjoy this next chapter, some big character development for both sides of the coin. And some of the poor Veterans...does make you wonder who Killian should focus his efforts on. The Academies? Or the Government? But the Consensus could help more lives than just the Huntsmen and the civilians.**

**I also loved writing Cinder, Vernal and Amber...Cinder's two closest friends, and I can't wait to show more of their friendships. Very different to the canon show for her and Vernal obviously XD.**

**Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter - The Mountain Mockingbird**

**\- Matt**


	17. The Mountain Mockingbird

**Chapter 16 – The Mountain Mockingbird**

* * *

**Killian**

* * *

Not much got to Nathaniel Killian, a lifelong service in the military tended to make a soldier fear very little.

Death? Nah.

Pain? Just a scratch.

But this was one of the few things in the whole world that got his heart pounding, gave him gooseflesh and caused his teeth to nearly chatter. He felt like a shake weight, desperately trying to maintain his cool and not look like a terrified sweaty mess. But it was so difficult, he sat at the chair in the beautiful restaurant, alone at the moment, he was waiting on Veronica to show up.

The Mountain Mockingbird, undoubtedly the most expensive restaurant in all of Vacuo, and luckily all their food lived up to how much it costed. Killian tapped his fingers on the table as he sat there, dressed up in a nice suit with his black bow tie all ready. Wearing clothes like these also felt kind of…off…he was used to having armour plating, specifically designed for combat and he could easily fit that device on his sternum to his clothes without any issue…yet with these clothes?

Not exactly, not at all.

It was late at Vacuo tonight, the Fractured Moon floated in the night sky as the stunning stars arched over the kingdom. They were different to when he was at different areas of Remnant, different constellations, different colours from the distant nebulae. There were not many people here, there were some others but they were quietly talking with each other, and the staff had a pleasantly quiet night this evening.

A Waiter approached Killian's seat with a bottle of Red Wine. "Good Evening, Sir, would you care for some wine?" The Waiter asked him.

"Oh uh…yes, yes please." He politely replied with the nod of his head, and the man set the bottle down and filled up his glass.

"Are you expecting anybody tonight?" The Waiter curiously asked him as he poured the red wine into his wine glass.

"Yes…not gonna lie, kinda nervous. Haven't really done dating all that much, my job made that difficult." Killian explained to the Waiter, which was not the only reason of course. There were many reasons behind why he lived quite a lonely private life, simply because he was afraid…afraid of them learning what he truly was, what he would do for the Black Gallows…and what he would have to do if his partner became a danger to that position.

He loved his family, the family that took him in when he was a child, but he was never able to display his emotions very well. It was one of his biggest flaws as a human being, he struggled to show emotion, alongside his paranoia, broken logic and hypocrisy.

He turned his gaze to the door when he heard the bell ding, but it was not Veronica, simply another couple, most likely out for a romantic evening together. He felt a little disappointed, he just wanted to see how well she cleaned up. "Must be a very lovely lady, I wish you the best of luck." The Waiter said to Killian, after he poured some red wine into the other empty glass for Veronica whenever she would show up.

"Thank you." Killian said to the Waiter, who parted from the table and returned back to the table. He sat at the table and looked out at the window, and it was very intriguing how unique his knowledge was. He could tell when a window had bullet proofing built into it, since he pushed his knuckle against it and he gently knocked it. There was no rattle, and it sounded extremely thick, and did not even feel like glass…it was almost like an extremely hard plastic. A bullet would hit that glass and do some damage, but not enough to shatter it, and that would give the poor target time to hide.

_I remember why these restaurants in Vacuo invested in Bullet Proof Glass…the Vacuo Mafia a very long time ago would assassinate certain individuals whenever they would go with their families._

_Despite the good they attempted to accomplish…it did not wipe away the bad._

_And there was a lot of bad._

He also could not stop wondering, he was always thinking. Every single passing minute, or second of every day he was thinking. Plotting schemes to help complete certain objectives, plotting out strategies and so forth. He was trained to think this way, because every single moment you take your mind off your enemies…they will take that time to plot against you. Always have a counter attack ready, always have escape routes planned…always…keep…your…gun…close.

He touched the side of his leg and felt the leather holster that his Chrome Revolver was holstered into. He exhaled softly, he never went anywhere without it, end of the day despite how many people believed in him now…there were doubtlessly those out there who wanted him dead.

_Ding_

He turned his gaze, and his onyx eyes widened with awe as she approached. Her long dark brown hair seemed to dance as she moved, curly and almost shiny, and she wore a beautiful dark red dress, almost red wine coloured – ironic considering the drink they were having. His heart thundered as he saw her approach, he did not even notice though that she had some very clear insecurities about her prosthetic leg, since the dress perfectly hid her whole leg from the world as she approached. Yet there was that limp, her leg was slightly smaller than her real one, which made it slightly difficult for her movements.

Killian stood up and he held his hands behind his back, almost instinctively, and she even did the exact same thing. Someone who did not know either of them would easily be able to tell they had a background in Military Services. "Wow…you look…incredible." Killian chuckled with awe as she approached, she smiled and she looked at him, up and down.

"Not too shabby yourself, Commander." She said to him, and he chuckled, and scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"You…don't have to call me that." He assured her, she smiled back at him, and flicked her long locks of brown hair over her shoulder. That revealed a scar she was not so bothered about, one that looked like a bullet just grazed her and managed to leave a scar. They all had that kind of scar in the line of duty. It was one of the first ways to tell that someone had fought in the front lines of combat.

"I'm sorry, just comes out sometimes." She softly giggled and they both took their seats. She set her handbag down on the ground by her chair, and they both looked out at the beautiful view of the evening desert. "Incredible view…"

"It is…Vacuo always was quite the marvel for its views." Killian agreed, she smiled as she looked at him.

"Never pegged you for the artistic type." Veronica commented as she crossed her leg over the prosthetic one.

"I've dabbled…not much of an artist myself…but I have always appreciated the work of others." Killian explained as he looked at her. She held up her glass to him and he did the same.

"To Art…and all its beauty." She smiled at him as she spoke, and he chuckled.

"To art." He replied, and they clinked their glasses against one another, the long yet soft ring of the glasses deflecting off one another resounded.

It was very odd, how he almost had two separate personalities. There was the Commander of the Black Gallows, a terrifying leader who could manipulate the masses based off controlling the flow of information…one way or another…who also worked for none other than Salem herself. That man was the one that struck fear into the Huntsmen Academies and many others, even the people themselves for so many years…until they saved their city from the Grimm four years prior.

Now…they were heroes, not the boogeymen.

People will always look up to a hero, even if deep down there was a demon in their heart.

But then, there was Nathaniel Killian, the real human being who was buried underneath the truth of what the monster was inside of him. The one that showed mercy, the one that believed in Humanity and the Faunus…the one that was truly vulnerable. And sometimes the hardest part of his job, was remembering when to switch off, and on.

The question was – how long would Killian remain himself, before the Commander came back?

"So a Commander of a Shady Military Group, is also a great lover of the arts and crafts? What else do you hide underneath…that thing?" She asked him as she gestured her glass towards the device that was fused to his sternum. He glanced down at it and he chuckled.

"It's…a form of respirator." He answered. "And there a few things that I enjoy, Cats for starters have always been something I loved. My parents once owned one when I was a kid…before what happened with Jack the Ripper." Killian explained and her eyes widened.

"I…never knew about that…I'm so sorry." She apologised, Veronica worked in Recon, which meant she dealt with information, highly classified intel. She knew a few things about Killian and the Black Gallows, but not very much. Many files that surrounded them were redacted from her Military Branch's or covered in black ink. Only those that had the Ultraviolet Pens could actually show that information, something she did not have access too.

She was respected as a Recon Expert, but she was not high enough up in the hierarchy to be given that kind of intel.

"It was a long time ago…but was also the start of why I lost a lot of trust in the Huntsmen…end of the day, he was one." Killian pointed out, and she nodded her head in agreement.

"True…sadly I know what you mean. I was only three when all that happened…but I learned all about it when I started working in the Police Force, long before I was part of the R.S.T.F." Veronica explained to him.

_R.S.T.F – The Remnant Special Task Force_

This Task Force was a very highly skilled force of soldiers, all trained in the art of war, these people were chosen and the only reason they were not promoted to the Black Gallows simply came down to their ability to cut off all ties with their humanity. Sadly, a Black Gallows soldier could not fell anything for the lives of others, since they were mainly used to keep Human and Faunus populations in check when it came down to law and politics. But this Task Force was hardly weak.

The soldiers could challenge Huntsmen just as the Black Gallows could and they were trained in countless arts of war. And yet despite all that…they did not have the funding for improved cybernetics. The Politicians had funded everything for the R.S.T.F except for their Post-Combat Surgeries…since _sacrifices were expected in war_.

There was a reason why soldiers in Remnant hated being treated the way they were, and also why many soldiers did not have much respect for the Academies. Atlas was one of the few that did not have this problem, since they trained both Huntsmen and Soldiers in the exact same Academy, this allowed for both sides to earn respect with each other opposed to being against each other.

Atlas had many problems, but logically this was one of the wisest choices that they made.

"You worked in the Police Force? What division?" He asked her.

"I was once a detective, one of the youngest ones in Vale, I was only nineteen when I got my first job. Tracked down quite a few serial killers…it got my name out there, and when I joined the military I was offered a Training Course with the R.S.T.F. Best decision I made…despite how it ended." She explained as she looked at her prosthetic leg. She suddenly sighed and gently tapped the side of her head. "Oh I'm sorry, here I am waffling on about my service record…we're on a date." She sighed awkwardly.

"Oh no…please…not many people listen to our tales, since our stories aren't anywhere as near as the stories that the Academies get their kids to experience. It's nice to be able to talk to someone who actually understands me, and vice versa." Killian explained, she smiled and she took another sip of her red wine. She smiled and slightly blushed.

"This is some good wine…" She said to him with a smile.

"I know! I never really was one for drinking that much, but if all alcohol was this good…well I guess then I would have a problem." They both laughed and continued to enjoy the drink and then sat it back down. As they sat there, they both turned as the Waiter returned to the table.

"Good evening, I hope you have been enjoying your time here so far." The Waiter said to the two of them.

"Oh, this place is wonderful." Veronica kindly said to the Waiter.

"Thank you so much, I always enjoy seeing what kind of people come dine with us. Speaking of which…" He whipped out his booklet and he opened it with his pen in his other hand that he clicked down. "Have you decided on what you will be having tonight?" He asked the two of them.

"Yes…I will be having the Spaghetti Bolognese please." Killian ordered first, and Veronica smiled and nodded her head.

"Oh, and I will have the same please." She agreed and the Waiter smiled.

"Excellent choice. Would you like to have a bottle of our Finest Vasillias Red Wine?" He asked as he turned to the trolley and he held up the large one. "On the house?" He asked them, they both looked at each other and their looks agreed with one another.

"Yes please." They both agreed at the same time.

The Waiter bowed his head and he set the large bottle down, and Veronica picked it up and looked around. "I will be back with your meals shortly." He assured and walked away. The two sat at the table and Killian looked at Veronica examined the bottle. She read the name and Killian looked at it.

_Vasillias…that Cartel loves their Vineyard doesn't it_? He thought to himself, the Vasillias Cartel did not simply get to the power it had gotten to simply through crime, but it all started through vineyards and Alcohol Production. And to this day, it was the same thing that they used for seventy percent of their earnings…the best method of Money Laundering is to use a highly profitable business to get the money through.

The bottle was quite large, filled with the deep red substance, but the cap had an almost golden accent to it, which made it look even more valuable. It was not real gold, just paint…but sometimes people would use that to their advantage to sell a quick profit. "This craftmanship is amazing…say what you want about the Vasillias Cartel…they know how to make a mean red wine." She chuckled, and that made him chuckle as well.

"Indeed…" Killian agreed as he looked at the red wine. As he stared at it though…there was a flash of memory…a flash of blood. The amount of blood…it was horrifying…it reminded him of the amount of blood he saw when he arrived back home to find what remained of his parents…after Jackdaw attacked. But he managed to flinch them away and he looked down at the table. He softly exhaled and she did not notice, and he looked at her, luckily managed to push it away.

The smallest things…they could bring back the worst memories in seconds.

But as Veronica admires the bottle, her large eyes glance over to him, and then her expression changed. She set it down back onto the table slowly and she rested her arms down on the surface of the table. Killian looked at her as she did so, and then she finally said what was on her mind. "Okay…I guess it's time for me to say it." She said, and now his heart began to pound.

_Oh no…_

_What did I do wrong? Did I say the wrong thing?_

"I know when people lie to me, and I know your profession…if we are gonna do this, I need to know that you are going to tell me the truth. The _full_ truth. No lies…" She requested as she stared at him. He was legitimately wondering if she was going to ask that of him, simply because he was surrounded by liars. His business was hiding the truth from the world, and blending it with falsehoods…all to maintain peace.

No matter the cost.

He looked at her and he set his hands down on the table. "You know why I have to lie, don't you?" He asked her, and suddenly things felt serious, not as cute and flirty as they were earlier…but he also understood why. Her job was information gathering, so she would know a lie when she heard it.

"I do…and no matter how dark your secrets might be…I can handle it. I have seen some messed up stuff in my line of work, Killian – so trust me…if you tell me the full truth, you will have a better chance of winning my trust than someone who lies." Veronica explained.

She was strong, she stared him right into his soul, and demanded he told her the truth.

He couldn't deny her, but since she worked in Recon and Intel…if anyone knew how to keep a secret it would be her.

He simply hoped she would not ask the questions that would link to Salem…how would you explain that?

"Okay…ask away." Killian accepted her challenge and he waited to hear what the first question was. He expected it to surround the device on his chest, but instead it was about something more recent.

"Four years ago, you were at Beacon Academy when there was that attack. The public does not know but my contacts sent me whispers about a boy…a Paranoid Schizophrenic that was manipulated…like a bomb…was that you? To send a message?" Veronica asked him, he stared at her and he exhaled through his nose and looked at his scarred knuckles. He truly did not expect to be questioned like this on their first date…but at the same time…it made sense.

Veronica was far from thick, she knew he was a dangerous man.

"Yes. And I regret that decision to this day, it may have helped get the message across but too many innocents lost their lives. It was not controlled." Killian explained, and Veronica nodded her head.

"And what about the Huntsmen and Huntresses? I may not be a huge fan of the Academies but they're still kids." She reminded and he nodded his head.

"I believed they were a necessary sacrifice…until I saw what they could do when they were united. That was what gave me the idea of banding them together under an idea that helped them more than hurt…" He explained and she nodded her head, understanding what he was leading up to.

"The Vytal Consensus." Veronica deduced as she listened to him explain himself. "I get that…but was it worth what you did?" She asked him, and Killian looked right back at her.

"No." He revealed. "What I did was wrong, and if I could go back and change it I would. Perhaps this operation I am on, it wouldn't have happened. But I cannot go back and change past decisions…all I can do is make sure that the world believes the lie, sometimes a good lie can help people sleep at night." Killian explained, and Veronica could not argue with that logic.

"You're right about that…I remember coming across a village that was terrified of being attacked by Grimm, and they were right. They were near…but we lied to them and told them that the Grimm were gone." Veronica explained as she looked at the reflection of her face in the glass. She saw herself…when she was younger and wearing her Guerrilla Warfare clothes and face paint.

"What did you do?" He asked her, she looked at him and she sighed.

"We told them this lie, and they all slept soundly in the night…when the Grimm came for them…we took them out silently. When they woke, the Grimm were gone. Our lie was a lie…but it saved them." Veronica explained, and Killian nodded his head.

"But mine…did not. Not yet." Killian said as he stared out. "That is my sin…my biggest failing…until my goal has been achieved, I will keep lying. Keep controlling the truth, like the clay in a child's hand. One day my sculpture will be complete…but before it is…I will have to destroy it to start again." Killian explained almost poetically, it gave Veronica chills. She was able to read people just as well as Killian could, and she could tell how dangerous he was…yet that did not scare her.

Because he was telling the truth.

"My mother always told me that I had a poor taste in men…I fell in love with men who were dangerous. A soldier from the White Fang…a War Lord once…I guess maybe if you keep on showing your honesty, you could stand out from the others." Veronica said to him, and Killian felt…confused by that statement. He couldn't tell if she was saying she liked him, or if she should walk away right now.

Killian could tell that she was about to ask him another question, so he asked her to. "Would you like to ask me another question?" He asked her curiously, and she nodded her head in agreement. She leant back into her chair and she took a sip…then an idea hit her.

"Alright…why don't we make this a game?" She asked him. "Every time you tell me the truth, I drink. Every time I tell the truth, you do the same." She suggested, and they both looked at the bottle of wine.

"Wanna see what's at the bottom?" He asked her and she laughed.

"Maybe there's gold." She guessed, then they clinked their glasses together and both took a sip and set the glasses down. "Okay then…we've both told our truths…here's the next question…Where did you start in your career?" She asked him. This one was far less invasive and relying of the truth than the last one was, and he felt more comfortable with this truth.

"Valerian Marine Corps. I was just a private at the start, a kid who wanted to fight against the terrible people. I built up my name over time and my skills…travelled up the hierarchy, I was invited to join the R.S.T.F, but I also was given a chance to join the Black Gallows. In time…I became the second in command…but when the last leader died…here I am." Killian explained to her, and it was surprising to her how simple it was.

No murder, no betrayal…simple working up the hierarchy.

Veronica sipped her glass of red wine and she shook the alcoholic sensation from her body and she looked at him and sighed. "Go on…what do you wanna know?" She asked him, so he thought of a question. He did not want to jump straight to the leg, since he already knew it was because of a I.E.D, and the Huntsmen that were with them just ditched her.

The question popped into his mind.

"Most memorable mission?" He asked her curiously, she pondered through her memories and managed to pluck one of them out.

"Hmm…yeah I got one." She began and she started to talk about it. "Back when I was on Recon Duty with my team, we were ordered to gather intel on a Rogue Huntsman from Vacuo. He was a murderer, a bit like this Jack the Ripper, but he preferred to set people on fire. He burned so many people with his semblance so we tracked him down to this old house…and I'll never forget what it was that we all saw." Veronica explained to him as she pictured it all in her head. "He was sat outside his house…and he was just waving at us. Waiting for us to come find him…turned out the guy wanted to send a message. To show that he was…strong enough to scare the whole world. To burn entire cities to the ground if he wanted to…he just wanted to be remembered." Veronica explained and Killian looked at her.

"What did you do?" He asked her.

"I took the shot." She told him, she was using a sniper rifle and killed him in a single shot. "We were going to bring his body back to be buried…but my Commanding Officer just told us to leave him there. A sandstorm came the next day…it swallowed him and his house. Nobody ever remembered him…he never got what he wanted. I'll never forget that mission…I don't know what it was, I had already seen terrible murders, that was not the thing that was out of the ordinary. No…it was the fact he was waiting."

"It was justice." Killian said to her, but she did not seem to be so confident in that idea.

"I don't know…I never gave him the chance to tell his side of the story. I don't know if I should have used a knock-out round…I just shot him." She said with the shrug of her shoulders.

It would have seemed like for any other date, it was going rather weirdly, but in fact for the two of them, this was going better than either expected. They were comfortable enough to open up to each other about their past, about their missions and work…about everything. "He didn't hurt anyone else…you did the right thing." Killian told her, she looked at him and she still did not know. But she appreciated his supportiveness, that was something else she found very attractive about him…he was not just honest but he truly listened to every word she said.

Killian drank more of his wine after she finished telling her story. They gazed at each other, but before she could even ask…the Waiter returned with they delicious Spaghetti Bolognese dishes. Beautifully presented with mouth watering tomato and beef mincemeat atop the freshly made pasta. "Here are your meals, Sir and Madame." The Waiter spoke to them kindly, and they smiled and picked up their cutlery and thanked him.

They decided to pause their game whilst they enjoyed their dinner, which was also extremely delightful. When they finished up, and their dishes were taken away, they continued with the game…which lead to Veronica asking her next question.

She looked at him, and then she reached over to him…and her finger touched the metal device attached to his chest. He looked at her finger and then at her again, he was wondering when she was going to ask that question. "What is that? And how did you get it?" She asked him curiously, he told her that it was a respirator but he did not go into detail. Killian stared at the device and he sighed, reached over to his glass and he drank all the wine in it. It surprised Veronica, because that was the first time he did that.

He set the glass and exhaled through his nose. "Alright…where to begin?" He asked her and he finally started to tell her the story.

"The device is a Magnetic Respirator, very rare since my condition is pretty unique in itself. The magnets inside of the respirator keep the disease in my body from killing me, and it also pumps in Painkillers from time to time…the pain still is there from the internal damage done to me." Killian explained to her, and Veronica's eyes were wide with surprise, and she just wanted to know more. She drank more of her wine and asked another question, since it was still in the main topic of the device, it counted.

"How did it happen?" She asked him, with concern in her voice.

"Have you ever heard of _Grave Dust_?" He asked her curiously, something that was a current problem too, since Jackdaw was using this dust to forge his weapons through the 3-D Printers inside of his cybernetic arms.

"Yeah, nano-tech designed to wipe out large legions of enemies, right?" She asked and he nodded his head.

"Well it didn't start that way. The stuff was originally designed for medicinal use, to get into the body and patch up wounds that normal tools could not get to. To cure diseases, and countless other things. But as we know it now, things changed." Killian explained, he leant forward and pressed his arms against the table as he told the story. "Many years ago, back when I was a soldier who worked for the Black Gallows, before I became the leader…we were sent after a Scientist who was messing with things extremely dangerous. Weaponized cybernetics…Artificial Intelligence…and most recently, Nano-Tech." Killian explained to her as he remembered it all.

She listened to every word, just as he did for her.

"We managed to track the Atlesian down to an old facility of ours in the middle of the Atlesian Wildlands…we lost many soldiers on the way there, but we got inside. He had countless traps waiting for us, but when we got to where his signal was…it was just an empty chamber. He then pumped this modified Grave Dust inside of the cell…and the Grave Dust…it got inside of all of us. I watched my friends crumble away into dust in front of me…but they did not feel a thing. They screamed in fear as they watched their bodies die…but they did not even feel it." Killian explained, which truly summed up how scary the nature of Grave Dust truly was.

"By the gods…" She gasped.

"I nearly suffered the same fate, if it wasn't for the magnetic cells that were inside of the box we brought with us to try and shut down the nanites…I would be dead right now. But enough got inside of my body to kill me…I hugged those magnets for two days straight when I waited for backup. They arrived eventually, and they captured the scientist, and carried me back to the Shadow of Broken Promises. Our head crafter managed to create this Respirator, the magnets I hugged to my chest are still inside there now…still keeping me alive to this day." Killian explained to her, and her eyes were wide with disbelief.

She could see the pain in his eyes, he watched his team die horrible deaths…and he didn't. There was no worse feeling in the world.

_Why not me? Why did they have to die in my place?_

"You can't take it off, can you?" She asked him, and he shook his head.

"If it breaks or it comes off for more than ten seconds…I'm dead." Killian told her, and that truly did set the tone for his life expectancy.

Don't mess with Nano-Tech.

"I'm so sorry." She apologised. "What happened to the scientist?" She asked him, and Killian scoffed.

"My Superior hired him." He revealed, and her eyes widened with disbelief and disgust. "His name was Arthur Watts."

Veronica stared at Killian with awe of his story, and she could tell from his glassy eyes that it meant that it was a very personal story he told very few individuals. "Now…may I ask you a question?" Killian asked her, and she looked at him curiously. Now it was his turn to show his rather unnerving side, since she did the same with him earlier. "Why did you bring that pistol in your bag?" He asked her, and she looked right back at him. She exhales and reached down to her back and removed the gun, and set it down on the table.

It was an impressive looking firearm with floral patterns across the barrel in many colours. He held it in his hands and looked at her. "Did you think you were going to need it? That I was going to hurt you?" He asked her, and she gave him the honest truth.

"I wanted to know who I had a date with…if I was in danger, I would rather be cautious than stupid." Veronica stated as she looked at it, and then she moved her dress aside to reveal a sheathed dagger on her prosthetic calve.

"Smart…" Killian said and he set the gun down on the table. "People like us have to be smart in our line of work…so…do you think I would hurt you? Am I a danger to you?" He asked her.

Her response was simple.

She suddenly leant across the table, held him by his cheek and kissed him very affectionately on his lips. They both inhaled as they held each other, and when they broke the kiss they were breathless. It shocked Killian to say the least. "No…you've impressed me, Nathaniel Killian. You didn't lie once." She whispered softly to him. "But I am curious…there is one more question."

"And that is?" Killian asked her.

"Now that you are the leader…what happened to Arthur Watts?" She asked him.

"My superior demands he be kept alive." She raised a brow, since she thought that he was in charge.

"I…I thought you were in command." She asked.

"I am…but…"

He sighed.

"…we all work for someone."

He closed his eyes…

And he could see her face, and he felt such shame.

Shame that he worked – for Salem.

* * *

**Author Note: Learned a lot about both Killian and Veronica, I love delving into the minds of villains, especially ones with inner conflicts. And now we know the mystery behind his respirator...and who caused him to need it.**

**Arthur Watts...you evil bastard.**

**Sorry for the shorter chapter, felt though this deserved to be its own chapter.**

**Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**\- Matt**


	18. Memories of Kaldararr

**Chapter 17 – Memories of Kaldararr**

* * *

**Salem**

* * *

It was an extremely unnerving place, Salem's Sanctum.

She stood atop the cliff that overlooked her domain, where Darkness Reigned and the Grimm walked the surface. Giant pools of black tar bubbled and flowed into rivers, large lakes that gave birth to horrific nightmares. Nevermores glided around the spiked summits as they screech, slashed their claws and launched their feathers down into the weaker Grimm below. Older forms that were out of date, and thus were being destroyed, devoured and returned to the pools of blackness.

Packs of Beowulves stalked the land, and Salem watched them all walk around. She held her hands behind her back as she stared out at the land, her red eyes glows bright inside of her black scleras. Her white hair was formed into the shape of a large spider with eight legs, the jewels dangled from the limbs of hair, she exhaled through her nose as she saw it all. It was…beautiful to her…Creation and Destruction intertwined. Uncertain of which was which, monsters born from the very thing that would destroy all life.

She would stand here for days on end sometimes, just admiring her work, staring at the huge spires of purple crystals that stood tall.

But she did not have that honour today, she turned when she heard the sound of her ally and friend's voice behind her. Doctor Arthur Watts stood behind her, the man who gave Killian the condition he suffered with every single day that passed by. He too had his arms behind his back, in which Salem changed her pose and her hands came together before her stomach. "Your Grace." Watts greeted as he bowed his head respectfully.

"Doctor. I pray you bring news?" Salem asked him, since he was one of her Master of Whisperers. Killian too had his little birds out there, but Watts had a further reach in the Criminal Underworld, whereas Killian had the Militaries and Governments under view.

"I do, your Grace. You see I sent out my little birds to bring me information based on the whereabouts of our foes." Watts explained, Salem walked down the stone steps towards the Disgraced Atlesian Scientist who stood before her.

"And? What song have your Little Birds sung about?" Salem inquired as she approached him.

"Ruby Rose and her companions are in Vacuo, alongside Jaune Arc and his followers. Killian has kept me informed on Jaune's whereabouts, he has not located Ruby Rose yet, but he is closer than he thinks." Watts explained to Salem and she nodded her head, and she calmly walked around the terrain outside of her large Castle. "I have already informed Hazel of this information, his mission has already been completed. Once he is out of their Headquarters with the Target, they have orders to attack them. Either sides, it does not matter really." Watts shrugged his shoulders.

"Good, we must make sure that Jaune Arc's capture is handled correctly. The Praetorian Knight was unable to capture him four years ago…we must be smart about this, if Killian's Plan is to work. With the world on our side…they could simply give him to us." Salem stated with a smirk and she closed her fist with scheming intent.

"Indeed, however there are still many people out there that oppose Killian. The Black Gallows have dealt with a few of them already, they have disappeared and erased so easily that it would be hard to notice they ever existed in the first place. But the Huntsmen and Huntresses are not the only problem, there are many more out there in the world. Entire Groups have started against him, even the White Fang seem to have some pull against them as well. Their place four years ago when they helped stop the Black Smog probably was enough reason for them to stand against Killian." Watts explained as he and Salem walked back into the castle.

They both sat down at the table and they looked at each other, Salem sighed and nodded her head. "Sometimes I think it would be easier to just destroy the Kingdoms." Watts stated.

"That is not my goal, Arthur. I have my own mission, yes…but I do not want to destroy this world along the way. I want it to be free from the corruption that harms it, and I want it's people to be strong and ruled properly. Not as they are by these selfish politicians." Salem scoffed as she sat there, and Watts nodded his head.

"I understand, Your Grace. You will lead this people into a better future, one they will be grateful for…it can just be so infuriating to watch and listen to these politicians complain with each other." Watts groaned as he rubbed his eyes with his hands, which made Salem chuckle. The amount of stories he must have heard of the Politicians and all their dealings must have exhausted the man in his search for a way into the Government so Salem's Return to power could be handled easily.

She slowly was gaining followers, but their goal was to infiltrate the Government with her own followers that serve her, like Watts, and once they were all that remained…the world would easily adapt to a new world order, and nobody would ever dare to stop it from happening. "Your Grace…about Killian…can I be honest with you?" He asked her, she leant back into her throne.

"Of course, you always have my ear, old friend." Salem assured.

"Well, I worry for Killian's mental health, Your Grace. He is delusional, I have witnessed his dance between choices and ideas. He goes from believing your Rule is absolute and then he switches immediately to doubting you. Not only does his loyalty stand in question, but I fear more for his mind…I have studied Human Nature and Behaviour and I have come to a conclusion." Watts explained to Salem, and she just listened to him. He was one of the smartest men she knew, so his opinions and theories were always worth listening to. "The mind…"

He pulled out a piece of string and he slowly pulled both ends away from one another to the point of which it tightens. "…think of it as a string. When a person has two ideologies that oppose one another…the mind is pulled apart…over and over again. But eventually…that rope will snap." He pulled the string apart in one sudden yank and it broke in half, and he dropped it. "I fear this will happen to Killian…and if he does, it will cause major problems. He has earned quite a name among the people of Remnant now, if he loses his mind and snaps…it could all collapse and the world would fall into chaos." Watts explained to Salem, and she understood what he was saying.

Killian's divided opinions could end up tearing him apart.

"You never did trust him at first…but now you seem more concerned than ever. Why is this?" Salem asked and Watts suddenly pulled out a photograph and set it down on the table. It was a shot of both Killian and Veronica back at the Veteran's Home mere hours ago.

"I received this image. He has been speaking with this woman more and more lately. She is no real threat to our cause and does not seem to be effecting his opinion on standing with us, if anything she strengthens it, she believes he is right to stand against the Huntsmen, but he fears that if she learns of you…it could tear her away from him...or…if the world knows of her…his enemies could assassinate her. He loves her…if he loses her that could make the snap even worse." Watts explained to her and she nodded her head.

"What is it that you propose that we do about this concern?" Salem asked him.

"Well we cannot…remove her…anymore. She loves him and he loves her, the two of them are probably together right now. I believe we need him to know that we will protect her, if he knows she is safe, that will not only restore his faith in our cause…but he will also have someone to turn to…someone who can help him stay focused on the task at hand." Watts explained and Salem nodded her head.

"It would indeed maintain his strength on our side, keeping her safe could also show the world that my intentions for them is not annihilation." Salem stated as she nodded her head. Watts agreed as he sat there, Salem glanced at him and she could tell that there was more on his mind, more news…she prayed it was good news.

"What other information have you heard, Arthur?" Salem inquired.

"Well…as it turns out I have learned something very curious, Your Grace. My Little Birds have informed me that amongst Raven Branwen's Tribe that took in Ruby Rose and those who follow her…Cinder Fall is among them." That name caught Salem's attention and she turned her head with widened eyes. She looked right at her friend and raised a brow with shared curiosity with her.

"So she is indeed alive?" Salem realised.

"Yes, and now serving _against_ us." Watts revealed, Salem clenched her hand into a fist and she gritted her teeth. Nothing angered her more than betrayal, even from someone who had failed her.

"This will be a problem, she is the Fall Maiden, that gives our enemies a great deal of power against our cause." Salem stated with her resentment.

"Indeed…however…if we kill her and make sure that the power goes to someone on our side…that could prove very useful for our cause." Watts stated.

"And who would you suggest? I cannot take the Maiden Powers, the Darkness has corrupted my ability to accept the gift." Salem explained as she looked at her pale hand.

"We have two women now who could help us. Emerald Sustrai for starters…nobody could deny that power. But we also have this…Veronica. If she became closer, and joined our cause…we could promise her power, alongside the regeneration of her leg." Watts explained as he pushed the picture of her towards Salem. She picked up the image and she looked at the old Prosthetic Leg.

"People will always follow those who will grant them what they desire most…the hearts of mankind…are easily swayed." Salem said and Watts nodded his head. "Very good Arthur, we shall see how the events pan out, do you have anything else?" She asked him.

"No, Your Grace. I will keep listening to what my Spies bring me." Watts said to her, and he got up to walk away…but before he left he paused and he looked back at her. "Actually…there is something I would like to show you. I have made some progress."

She followed him into his Laboratory, and she looked around at the many things he had been working on. Cybernetic Augmentations, taken projects from Doctor Merlot, small Grimm with a Green Glow and a purple glow. But the thing that really was most interesting, was the pile of grey dust on the worktable. Salem crossed her arms as she watched Watts pull this gloves with glowing blue pieces attached to them, alongside a piece attached to the back of his head, to his neural network.

He smirked. "Watch this." Watts said to her, he sounded legitimately excited. He held up his hand and there was a soft infrasound thrum, and then suddenly the Grave Dust started to float up into the air. It swirled around his hand like some kind of cloud…until a blade formed in his hand, one he pictured in his mind. Salem was also impressed, she was used to seeing this with magic…but this was technology, that anybody could use if they had the right gear.

"Impressive…" Salem softly said as she looked at the Nano-Tech.

"Grave Dust I supplied Jackdaw with. You see it can be controlled with an electronic charge, but provide one small enough that is linked to your neural point in your head? You can control it with great ease. And can form anything." Watts said as the same dust suddenly formed into an Axe, razor sharp and could cleave a Grimm's head clean off. "Or…I could use it to lift things far greater than me." Watts stated, and that dust suddenly shot away from his hand and wrapped around a table and he lifted it up like it was made out of paper, and he moved it across the room and set it down in the corner.

The Grave Dust returned to Watt's hand and it swirled constantly around him.

Salem looked at the table and turned back to Watts.

"So…what do you think?" Watts asked her curiously as the dust flowed like water around his clenched fist.

Salem smirked as she looked at him.

"Well done, Doctor Arthur Watts…you may carry on." She said to him, and Watts grinned and bowed his head.

"It would be my pleasure, Your Grace." He replied, and Salem turned away from him and walked away, and a smirk formed on her face, and her eyes glowed red.

She was getting closer to her end goal.

"They will suffer…both of them…for what they did." Salem growled as her eyes glowed red.

* * *

**Yang**

* * *

The night was still dark in Vacuo…

The Shattered Moon watched the desert like the open and broken eye of a god. Some actually believed that that was exactly what the moon was in early times. That it was the broken eye of a god, and ever since the moon broke apart, his gaze caused the Grimm to attack again, a threat he could protect Remnant from for as long as he lived. But as soon as his eye was destroyed…he was blinded…and could not see the darkness that invaded his land.

His name was once Udinos, or at least that was what the old Religions claimed…Religions of which had all gone extinct. Udinos was claimed to be a giant, the giant that created Remnant from his own flesh, his tears filled the oceans when he felt alone…and his rage would cause Volcanos to erupt and Earthquakes to shake the world apart. It was said that a darker god, a god of destruction and death attacked him and destroyed his eye to bring hell upon Remnant and its people. Of course all of this was a lie…just an idea to keep the people in the Kingdoms under their control.

Yang stood at the window and she looked out at the darkness and the moon…she leant her head up against the window, sat beside Ruby's bed. She finally helped her get some sleep, she struggled with sleeping most nights due to the nightmares she endured. She would see Neo some nights, she would feel the knife stab into her stomach, over and over again. She would see the Praetorian Knight and hear its terrifying voice…but now it was also Jackdaw Branwen. She still had never met the monstrous man, and yet he scared the daylights out of her, from the one image she ever saw of him was that recording he left behind at Beacon.

However she was finally asleep, quite peacefully too, her large silver eyes closed and silently sleeping in the bed. Yang gently caressed her cheek with her human hand, whilst the metal one was rested against the windowsill. Yang sighed as she sat there, then gasped when she heard the soft chuckle of Raven in the doorway. She turned and there she stood, with her shoulder pressed to the wall and she walked inside of their room slowly. "It's amazing…how much she looks like her mother. Like a carbon copy." Raven said as she walked in, and Yang looked at her.

"She's so beautiful…I wish she wouldn't be so hard on herself on so many things. She always would look at me and say that she wished she looked like me. But…I wanna be like her. So kind…and loving." Yang affectionately said as she gently stroked her sister's cheek. She looked back out at the Shattered Moon in the sky.

"What were you thinking about?" Raven asked her as she walked into the room.

"When I was with my team, a few years back…after the Black Smog…we received a contract in Anima. We had to destroy an Infestation of Grimm in a settlement. It was already completely wiped off the face of the planet. We just needed to avenge the people there, and when we got there we saw an old church, from a Religion long passed." Yang explained as she remembered it. There were massacred corpses everywhere, but after they cleared it out they learned about the place. "They worshipped the Moon like it was a God, and claimed that an evil God of Destruction called Surtr blinded his only eye he had…and that was what let Surtr bring the Grimm onto our shores." Yang explained as she remembered the old tale.

"I remember that one…the blood from his eye was said to birth the Silver Eyed Warriors as well, they had his gaze. I doubt it is true…but it was used to control the town." Raven explained as she remembered it, and Yang nodded her head.

"And now they're gone…just like all the other ones. It always seems to end that way for all the old Religions…do you think there are any gods out there? Watching over us?" Yang asked curiously, and Raven stood by the window with Yang, they both listened to the Desert Night Breeze outside.

"I don't know…I've never heard them answer my prayers…well…except once." Raven explained when she looked at her daughter. Yang raised her brow at her mother.

"What did you pray for?" She asked.

"When you were a baby…you came down with the fever…this was before I ran, before I saw Jackdaw outside of our window. You were crying constantly, you were in so much pain…Tai didn't know what to do…Qrow felt like it was his fault for touching your cheek one time, because of his bad luck. So one night, I started to pray for you. I prayed that you would recover, that you would not hurt anymore…I said I would do anything." Raven explained, she remembered it all so perfectly, and she closed her eyes with a sigh.

Yang stared at her mother, she never imagined her mother ever being there for her…ever being a mother in any kind of way. "Well…I'm here…so I'm guessing I recovered." Yang assumed and that made Raven chuckle.

"Yes…you did. The next morning the whole fever was gone, and you were giggling…" Raven explained. "I was so happy…until I looked out the window." She said, and Yang's eyes widened.

"That was the day that you left me?" Yang asked with disbelief.

"Jackdaw was there, I know my brother's Corvid Form like the back of my hand. The fact he was there, it scared the hell out of me. The last I saw of him he butchered so many people…and then he disappeared for years…ten years or something like that. Then five years later…he killed Summer. And now…sixteen years later…he has returned." Raven explained and her voice was shaking.

"You're afraid of him…" Yang said.

"Of course I'm afraid of him. Qrow was always driven by his hatred against him, but I am so scared of him…it was why I ran. He was always the most violent of the three of us, so when I saw him again, could you blame me for running?" Raven asked her, and Yang scoffed.

"Oh I dunno…maybe if you were there things would be better." Yang stated as she crossed her arms over her chest and she kept staring out at the land.

"Maybe…but I cannot change that now. Hmph…I see that Summer's personality definitely rubbed off on you, just like Tai's." Raven chuckled.

"Summer?" Yang asked her curiously.

"Oh yeah, she was always very sweet but by the Gods…she had a fire in her. Get on her bad side and she would devastate you a thousand times over…it reminds me of one of the first times I ever got into an argument with her." Raven remembered as she sat down on Yang's bed opposite from Ruby's. Yang sat down on the edge of Ruby's, they spoke softly so then they did not wake her up, but very little would ever wake her, she was a deep sleeper.

"Summer? Arguing? I can't ever imagine that…she always seemed so sweet." Yang stated from what she could remember of the five years she spent with her as a mother.

"Oh yeah, she could kill a Grimm with her arguing skills alone." Raven chuckled. "When we were students at Beacon, she and I got into this stupid fight…over a book. I disagreed with something she liked in it, and she tried to explain why she liked it…but then I kept being an asshole to her about it. Called her stupid…said she wasn't smart…" Raven still felt guilt for being the way she was to Summer. "Then she exploded on me…it shocked me…she was always so soft spoken and kind, and when I saw the anger that was in her…she vented everything to me. Did you know about her parents?" Raven asked Yang, and she shook her head.

"No…Dad never told me about them, and I was too young for me to remember if she ever did." Yang stated, but she was worried now. She never wanted to believe that her mother had bad parents, but from the way that Raven had set up the story it was clear to her that this was where the story was going.

"She told me that her mother and father were both very horrible people, they would hurt her every single chance they had. Simply because they could…and when she was offered a place at Beacon Academy thanks to Ozpin, he made sure that they took her in early. All so then her parents wouldn't hurt her again…although I think it was to do with her eyes as well." Raven explained.

"What happened to her parents?" Yang asked with worry.

"After Summer died…they came to Tai's house…when he was depressed…over and over again. They wanted to take you away…I guess so they could do the same. Or so they could collect money from their daughter's death…I don't know…I didn't ask." Raven explained, Yang paused and she gave Raven a stare of disbelief.

She did not even have to say it, but Yang had to ask. "Did you…kill them?" Yang asked, and Raven stared at her rather coldly.

"They never should have hurt my best friend…and I'd be damned if I let them take you and Ruby too." Raven snarled.

"So…you…took away our grandparents?" She asked her, and Raven stared at her.

"Trust me, you would have never wanted them for Grandparents. They were cruel, and never would have deserved your love. They wanted to take you away and claim compensation left for Tai and the family for her death." Raven explained, Yang was not sure of how she felt about it. It comforted her, since Taiyang was struggling with his depression extremely badly then, he had just lost his wife that he loved with all his heart. Raven stopped them from making it worse by taking the money he needed but never wanted away from him, money he needed to raise his two daughters.

But at the same time…who was she to decide?

It was hard to choose, but eventually she did make a decision of where she stood on this. And it was with Raven, she was in the right to do so, despite the fact she took matters into her own hands…it saved Taiyang from his own demons. It scared Yang slightly, but at the same time it made her feel…almost comforted. "I guess you were there for us after all." Yang stated.

"They got what they deserved…I just wished I could go back in time…so then Summer would never have had to endure the childhood she did. It was why I admired her so much…despite everything, she did not become like her parents. She was kind, loving and just wanted others to be happy. Just like your sister." Raven said, she got up and she walked over to Ruby's bedside. She crouched down and looked at her as she slept. For a split second she truly saw Summer. "She even sleeps like her mother…I bet she probably likes to wake you all up the same way. Pulling the curtains open suddenly and singing at you until you were awake? I nearly killed her because of that once." Raven chuckled.

Yang looked at her and laughed. "Yep…she does the same thing. Weiss froze her once just to shut her up…didn't stop her though." Yang giggled.

"Sounds like Summer too." Raven chuckled. The two of them laughed, it felt good for both of them, to really feel like they were bonding. And they were, Yang was starting to see her mother for who she truly was. Ironically, she saw a lot of both Weiss and Blake in Raven. Blake was always the one who struggled to show her emotions to people, like Raven, and Weiss was always extremely grumpy and mean with Ruby in the early days, much like Raven was with Summer.

Raven looked at her arm, saw the metal plates that shifted and she touched it gently, and Yang flinched. "I'm sorry I wasn't there…I heard the attack and I was on my way to try and help. Even though I said that I would only save you once…but I couldn't leave you. But by the time I got to Vale…I saw the light. It reminded me of Summer…and I knew it was Ruby. She had the same eyes as her…then I saw Cinder falling from the tower. So I caught her with one of my portals…" Raven explained, and Yang stared at her mother.

"Why? Why did you save her? She killed Penny and nearly killed Pyrrha." Yang questioned, so Raven gave her an answer.

"Well, at first I caught her because I wanted to sell her for ransom. I wasn't sure if Vale had anyone left, it looked like the whole Kingdom fell, so I kept a hold of her until one of the Kingdoms offered the best price for her head. But after a while of talking with her, I learned she was the new Fall Maiden…and she would prove more useful if she worked for me. That…and…well, she was hiding from…Salem." Raven explained, and Yang stared at her mother with fear.

"Salem…Ironwood talked about her when the Black Smog attacked us…he told us afterwards that she is some kind of entity that leads the Grimm. Do you know more? Who is she?" Yang asked Raven, she looked at her and her breath turned shaken.

"Who is Salem…huh…I wish I knew all the answers to that one. Ozpin had Qrow and I spy on her for a while, even after I left the family behind…but the things I found scared me half to death. I know she's Human…or at least she was…I don't rightfully know what the hell happened to her. But I know she is the most powerful thing on Remnant, and I've seen her command legions of Grimm." Raven explained, she still remembered a haunting sight when she spied on her.

"I remember once…I watched Salem marching an Army of Grimm through a destroyed region, in a cursed land…there were so many Grimm that the smoke flowed through the whole land. And she saw me…I was in my Corvid Form and she stared me straight in the eyes, and she smirked. I flew off, it took me weeks to lose the Grimm that searched for me. When I went to spy on her again…I saw her decimate a city. Have you heard of the Collapse of Kaldararr?" Raven asked her.

"Yeah…a Vacuo City that tried to become it's own Kingdom, not that far from here…but now it's all gone." Yang remembered.

"There were over three hundred thousand people there…and I watched as the city was swarmed by them from all sides. Their Huntsmen and Huntresses, their soldiers were wiped out in seconds. I watched from a distance…and they could not stop them, could not even lay a mark on her. Anybody that got close to her or even managed to land a hit did nothing at all, I saw swords cut through her, cannons would rip her body to shreds…blown up by bombs…but no matter what she kept on coming. It took her an hour…an hour…to wipe Kaldararr off the face of Remnant. I'll never forget the howling screams of the people being eaten alive…and when the last people died…there was silence. Nothing more…" Raven explained.

Yang was silent with fear.

"That…is Salem." Raven told her. "After I saw that city fall…I told Ozpin that I did not want to fight for him again…I could not watch Salem ever again…not after that. And he let me go…I told him I was sorry, and I thanked him for the second chance he offered me, but I failed him. I failed all of you, because I was afraid." Raven explained, she sat down and pressed her back against the radiator as she sighed.

Yang looked at her and she did something she never thought she would do for Raven Branwen.

She reached over and gently squeezed her mother's shoulder. "You haven't failed…not yet…because you're here. It will take me time to truly forgive you for everything…but I believe in trying. I believe this can be made right, and after Jackdaw is killed…we will stop Salem." Yang promised, Raven looked at her and she chuckled.

"You're braver than me." Raven said. "How aren't you scared?"

"Oh I am…I really am…but I ran and hid from what happened to my arm…I'm done running now." Yang stated as she looked at Raven. Her mother smiled and she truly looked so proud of her daughter.

"I am proud of you, Yang. I know we have our differences, and I know we will have many arguments in the future…but I am proud you have grown up into the person you are today." Raven said to her daughter, and it made Yang smile too. She never realised how much she just needed someone to tell them that.

That they were proud of her.

"Speaking of Jackdaw…what should we get tomorrow? We're heading to Anima, right?" Yang asked her mother curiously, and Raven cleared her throat. It was time they changed the subject, they were as bad as each other when it came down to opening up about their feelings to people.

"Right, yes…remember to go into the Marketplace. Buy some ammo and Winter Gear, we already have some at the Camp, but if you want anything…I guess stylish…make sure you get some. Just keep your heads down, if the Black Gallows aren't here yet…they will be tomorrow." Raven warned and Yang nodded her head.

What they did not know was that the other halves of their team would be with them.

Raven got up and she gently caressed her daughter's cheek. "It was good talking to you, Yang…I hope to talk again soon." Raven said to her, and Yang smiled. She did not hug her and Raven accepted that, since they had not reached that point yet.

One day though.

One day.

* * *

**Killian**

* * *

When morning broke…

Killian was still asleep in the bed of the hotel room he had rented for the night. He had many scars on his torso from his long line of duty in the military, stab wounds, bullet wounds and scars from explosions he was caught in. But the most noticeable was the scarring around the Magnetic Respirator attached to his sternum to prevent the Grave Dust from devouring his body to the point of destroying him and killing him.

In the bed next to him, snuggled up to his side with her head resting on his chest was Veronica. Both were completely unclothed after their romantic night together. It went extremely well indeed, and she had a few scars as well. She had three deep ones right across her back from where an Ursa Major slashed its claws across her. It managed to cut straight through the armour plating, as if it were not even there. Her long locks of dark brown hair laid across his right arm that held her as she slept.

But as he slept…he starting to jolt and shake slightly in his sleep. He could hear it, the gunfire, the explosions…the fear of war. It was as if he was still there, and in his mind he could see it all. Battling against the Grimm that were attacking them after they fought the Poached Souls.

He grunted as he fell against the ground, a large explosion from a missile erupted right in front of him. He coughed as he reached across the soil towards his rifle, he had to keep his head down to avoid the bullets that shot through the wind over their heads. "Look out!" One of the Valerian Soldiers screamed at him. It was hard for Killian to remember a time when he was not suffering with respiratory problems due to the Grave Dust.

Killian threw himself back to the ground and he fell onto his back, and he aimed his Assault Rifle up at the Beowulf that leapt towards him with a roar. He fired repeatedly, held the trigger down and kept shooting until the gun went clicking. The Beowulf crumbled away into smoke around him, killed and he panted, gasping for air as he tried to get back up. One of the soldiers grabbed him by the soldier and pulled him up to his feet. "We need to fall –!" He did not even finish the sentence, when a bullet suddenly shot into the side of his head, the impact blasted his brains from the other side, and his eyes turned lifeless. He collapsed down onto the ground, and Killian stumbled and collapsed back into the mud again.

He slipped across the mud as he tried to get up, and he started to sprint as fast as he could, his lung hurt from the fatigue he felt, and he fell down into the grass on the other side. He nearly went straight into the open, where bullets shredded the terrain in front of him. He crawled back and hid behind the destroyed truck he was in. "WHERE'S THE DAMN REINFORCEMENTS?" Killian bellowed at the top of his lungs, the chain of command collapsed. He was only a corporal and their Captain was killed early on. He held his rifle and he fired it repeatedly after reloading a fresh magazine into it.

"No word from Base!" The soldier called back with the radio, they were having to share ammo, whilst they also used their swords and knives to kill the Grimm that were being drawn into the battlefield. Suddenly a Creep charged into Killian's side, so hard that it knocked him down into the ground, winded him and made him cough up his blood. He reached over and drew his knife and he stabbed it right into the throat of the beast. It growled and roared in agony as Killian stabbed it over and over again, his black blood splattered across his face and his arm. He pushed the knife so deep into the screeching beast's throat that his whole forearm ended up inside of its thick neck.

It faded away around him, and he turned with horror as one of his companions got grabbed by a Griffin that suddenly descended from the sky. It grabbed him and took off into the air. He shrieked in horror and Killian aimed his rifle at the Griffin and he fired, and it blew the wing apart from the shoulder. But that did not save him, they both fell and he crashed into the ground hard. He tried to get up but his leg snapped, and suddenly a pack of Beowulves swarmed him, and they ripped him apart. Dug their claws and sunk their teeth into him as he screamed at a very high pitch.

The green grass turned red from his blood and guts that sprayed across the jet black Grimm and their fur. "This is it…" Killian whimpered with fear, he leant his head against the destroyed truck and he felt the heat of the flames against his body. Until he heard the sound of the Poachers inside of the fortress being swarmed by Grimm. They did not care for who was on what side, they were all prey.

"The Grimm are in! There's a Goliath! RUN!" One of the Poachers screamed in horror, but they locked the gates. They could hear their blood curdling screams as the Grimm swarmed in and tore them all apart. Killian had to press his hands against his ears to block out the screaming.

He could still hear the screaming…

…even now.

The screams suddenly made him wake up with widened eyes, he panted as he touched his face, he could still feel the mud stuck to his face. He could feel the warmth of the flames from the destroyed truck…but it was Veronica's warm body with her arms around him. He pressed his hands against his head and he sighed, and closed his eyes. Veronica got up, she was woken up by his panic, and she gently wrapped her arms around his chest and rested her head on his shoulder "What's wrong?" She asked him with concern.

"I-I…just a bad dream…" Killian muttered as he felt the memories fade away.

"Dream or a Memory?" She asked him, end of the day she knew Post Traumatic Stress better than most due to the fact that she knew what it felt like, and the symptoms of it.

"Memory…of the Poached Souls Siege I told you about…" Killian stammered, he sighed with annoyance. "Over twenty years ago…and it still haunts me like it was yesterday." Veronica affectionately kissed his cheek and she turned him around and she looked right into his eyes.

"What was it that you remember feeling first?" She asked him curiously, he raised a brow with confusion.

"Huh?" He asked her.

"When you had the bad dream? What was the first thing you felt?" She asked him again, so he remembered, and the first thing he did remember feeling was the heat of the burning truck he had to take cover behind to survive the warfare.

"I felt…the fire…" He told her, and she held his hand and she gently pressed his hand against her chest, and he felt her warmth again.

"It might have been me…memories can be triggered from the smallest things. Sometimes it can be the sound of a pen clicking, and it can bring you back to when you has to cock a rifle. Sometimes it is smell of a burning fire…or maybe the warmth of a lover's body on you." She said and he felt her and gently pressed her head to his, and he did the same. He never felt so peaceful before, he always struggled with opening up to people in the past.

Veronica…she was something very special to him.

"I can help you…we can help each other. I know ways that help people find a way to escape our past." She whispered lovingly to him. She then kissed him passionately, her hands wrapped round the back of his neck and he held her close. She smiled and exhales.

"Okay…" He agreed, and he turned to the side of the bed and he grabbed his pants and pulled them on, before he got his trousers. He stood up and the light shined upon the scars across the body. Veronica stayed in the bed and she rested her hand against the side of her head as she seductively gazed at him. He looked at her and he chuckled. "How am I meant to get to work with you looking like that?" He asked her.

"I mean…we got an hour before work…we don't have to get changed yet." She suggested as she held out her hand.

"You're right…I would love to make love to you again…last night went really well. But…my men will get jealous soon." He said as he thought about it, but then he heard his scroll beep, so he picked it up and he looked at it.

_Sis_

_Hey bro, just so you know it's your nephew's birthday soon. If you can I'd love to see you come round, we'd love to see you again._

_You know how much my baby loves your stories._

\- _T_

He chuckled and he set his scroll down on the table and he sat down on the edge of the bed and she leant up with the covers still held to her breasts. She gently stroked his shoulder as she looked at him. "Who was that?" She asked.

"My sister, reminding me it's my Nephew's birthday soon." Killian said to her.

"You have a sister? I thought you lost your family to the Ripper?" She asked him.

"I did, but I was taken in by a Foster Family in Argus. They were very kind to me…well except for the Dad. He's a racist, homophobic and sexist asshole…pretty much all of the above. Her mom is a kind person though, I rarely ever saw the father. But they treated me as one of their own…when I was twenty my Foster Sister was born, she looks up to me as a brother." Killian explained to her, it made Veronica feel better. At least he had some kind of family growing up, losing one's parents was always a very hard thing to go through.

"They sound like nice people." She said.

"Yeah…hey next time we're in Argus, we should meet them." He suggested as he turned to her, she smiled and nodded her head.

"Yeah…I'd like that." Veronica nodded her head, before she lovingly kissed him again.

"I'm…I'm not going too fast am I?" He asked her, and it made Veronica laugh.

"Oh no, don't worry. I like that about you…it's sexy…you don't waste any time." She softly said as she kissed him again. She started to pull him down and she kissed him over and over, and he wanted to. He massaged her skin with his hands, but then they broke away and he laughed.

"I have to go to work." He said sadly, and she giggled. She threw the covers off and she got up, and she picked up her clothes and put on her bra and pants on in front of him. She reached down to her shirt and pulled it over her chest, and sat back down on the bed. Killian walked over to her and he crouched down and he gently took off her Prosthetic Leg for her so she could put the trousers on. He gently kissed her leg and she smiled and caressed his cheek.

"Little charmer, you." She giggled and she pulled her trousers over her slender leg. The other one just flopped where the knee stopped. She was still very Self-Conscious about it, so Killian kindly rolled up the trouser leg for her. It rolled up to her knee, and he reconnected the plastic leg prosthetic. "I hate the Government…I do not hate the kids at those Academies, I hate the funding differences the damn Militaries have. They only offer enough for the weapons and vehicles…but not for helping their wounded." She stated with anger, and Killian nodded his head as he walked over and picked up his white shirt.

"I know…it's the first thing I want to fix if the Vytal Consensus goes through is the funding for Veterans…the Huntsmen have High-End Cybernetics, so why can't soldiers who risk their lives?" He asked, and she nodded her head.

"We're not interested in the fame…we fight for our Kingdoms." She agreed with the nod of her head and she started to tie her long chocolate brown hair back into a ponytail. Killian buttoned up his shirt as he stood at the window. But then he slowed down and Veronica noticed his mood change and he furrowed his brow. "Nathan?" She softly said, but then he suddenly picked up the Sniper Rifle he had in the corner. It was not his, it was hers, she used it on her Recon Missions and before they had sex they were talking about the weapons they used. They were able to keep their weapons on them, since they had the authority to.

"The crowd…something's going on the Marketplace down there." Killian told her, and he aimed his rifle at the commotion. He stared through the advanced scope, and he followed the individuals that he saw.

He could see Pyrrha and Jaune sprinting and barging through the crowd…he followed the line of pursuit.

And he saw them.

Ruby and Yang, barging through the crowd to escape them.

He slowly lowered the rifle with widened eyes. "Damn…" He realised, he picked up his combat Jacket and he zipped it up, and clipped his holstered belt around his waist. "I need to go!" He told her, and held her close and he passionately kissed her and he sprinted through the door and he ran down the hallway, with Veronica looking down behind him. "All Black Gallows forces! Weiss, Blake, Winter! Pyrrha and Jaune are in pursuit with Ruby and Yang! Head to the Marketplace! NOW! Non-Lethal rounds only! Do not kill them, we need them alive!" He ordered with his bellowing voice.

It was as if he had two completely different personalities…because now…the Commander was back…but was it the monster that manipulated Jaymes Ickford four years ago?

* * *

**Jaune**

* * *

Minutes prior…

Jaune and Pyrrha both were walking through the Vacuo Marketplace together, they held hands as they looked around and curiously browsed through the different clothes that were on sale around them. But as they walked, they could see the many Holographic Posters of their faces.

Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao Long, Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren, Eryka Vasillias and Qrow Branwen.

However they really needed some updated pictures, because it was images of them from the Vytal Festival and a picture of both Qrow and Eryka that was at most ten years old. Eryka looked like a kid in her picture.

"No wonder nobody has seen them, they could have chosen some better pictures of them." Jaune chuckled as he walked with her, moving past the people that were in their way. But as they walked, they both came across a Market Stand that was selling some clothes. A smile graced Pyrrha's face and she picked up a hoodie and held it over her chest.

"Hey Jaune! Check this out!" She cooed, and that made Jaune chuckle, since it was the same Pumpkin Pete's hoodie he was wearing.

"Hey…that's familiar…" Jaune joked as he tapped his chin curiously, and it made her laugh. "Y'know I wear this thing more than you, maybe I should be the model." He said as he playfully mimicked one of her poses. "Check me out!" He wobbled and nearly fell over since he had poor balance.

"I know Pumpkin Pete's would do better with a cutie like you." She giggled, which made Jaune chuckle. They both started looking at the different clothes and Pyrrha moved one. "Hey Jaune, how about… this?"

She pulled out a hat. "Think I can pull this off?"

Jaune chuckled heartily. "You can pull off anything." He turned to the clothes rack, grabbing a flannel shirt. "Me on the other… hand."

He froze and his eyes widened. "Pyrrha…" he turned serious and she turned, and she saw them. Ruby and Yang were just noticeable through the crowd, and they were buying ammo and the winter gear that Raven suggested that they would buy. Ruby smiled to the Merchant as she handed it to her. They both started to walk towards them, but a kid suddenly ran up to Pyrrha with excitement.

"You're PYRRHA NIKOS!" The kid cheered and hugged her, her eyes widened and she turned and his voice caused the two of them to turn. Their eyes widened with disbelief of who they saw.

"J-Jaune? Pyrrha?" Yang gasped.

"How can you be here?" Ruby whimpered. Jaune looked at Pyrrha and she looked at him.

"Guys. It's us, okay?" Jaune slowly stepped closer. Every step made Ruby and Yang step back. "C'mon, don't be paranoid, it's really us."

"Just me, Jaune, Blake and Weiss." Pyrrha added slowly.

"Weiss and Blake came?!" Yang gasped. Pyrrha nodded.

"How are you here?! The-The feathers and the..." Ruby held her head.

"Yeah! The Academy! It was gonna blow if anyone else…" Yang added with fear.

"Guys!" Jaune snapped Ruby out of it. "We care about you. We're family. Now… c-come home, kay? Come home with us, before things get any worse. We can hop a train, talk about all of this, explain all of this… get back to school like… like nothing happened! " Jaune begged them.

"Like nothing happened? You just expect us to let Jackdaw escape?" Yang questioned.

"We can't…he…he killed my mom. He cannot get away with this." Ruby stated as she stared at him.

"I know…but it's not your mission, it's not your duty to go after him. Just please, come with us…we can be a family again. It's not too late to stop this." Jaune begged them desperately.

Ruby and Yang shared a look, but the moment shattered when Jaune's radio crackled.

"Head's up Arc, Nikos, Yang and Ruby were sighted in the Markets, repeat, Yang and Ruby sighted in the markets, over." The Black Gallows soldier's sharp voice snapped.

Jaune scrambled to shut the radio up, a long moment of held breaths, as their eyes locked.

And Ruby's watered as she said one last thing, with heart ache fuelling those two syllables.

"Liar."

Both Ruby and Yang turned, running as fast as they could.

"Damn it! Guys stop!" Jaune begged as he ran after her, and Pyrrha had to pull the kid off her.

"I'm sorry! I have to go!" She called to the child and she sprinted with Jaune after them, barging through the crowds.

They had been caught…

…and the Black Gallows were coming.

* * *

**Author Note - They've been spotted!**

**I really loved this chapter, the start with Salem was really cool to write and I loved writing the stuff with Raven and Yang. It really showed Salem for how terrifying she really is in this story. If you have read Knights of Grimm then you know that she is not the Main Villain in that, so it is really cool to write a version of her where she is the Big Bad. That and the development between mother and daughter was awesome.**

**Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter - Favela Pursuit**

**Matt**


	19. Favela Pursuit

**Chapter 18 – Favela Pursuit**

* * *

**Weiss**

* * *

The Vacuo temperatures did not agree to the Schnee Heiress.

Her skin already felt like it was on fire, the searing heat from the sun in the sky just seemed to cut into her body repeatedly, time after time. She rubbed her wrist across her forehead, the sweat that accumulated there washed away, but it never managed to cool her down. Blake on the other hand was more akin to the climate, due to being born and raised on Menagerie. "Gods…how did Sun live here for so long?" Weiss questioned.

"Well…his name is _Sun_. Be a bit weird if he hated the desert." Blake joked, which made Weiss laugh. The two of them walked towards the building before them, where they saw some Homeless Faunus, who ran from Atlas to find shelter from the Slavery Problems in Mantle…Weiss had heard about the Slaves that ran from Atlas and Mantle, but she never imagined that it was this serious.

However, Blake had heard of this little charity that was made for the Faunus who were on the run from the Oppressive Power of the Schnee Dust Company up North. They both entered and they looked around, the building was hardly picturesque, but it was a home. It was something where Faunus could be safe, and could acquire legal identities and passes which would protect them from the Schnee Dust Company and the soldiers that they would send out across the world to find lost slaves.

Many of them before now were never this lucky. "This is…I've never seen anything like this." Weiss gasped, she saw children were here as well. She did not know if her father had made Faunus Children work in the Dust Mines or not, but nothing would surprise her when it came to his immoral decisions.

She saw families, all of them were hiding from the cold eyes of Atlas and its government of corrupt, money hungry politicians. Blake approached a family and she smiled, the family smiled back, they immediately recognised her. Everyone heard about the Belladonna Family, the ones that helped bring peace between Humanity and the Faunus, but it was not a perfect peace. Like the Schnee Dust Company there were still other threats out there, like the White Fang. Some Faunus out there did not feel so quick to forgive the Humans for their past sins, and wanted to make sure that they felt the same pain.

She could still picture Adam's face whenever she thought of how Spite could corrupt even the best of people.

"Hello…how long have you been here at this Refugee Centre?" Blake inquired curiously, she gave them each some liens to make sure that they were happy and safe.

"We've…been hiding here from the S.D.C for about three weeks now. My husband managed to break us free from Mantle, we ran and took the first flight to Vacuo." The mother explained as she held her three year old daughter in her arms. The family were all Stag Faunus, with small antlers which protruded from their heads.

"I'm very sorry, I know things are really difficult at the moment. We have been working very hard to lessen the divide…but the Schnee Dust Company has bigger reach than us, and more people need their money and dust than they need us." Blake explained with disappointment in her voice.

"Some of the people here…not all of them were as lucky as us. There's a young woman over there, the Lioness Faunus? She had a large family when she was held at Mantle to work in the Mines…but when she and her family tried to escape, the Atlesians captured her family…and she was the only one to make it out." The Father explained, she sat there, in tears, unable to stop crying from her regret of being unable to save the one thing she ever held dear. Weiss looked at the woman, she felt that stinging pain of grief for the woman.

"It pains me to see so many good people suffering…but I promise you, we will change things. The Faunus and the Humans will one day be able to live in harmony." Blake promised.

Blake smiled sweetly, then the Husband stared straight at Weiss Schnee. The Daughter of none other than Jacques Schnee, the man that so many Faunus have learned to fear. When the family all looked at her, they shared his fear of her, the white hair and the blue eyes was enough reason to be afraid of her. Weiss felt it stab…it hurt…she never wanted anyone to be afraid of her, only her enemies, and these people were as far from being her enemies as the most distant star was to the tip of her finger.

Weiss lowered her head sadly, but then she crouched down and she gave them all a tremendous amount of Lien, not only would they be able to afford authentic and legal identities, but it could even give them a home. Their eyes bulged from their sockets with disbelief. "I'm not like my father…I want to see him out of the Schnee Dust Company just as much as you do. He's no real Schnee – he's a Gele, nothing more. Just a man from a family that came from nothing…a parasite." Weiss explained, and pretty soon everyone started to listen to her words.

Blake smiled, she never would have expected that Weiss Schnee – the once very prim and proper girl who was quite judgemental of the Faunus at first – would be here, giving so much to people she had never met before. Weiss stood up and she began to speak to everyone in the room. "I am the Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company." She began, they all listened to her words as she stood there.

"I know who I am, and I know that you all must see me as some kind of…weapon. A monster that you wait to see lurking in the shadows, ready to take you back to the hell that you just escaped from." Weiss explained to them all, she spoke with such certainty and grace. It amazed Blake as well, since she was also never much for a spokesperson, that was more for the showy people. But it was clear to her that Weiss believed in what they were trying to accomplish. "But I am not – I aim to fix the many problems that my father has created. I will not, I promise you, allow my father to continue in doing this. When I become the new Owner of the Schnee Dust Company – I promise that I will focus all my personal earnings on the betterment of Human/Faunus Relations. I will make sure that the Dust Mines will be properly maintained…and not worked on by low paid Faunus Only workers." Weiss explained.

This was always her dream, her goal in her whole life. To take her Father's place in the Schnee Dust Company, to help the world improve. To be more like Nicholas Schnee, her Grandfather, to help people every single change she had.

"I might be a Schnee, but I am also a Huntress. And it is my job to protect people, to defend those who can't defend themselves. I know you don't know me, I know you don't trust me. I will not ask you to, trust has to be earned, and it cannot only be earned through Lien." She stated, she held the lien cards in her hands and she sighed heavily. "That is why I want to help Blake Belladonna and her family, to personally help every single one of you. Because you are all kind, and good people – and deserve to live happy, and prosperous lives." Weiss explained as she lowered her hand.

Her speech, it was incredible, and the Faunus all began to give her a round of applause. Blake did the same, she clapped, and smiled, Weiss smiled back at her Faunus Friend who was so proud of her. Weiss flicked her long tail of hair over her shoulder again, and she walked over to that family, and she gently booped their child on the nose playfully. "I am going to personally fund these Refugee Centres for the Faunus…perhaps…with my donations it can help more of you lead better lives." Weiss explained as she looked at the family.

"A-Are you sure?" The mother stammered.

"Of course – not everyone was as fortunate as me, but also there were others who had better fathers." Weiss stated with a scoff. "If I do not do my part, then how will my dream for the world become a reality?" She asked them, the father smiled and he stood up, towering above the Schnee Heiress. But then he wrapped her up in a tight yet gentle hug, the warmth was more welcoming that the scorching hot Sun in the sky.

"Thank you…so much." He tenderly said to Weiss.

She beamed with joy, there was no other way to describe how she felt whenever she knew that her actions helped people. "Thank you…" He said again, more tearfully that time as well.

"You don't have to thank me – you will never have to." Weiss assured kindly, the man smiled at her, and turned to his family again. Blake walked over to Weiss with a smile on her face.

"That was a great speech, Weiss…" Blake said to her friend, Weiss blushed slightly as she smiled shyly.

"Thank you."

"You've grown a lot since we first met, you know. I remember when I first ever saw you and thought you were gonna be some kind of childish, rich-girl brat." Blake chuckled, she never even realised she was picking up the sort of colloquialisms that Sun and Yang would use all the time, like _rich-girl_.

"Gods…don't remind me." Weiss groaned as she buried her face in her hands, softly chuckled within the palms.

However, their tender moment of friendship shattered like glass when they heard the sound of their scrolls vibrating in their pockets. They pulled them out and saw that it was the Pictureless Name of Commander Killian.

They both answered and heard his commands.

"All Black Gallows forces! Weiss, Blake, Winter! Pyrrha and Jaune are in pursuit with Ruby and Yang! Head to the Marketplace! NOW! Non-Lethal rounds only! Do not kill them, we need them alive!" He ordered with his bellowing voice.

Their eyes widened with disbelief, then they both sprinted out of the Refugee Centre, headed to the coordinates that were placed on the map.

This was their best chance to stop the Rogues before the situation got any worse.

* * *

**Ruby**

* * *

Roses danced behind her as she ran as fast as she could, Yang right beside her, barging through the crowds of people in Vacuo. Some of which were simply trying to buy their groceries for the week. Ruby crashed right into one of these people, accidentally knocking their bag of goods down onto the floor. "Hey! Come on!" The man yelled.

"I'm sorry!" She apologised, but she could not stop, for right behind her were Jaune and Pyrrha. The Spartan vaulted across the crate of goods and she kept sprinting, with Jaune moving through the crowd, neither of them had taken their weapons out yet for many reasons, the main being they did not want to hurt people, whether it were their friends or the innocents in their path. Pyrrha jumped and caught onto the piece of rope that connected two of the tents together, swinging over the people, landing down on the ground behind their friends.

Jaune barged through the thick crowd, then saw them both start to make their way up the steps towards the larger, concrete and adobe buildings. Pyrrha saw a crane with a cable holding up some pallets that was in their way, so she threw the Discus Shield, which sliced straight through the metal cable that held the counterweight. Suddenly the heavy block of steel came rocketing upwards, breaking the crane apart, and dropping the many pallets that were held up in front of Ruby and Yang. They both slowed down, but they dropped down over the side, down into the street below.

Yang fired Ember Celica beneath her body, which helped propel her body up into the air, which made both Jaune and Pyrrha go round the sides to pursue the sisters. Pyrrha took the hardest path, since she was nimbler than Jaune was, and she could get round the people that were in her way. She jumped and she ran across the side of the wall to keep moving, not getting slowed down by the crowds of people that blocked her path. Jaune's was not as difficult, but he was fast as well, more athletic thanks to his training with Pyrrha.

He slid down the slope, and he charged faster and faster to try and get to Ruby and Yang, but they were still ahead of them. Ruby drew Crescent Rose and she slashed it across the rope that also held up some boxes with packets of crisps inside. It dropped down in front of Jaune, blocking his path. That was the closest he could have ever gotten to them. "Come on, guys!" Jaune yelled desperately for them to stop, but they were not about to stop. They had a mission, a duty, and they were not about to let the Black Gallows take that from them.

Yang looked up and her eyes widened when she saw Pyrrha suddenly jump down from above, and she landed down right in front of Ruby. She held her shield and blocked them from going any further, with Milo pointed at them. Jaune blocked them from the rear with his shield opened up, blocking their other exit. Ruby and Yang looked at each other, and then at Pyrrha who held her ground.

"That's enough!" Pyrrha yelled. "Just stop this…we don't have to fight." Pyrrha stated, she held her ground in the Spartan Stance, but she knew that this was not going to be enough to stop them if they chose to flee.

"We don't wanna fight you either! But we can't stop! You don't know what it's like! Either of you! You don't know how it feels to lose a mom! Not to a monster like Jackdaw." Ruby growled, she did not want to even draw Crescent Rose but her hand remained close to the grip in case if she was left no other choice but to fight her close friends. Jaune and Pyrrha looked at each other, and they felt for the two of them. Because they were right, both of them still had their parents, and that must have been why both Nora and Ren followed them.

And why Weiss and Blake also chose against the idea of following, Weiss' family may have been unsupportive bar her older sister…but she never lost them, her mother was not murdered by a psychopath.

"Please, just walk away. Go back to Beacon, Jackdaw is our responsibility, it is up to us to stop him from hurting anyone else!" Yang argued with them, but Pyrrha refused to yield.

"I understand, and I am sorry. I really am, if circumstances were different I would be helping you right now." Pyrrha stated.

"We all would." Jaune added.

"But we can't, the Vytal Consensus has more signs than not, it may as well be put in place already! Don't you understand that sometimes we have to make decisions we don't want to make for a better future?" Pyrrha questioned as she held Milo and Akoúo as tight as she could, ready to fight.

"A world controlled by Killian? Where we can't do the things we have to do? Go to the places we need to go?" Ruby questioned.

"There are Academies all across Remnant, and Huntsmen and Huntresses everywhere! Calling the nearest ones to the area will be faster and more productive than waiting an hour for them to show up!" Jaune argued, but neither of the sisters were about to accept this idea.

"Do you seriously think he won't use this to twist it against us? He tried to kill us all last time." Ruby reminded.

"I remember, we all do. But I promise you, he has changed. He does not want to kill us, it's the whole reason behind the Consensus." Pyrrha stated.

"You mean the Document he created because we caught him out? After all the people that Ozpin sent out to take his ass down mysteriously disappeared? He's solidifying his control, his reputation, across all of Remnant. Turning the people against the Academies! I can promise you, right here and now, in the future, the practice of Huntsmen will be banned. All so then he can deliver the justice he thinks is right! Who is he to make that call?" Yang questioned as she stood right in front of Pyrrha, her hands stretched out. Pyrrha looked around and noticed that people were hearing Yang's words about Killian. She heard them all begin to talk amongst themselves, they were starting to think about what she was saying.

The Black Gallows was always a feared Faction of the Military, since they would do the terrible things to keep the world from tearing itself apart. But there were plenty of people out there in the world with a hefty grudge against the Gallows…people who lost loved ones who got close to the truth.

People who could find closure…and could even help tear them down.

This could be the start of it.

Pyrrha stared back at Yang, and she narrowed her eyes, she did not know what to say to her, because her words made sense. But at the same time…Killian had more power than any of them. Whether or not she believed her words, it did not matter – they would have a better chance of securing a future for the Huntsmen if they did as they were commanded. "You're right…but we can't change anything Yang…we can just follow the flow." Pyrrha told Yang, the Sisters shook their heads in disagreement.

"You're wrong." Ruby told her, when suddenly she transformed into Rose Petals, and flew at Yang. Both red and yellow petals swirled into Pyrrha so hard that it knocked her onto the ground. They both took off sprinting away from the couple, Jaune ran to his girlfriend and checked if she was okay.

"Pyrrha! Are you alright?" He asked her with worry, Pyrrha pulled Akoúo back into her grasp with her Polarity, pushed her hand against her knee, standing tall, watching the sisters sprinting ahead of them.

"I'm fine, come on! We have to stop them!" Pyrrha shouted as she sprinted past the watching crowd, the questions and thoughts were plastered into their minds.

"C'mon, Weiss, Blake…where are you?" Jaune muttered.

Ruby looked over her shoulder to see that Pyrrha and Jaune were both still coming after them, sprinting as fast as they could. Until when she looked back forward, she gasped, her heart almost stopped after she saw Weiss and Blake at the other end of the street. To their left there was another path, one that stretched past a recent collapsed sinkhole that was secured with barricades. "Stop! Please!" Blake begged them, Yang looked at Ruby then they both headed towards the left road.

Weiss suddenly shot towards Ruby and tackled her in the side, they both crashed through the barricades, and plummeted down into the sink hole. Yang gasped, her lilac eyes widened in great fear for her baby sister. "RUBY!" She screamed, reaching her hand out for her, only for Blake to stand there, she saw her worry as well as both Weiss and Ruby fell down into the small sinkhole. It was deep, and both of them were stuck down there.

"Yang…please…we don't want to hurt you." Blake begged her partner.

"I don't wanna hurt any of you! You're my friends…you're my _best friend_! But I can't let this one stand…I can't. If it was Adam…you'd do the same thing." Yang told her, Blake stared at her, but she shook her head.

"No…I wouldn't. He's not even a thought to me anymore, he's in prison…rotting. The same will come to Jackdaw for what he did." Blake promised.

"He _was_ in prison! Many times!" Yang argued, Jaune and Pyrrha ended up around her, she was outnumbered but even now she could still challenge them. But none of them wanted it to go down that way, they were family. "He will break out again and again…he will keep spreading his violence and pain until he is dead. We can stop that!" Yang said.

"This isn't you, Yang. You're not a murderer." Jaune said to her.

"Aren't I? Deep down I wanted to kill Adam more times than I could count. I wanted to crush Neo's head for what she did to Ruby." Yang stated, there was a fire in her, a rage that she could temper…but this was not something she could extinguish. "He killed Summer…she was a mom to both of us. I loved her…I miss her, and she is gone because of _HIM_!" Yang yelled at them all, they all stared at each other, stammering to find words.

They could not argue with her logic…

Yang stared at Pyrrha and she clenched her fist. "If Jaune was at Beacon when Jackdaw attacked, or if Sun was there…you all would have gone after Jackdaw and killed him just like me! I know you would have." Yang stated, they all looked at each other and they started to stand down.

But every time that they wanted to stand down…that thought came back to them – the thought of what will happen to them if they disobey Killian. If they let them go, the situation will get even worse, for both sides. They could result in using lethal rounds against them, and that was not something they wanted to happen. "Then…come with us. Killian just wants you taken in right now, but he is not talking about Black Cells, not like Neo. He just…wants to talk." Blake begged her, but Yang scoffed.

"Talk? With Killian? You'd have better luck trying to get a conversation out of a Grimm, the bastard will just put us in the cells to cut off loose ends. I will not let that happen…not while Jackdaw is still out there." Yang stated, she looked down at where Ruby was, who looked up at her from the sinkhole.

"Run, Yang! Just go!" Ruby begged her, and Yang squeezed her eyes shut. Ruby had managed to get out of worse situations before…

…she could get out of this.

"I'm sorry." Yang apologised, she suddenly swung and grabbed Blake by her shoulders, and threw her across the road to get her out of the way. She was not about to hit her best friend, but she followed her leader's orders.

Yang sprinted away, with Blake, Pyrrha and Jaune behind her.

Down at the bottom of the sinkhole, Weiss got back up and looked at Ruby as she tried to find a way out. "Well isn't this just great?" Ruby scoffed, Weiss sighed and she rolled her huge blue eyes at her best friend.

"Well, if maybe you used just a little bit of common sense…we wouldn't be in this situation." Weiss said, Ruby stared at her and shook her head.

"You don't get it Weiss, none of you do!" Ruby yelled, she jumped up and she stabbed Crescent Rose into the wall of the sinkhole, only for the soft sand to crumble and her to fall back to the ground. It was too soft to get good grip to climb out.

It could collapse and bury them alive as well…they had to be careful.

"Damn it!" Ruby grunted angrily, she punched the ground as she got back up, looking around. "You plan on that, too?" She asked Weiss, in which she just raised her brow with an audible scoff.

"You really blame all this on me? You're the one that had to go chasing after Jackdaw on this stupid quest for revenge." Weiss said, Ruby glared at her.

"_Stupid_? He killed my mom! Killed Glynda, Ironwood, Peony, Yatsu!" Ruby argued right back.

"I know! And I grieve them all, did you not think I cared? Of course I want Jackdaw punished for what he did!" Weiss argued with anger.

"Then why did you all come after us, huh? Why did you have to join Killian in his damn cause to remove us from the world? Because ignore all his lies, that's what he wants. Deep down, I know it." Ruby explained as she pointed at Weiss.

"Why come after you? Because you're our friends! My B.F.F! Remember that?" The fact she finally called her that stung for Ruby…she always wanted Weiss to refer to her as that…but never under these circumstances. "And besides…you could have waited, could have let the Black Gallows bring him in and Killian would have let you decide his fate. Instead of going rogue and proving his damn point in the first place!"

"Screw Killian, all he cares about is power." Ruby stated with certainty in her voice.

"Look, Ruby I understand why you can't accept the Vytal Consensus, I do."

"Do ya?"

"Yeah, I do. The whole thing of controlling the missions we go on? The constant debriefs, being treated like grunts? It's not what we signed up for, being a Huntress was to protect people _our way_, not the government's. Believe me, Ruby. I know, I'm not blind."

Ruby scoffed. "You sure as hell been acting like it."

"I'm the blind one? Look in the mirror Ruby, the world is changing. We can't fight that! What happened at Beacon four years ago? The world made their own conclusions, they were already saying after the first Battle happened that Cinder caused. People are losing faith in the Academies, the Vytal Consensus will let us keep on doing what we wanted to do but with the resources the government gives us." Weiss explained to Ruby.

"Oh, and you're okay with that?" Ruby grilled.

"Why the hell wouldn't I be?" Weiss questioned. "It's a win-win for everyone involved, the Consensus gives us a stable wage instead of contracts which may or may not pay us in the end. We're able to live normal lives when not on duty, able to help people still. Do I like it's by Killian's hands, no I don't. But's what has to be done." Weiss explained to Ruby.

"And what about the people who died? The people who died because Killian threatened them? What about Ironwood? If it weren't for Ironwood Beacon would have fallen a long time ago. If it weren't for him, your sister would never have met Eryka, Beacon would be a crumbling mess and sure as hell never would have seen Yang again. You saw the state she was in, that arm he had made for her brought her back! _He _did that…or did you forget?" Ruby questioned, it was very rare that Ruby was legitimately angry, but the situation that was afoot…she could not hide it any longer.

"Of course not, I think about it every damn day since it happened." Weiss said to Ruby.

"Now, Weiss, I'm sorry that it came to this, but going after Jackdaw? It's what I have to do, I have to be the one make sure he meets justice. Not Killian, me and Yang. Qrow and Raven, Ren and Nora." Ruby explained to her.

"Revenge…and that's what you want? Revenge? Then how does that make you any less different than Neo?" Weiss questioned, which was cold to compare her to the woman who nearly murdered her four years ago. "What do you think the world will think if you kill Jackdaw out of revenge? _Huntress breaks the law to kill Jack the Ripper_? What happens then? Huh?" Weiss questioned.

"Killing him now, will ensure that he won't hurt anyone else!" Ruby erupted, but Weiss calmly disagreed.

"No – going after revenge like this will give the world the idea…that the government is a joke, and the laws mean nothing. People will start killing people…all because the Great Ruby Rose managed to defy the Black Gallows. And then? There will be chaos – maybe a second Great War…all because _you_ wanted revenge." Weiss explained.

Ruby stared at her, she knew what she was saying, and it was extremely possible. "You're not a murderer, Ruby…I know you're not. And I know you're angry and want Jackdaw to pay…but this? This is not the right way." Weiss said.

Ruby's eyes began to water, but not from anger anymore…it was more desperation. As if she really wanted Weiss to be able to change her views on this, nothing so far could do it. The only person that could do this…was Weiss.

Her _B.F.F._

"I-If…If I don't do this…If I don't stop Jackdaw, everyone who died by his hands died for nothing. If Killian gets what he wants…a world without real freedom…then that means everyone who died before all this died for nothing. Ironwood, Glynda, Oobleck, Rouge, Yatsu, my mom, Peony…" She choked up as she tried to say her name. "Penny…Penny…died for nothing." Her voice broke, she nearly broke down into tears as she thought of that horror.

Jackdaw might not have been responsible…but if she can't stop Jackdaw…where will it end?

What Huntress could she possibly be, if she cannot kill evil?

"What about the rest of us? The ones still here?" Weiss asked her, Ruby froze, and turned to face her friend. "You think that you're the only one affected by her death? By all their deaths?" Weiss asked her, she walked towards her slowly as she spoke. "Ruby…you've always asked us to have faith in you…but the truth? The truth is that you don't have enough faith in _us_." Weiss told her.

That…

…that hurt the most.

"You…you know, that's not true." Ruby shook her head.

"I'd die for you…and I'd have died for Penny. You know I would have…she was my friend too." Weiss' voice grew tender as well. "But you have to listen to me Ruby…you're chasing a future that isn't meant to be, Ruby." Weiss said.

"It's all changing Ruby…Penny, she wouldn't have wanted you to get taken away from it…she would have wanted you to change with it. She would have wanted you to be happy…and…you're not. I've never seen you like this…so angry." Weiss said as she stared at Ruby.

"You have to let this go…please…for your sake…let this go." Weiss begged her.

Ruby closed her silver eyes, and then looked up at the sky tearfully. "You're wrong…Penny never believed it was right to control things like Killian does…she just wanted everyone happy…able to do what they wanted. Because she never could…unless she was with me." Ruby tearfully said. "That…is why I can't stop, Weiss."

Weiss closed her eyes and she sighed, and leant against the wall.

"Then…go…if it means that much to you." Weiss told her, with the pain of betrayal in her voice, she formed a glyph beneath Ruby, which lifted her up into the air. Ruby was thrown from the Sink Hole and she crashed against the ground, then crawled to the edge to see Crescent Rose land next to her. She looked down at Weiss who couldn't even look at her.

"I…I never wanted any of this…I never wanted to involve you in this." Ruby tearfully told her.

Weiss stared at her, tears streamed down her face. "Maybe you should've…instead of lying…and leaving your friends behind. Because I would've followed you anywhere…if you asked me…" Weiss stated. "Even if I disagreed with you."

Ruby choked up, she closed her eyes and looked away from her. Ruby stood up and she went to leave, until she had one last thing to say. "I'm sorry…"

Weiss did not answer, and Ruby walked away to find Yang.

Leaving Weiss there with her thoughts, until she would escape herself with her glyphs.

* * *

**Qrow**

* * *

Completely unaware of what was happening, the rest of the group were together in the streets of Vacuo. Qrow walked beside his sister and Eryka was right next to him, when she suddenly stopped and her eyes widened. She sensed something was nearby, she lifted her fist and they all stopped. "What's up?" Qrow asked her, she looked around, then they looked around as well.

From thin air, the black smoke formed and swirled before them, and the Black Gallows Stockholm Troopers emerged from the void, rifles shouldered and aimed right at them.

Qrow clenched his hand into a fist as the Black Gallows surrounded them.

Raven Talons all stood there, armed to the teeth with their weapons, then from the smoke an Ebony Sabre towered above them. Piloting the huge mechanised War Suit that had powerful guns and a huge blade extended from the arm. Eryka glanced and she noticed the glint of a scope atop one of the buildings from one of the Onyx Consul Marksman, ready to take the shot. Qrow stared at the Raven Talon that walked towards him with the rifle aimed at his head, whilst the other Talons started to make sure the civilians got out of the area.

"Qrow Branwen – you are under arrest for defying the orders of Commander Killian. We have warrants for Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren, Eryka Vasillias, Yang Xiao Long and Ruby Rose. The rest…are Bandits, already wanted. Surrender now and you will be taken alive – we would rather not risk bloodshed." The Raven Talon demanded, but Qrow scoffed as he clenched his ringed fingers into a fist.

"Arresting us? Warrants? Last I checked the Vytal Consensus wasn't finalised yet, you don't have any control over what we do yet. Calm yourselves down." Qrow advised.

"Killian's commands are my commands, come with us…or this gets violent." The Raven Talon demanded, there was no use trying to convince Stockholm Troopers to let them pass – they were more machine than people anyway. The Ebony Sabre aimed its huge machine gun at them all, ready to fire on command. Qrow looked at Eryka and nodded, she smirked, then just whistled.

Dulcis suddenly dived down from the sky and slashed his talons across the back of the Ebony Sabre's neck, severing one of the cables that cut the vision. The Ebony Sabre yelled in confusion as he tried to reboot the systems, which was when Qrow made the next move. He punched the Raven Talon in the face, so hard he was knocked down to the ground. He drew Harbinger and glared at the others, whilst Raven drew her Odachi. Oscar's chained Hammers extended from his gauntlets as he swung them round and launched one forward, colliding into the chest of the other Raven Talon.

Valravn stood motionlessly as he waited to make his move, when he slowly drew his duel Sickles to battle against the Corrupt Military Force against them. The Onyx Consul watched from afar and was about to take the shot, when Dulcis screeched and started to harass him, slashing his claws across his helmet, annoying him so he could not take the shot. The others all drew their weapons, and Nora pulled Stormur Skeggox from her back, pink lightning coursed across the head of her axe and her body. She grinned, and charged towards the Ebony Sabre.

It's optics returned as it rerouted the power, and caught Nora by the throat with its huge metal hand, and slammed her down into the ground. She grunted and wiggled her way out of its grasp, it was not as huge as a Paladin, but was much faster. It spun round and unleashed a storm of dust bullets towards her, which she avoided with her great speed. Ren sprinted at one of the Raven Talons and he jumped, kicking the soldier repeatedly as he hovered in the air. He landed and slashed Stormflower across the armoured wrists the soldier had. He kicked Ren in the chest so hard it sent him tumbling back, then the red optics in the helmet of the Black Gallows soldier focused on him, and he aimed his Rifle at him. The soldier fired repeatedly at him, but Ren was much quicker than he was at aiming.

He jumped, rolled and slid to avoid the bullets, luckily the civilians had cleared the area so they could fire as many rounds off as they wanted. Ren slid towards one of the abandoned cars and he pulled the door open, using it as a shield. He nodded at Raven, who opened a portal beneath him, and the other side opened above him. Ren dived down towards the soldier and landed on his shoulders. He punched the soldier in the head quite hard, then wrapped his legs around his neck and brought him down to the ground. The soldier growled with anger, as he punched Ren in the side, until Ren picked up a wrench that fell from a mechanic's table, and swung it into the side of his head.

That definitely knocked him out.

Oscar on the other hand was raised by Bandits, which meant he did not care for keeping people alive, he charged towards the soldiers who stood before him. The soldier's armoured gauntlets opened up and long electrified whips emerged. Oscar slammed his hammers down into the ground, which created powerful seismic waves that caused the soldiers to stagger. But one of them managed to slash his whip towards Oscar. He rolled out of the way and watched as the whip cleaved one of the cars left behind in half, burning the steel and melting it down.

Oscar launched one of the hammers forward, connected to his gauntlet by a long chain, it smashed into the armoured chest piece of the soldier, shattering it from the impact. The Raven Talon fell back to the ground, whilst the other one started to slash the Whips at him repeatedly, slashing the ground apart with every single attack. Smoke rose from the charred scars in the tarmac road, he jumped and wrapped his chained hammer around the throat of the soldier and twisted round, stopping the bullet that came his way with the Raven Talon's body. The soldier was killed instantly, for the bullet went straight through his skull, Oscar snapped his neck for good measure, then he shot the hammers into the ground behind him, which sent him flying towards the Raven Talon.

The chains and hammers arched over his head, and as he dropped towards the Raven Talon Soldier, he slammed both of them down atop the soldier's head. The impact killed him instantly, then he pulled them from his corpse, blood trailed from the heads, and they connected back into his hands. He wiped the heads cleaned and stared at the others, returning to the fight.

The Soldiers decided to face both Branwens in the field of battle, and one of them called in reinforcements, in which a Wasp could be heard arriving to assist. The Leader of the squad extended a whip from one arm and a blade from the other, both electrified. He charged with the other soldiers towards Qrow and Raven. Both of them transformed into their Corvid Forms, and they soar over their head, before dropping back down behind them as their human bodies. Qrow blocked the incoming blade from a soldier, sparks flew and he kicked the other across the jaw. Raven slid under the whip that slashed towards her face, and she scraped her Odachi across his wrist blade. The Raven Talon soldier growled as he kicked her in the chest, she staggered back and then felt the whip wrap around her throat, and the soldier swung her round and launched her across the Market.

She transformed mid air into her Raven Form, and she soared straight back towards the same soldier, and leapt out towards him. She thrusted the sword forward, puncturing straight through his chest. The soldier was killed instantly as she slid with his body, pulling the red blade from his chest. Qrow ducked down and dodged the whip that came round to hit him, and he rolled out of the stabbing blow of the soldier. But the Black Gallows were not immune to Bad Luck, and his charm was not wearing thin any time soon.

One of the market stalls suddenly fell onto him, which knocked the soldier down to the ground, and gave Qrow the chance he needed to drive the blade of Harbinger down into his chest. Both he and his sister were not alienated to killing, they knew what had to be done and took no joy in doing it. He stared at Valravn and saw he was just stood there, motionlessly, waiting for something. That's when Eryka gasped and turned her gaze to the Wasp that banked around one of the buildings, more Black Gallows soldiers descended, using their boosters in their boots to soften the landing.

One of which was a Shadow Dagger, with long curved electrified Daggers in his grasp he rushed past the firing Raven Talon Soldiers. Qrow blocked the incoming bullets with Harbinger, until suddenly he was punched from behind by the Ebony Sabre. He tumbled across the ground with a groan, looking back to see Nora blasting towards it. She dug her Axe into the armour plating and she electrocuted it, but the soldier inside was still fighting. He grabbed her and threw her across the terrain, she slammed Stormur Skeggox down into the ground, slowing herself down.

She grinned, enjoying evert second of this battle, when she summoned the lightning of the gods into Stormur Skeggox, powering the dust inside and blasting it towards the charging Sabre. The powerful beam of pink energy collided into the Ebony Sabre which crossed its arms together, pushed back by how much energy was colliding into it. The Ebony Sabre pilot yelled with anger, when suddenly Nora threw Stormur Skeggox straight at the titanic metal soldier, and it punctured into the armoured metal, she opened her gauntlet and the magnets pulled it back to her so fast that the Ebony Sabre staggered towards her.

Nora however, was not a ruthless, merciless killer. She jumped towards the Ebony Sabre and through the torn open metal she grabbed the pilot by the neck and ripped him from the suit, and slammed him down to the ground. He tried to crawl to one of the guns as the Ebony Sabre Exo-Suit collapsed behind him, but Nora kicked him hard in the side of the head, knocking him unconscious. "Who's next?" She asked aloud.

Eryka rolled across the area, and the Wasp was following her, firing its machine guns down at her constantly. The rounds cracked and shredded the concrete beneath her boots, she aimed her Bow and chose one of the explosive arrows. The arrowhead switched, and she fired, launching it straight into the wing of the Airship. The wing exploded, and the rear triangular flaps fluttered desperately as it tried to stay airborne. It spun out of control, with a trail of fire and smoke behind it before it crashed into the ground with great force.

She twisted round, and aimed her bow and fired three arrows that nailed three soldiers at once. She grinned with pride. "Oh yeah…I'm that badass." She chuckled.

Nora stood beside her boyfriend as they battled together, Oscar slammed the soldiers, but they were starting to get surrounded by them. Until they turned around to see that Valravn was not doing nothing. The chimes on his split Sickled Staff started to sing, and they could faintly hear the whispering voices of Ravens and Crows around them. The Stockholm Troopers all suddenly stopped running towards them, and they could not move at all.

"Valravn..."

"Valravn."

"VALRAVN!"

The voices grew louder and louder, endlessly speaking in the back of the Stockholm Trooper's minds, when suddenly a pulse erupted, and the soldiers collapsed to the ground, knocked unconscious from the powerful use of his mysterious semblance. Silence filled the air, and Nora turned to stare at Valravn.

"What the holy hell just happened?" Nora asked.

"He used his semblance…" Raven told her. "The Voice of the Raven."

The whispering voices of Valravn…that was his semblance, similar to the Branwens that came after, in the fact it was mainly passively used. But he could clearly direct the voices if he needed to. Yet another mysterious part of this man. Except Nora was not exactly that superstitious. "Hey, Val? Next time? Lead with that." Nora requested, which made everyone bar Valravn laugh, but he simply patted her head.

"Wow…that might be the closest to laughing I've seen him." Qrow chuckled.

"One day we'll make him laugh." Raven sighed.

"One day." Qrow agreed.

They turned and their eyes widened with relief as they saw both Ruby and Yang returning to them, out of breath from the long run. "Guys!" Ruby called.

"Oh thank the gods, we thought they got to you." Nora sighed with relief, hugging Ruby affectionately, Ren did the same with Yang. But as Qrow smiled at his Niece, his eyes widened and he drew his sword again.

They all turned to see the other halves of their team arrive…alongside Winter…

…and Killian.

Killian had his Chrome Revolver aimed straight at them as they all arrived at the scene, he was the only one with his weapon drawn, the others did not want to do it. Eryka stared at Winter and both of them felt hurt that they were on opposite sides today. Nora and Ren stared at Jaune and Pyrrha, they felt such shame…

"All of you! Stand down!" Killian demanded, he walked past the burning wreckage of the Wasp that Eryka shot down, the embers trailed past him in the cloud of smoke. Ruby and Yang both glared at Killian, then his eyes stared at Eryka, who glared right back with anger, she was nowhere near as forgiving as her girlfriend was. And Winter was showing no forgiveness either.

"Well look who it is." Yang scoffed.

Qrow walked in between his nieces and Killian, his red eyes glared straight into Killian's Onyx ones as he kept that Revolver aimed on them. "Put the damn gun down." Qrow ordered, his fists were clenched and he did not even reach for his sword.

"You're all absent without leave! This is your one chance to come home peacefully, all of this can be put behind us." Killian offered, but none of them were buying his words. Qrow stared at him, then glanced at Raven and just nodded. Raven swung her Odachi behind her, opening a portal to get them out of Vacuo as fast as possible. Oscar and Valravn were the first ones to walk through the portal.

"Hey! I said stand down!" Killian yelled, Eryka and Nora turned to go with them, whilst Qrow stared at him.

"We've got a job to do." Qrow told him, then Killian aimed the gun at him.

"Jackdaw is not your responsibility anymore, Qrow." Killian growled, since he had his own motivations against Jack the Ripper.

Everyone froze with widened eyes, Raven stared at Qrow after hearing him say that. Qrow's eye twitched with anger, and his fist clenched tight as he felt the gun press to the back of his head. "Like hell he is." Qrow snarled, he swung round and caught the revolver, which fired past his head, but he ripped it from Killian's grasp and swung back round, punching him in the face with it. Killian staggered to the side with a grunt, a large bruise formed there, and he immediately turned round and swung his fist at Qrow.

Qrow took the hit but barely even flinched from it, Killian went to deliver an uppercut against Qrow, but the Branwen caught his fist with ease. Qrow grit his teeth and twisted his arm, and punched him in the jaw with his own fist. Killian tumbled across the ground, everyone on his side watched, uncertain of what to do. Killian got back up as Qrow paced back and forth, and he charged him again, he jumped up and slammed his knee up Qrow's jaw. Ruby's Uncle grunted and he staggered back from the Commander of the Black Gallows, who delivered multiple fast and hard punches into Qrow's chest to wither him down, but as soon as he went to make another strike…Qrow's Bad Luck Charm affected his skill once more.

He went to punch, but Qrow grabbed his arm and he threw him over his shoulder, down into the ground with force. Qrow punched down into the ground and just missed his head. As Killian rolled aside, and suddenly drew his combat knife, swung round and sliced across Qrow's cheek. Qrow staggered back, he could feel the hot sticky pain of the open wound. He clenched his fist again…nothing angered him more than a dirty fighter.

He stared straight at Killian, his aura slowly healing the damage done to his face, and Killian kept the knife in his grasp. He rushed him and went to stab right into Qrow, but he caught the wrist that held the hand and punched Killian in the face over and over, pushing him back as he held him. Then they both started forcing one another's strength against themselves, staring straight into each other's eyes. That was when Qrow smashed his head into Killian's, and caught the dropped knife, and drove it right into his foe's stomach.

Killian grunted, and groaned as he staggered back…collapsing down to the ground with a thud. The knife was lodged in there, blood poured from his wound as he fell.

Jaune's eyes widened with shock, whilst Qrow just stared at them all, and he cracked his knuckles and walked away from him. Killian coughed up blood as he laid on the ground, Weiss ran to his aid with Winter, whilst Ren and Nora left with Raven. Qrow walked past Ruby, and saw Qrow's emotionless way he stabbed Killian.

She wanted to kill Jackdaw…but after seeing how he did that…she didn't know if she could do it…if she could bring herself to kill someone. She nervously followed her sister and Qrow, leaving Eryka behind. The blue haired Vasillias looked back at her girlfriend and sighed, walking through as well.

The portal closed…

…leaving Killian's team to patch him up.

If Ruby really wanted to kill Jackdaw…she needed that ferocity.

To do it without hesitation…

…she needed to fight like Qrow Branwen.

* * *

**Author Note - I love Qrow, I just love writing him in this way where he is morally grey like his sister, and that whole bit sums up the flaw in Ruby's mission...does she have what it takes to actually kill someone? Let alone Jackdaw Branwen.**

**Qrow does, but does she?**

**Killian's gonna need some surgery after that fight, at first this was gonna be Eryka doing this bit, but it felt wrong to have her do this bit, and made a hell of a lot more sense to let it be Qrow. That and of course, Bad Luck Charm, no matter how skilled Killian is in combat, he'd never stand a chance against Qrow because of that one reason.**

**I really enjoyed this chapter because of the conflicting opinions that came up every now and then, between both sides of the story, and I personally agree with both of them. They both have very good reasons for where they stand, because of how they view things. I also adored that bit with Weiss and Ruby...so sad yet so fun to write.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter - Surgery**


	20. Kill or Be Killed

**Chapter 19 – Kill or be Killed**

* * *

**Jaune**

* * *

His heart was pounding.

He may have not been their friend, maybe not even their ally at times…but he was a person. A living, breathing person, and as a Huntsman or a Huntress, it was their duty to save his life. Killian laid unconscious on the gurney with his stab wound bled over his shirt. There was so much blood, so much of it… it legitimately frightened Jaune to see how much blood was out of Killian's system all because of a single wound.

You'd think he'd be used to seeing blood, or knowing the damage a single blade could do after everything – but seeing it first hand? It never ceased to scare him.

"Nurse! We need a nurse!" Pyrrha called out as she helped Jaune and Blake push the Gurney, whilst Winter and Weiss followed behind them. They jogged alongside the gurney, when they saw one of the Nurses drop her clipboard down on the table and she ran over to them. She caught up beside them and looked at the man who desperately needed their help to survive the stab wound that Qrow inflicted upon him.

"What's his injury?" The Nurse asked.

"Stab wound." Jaune answered, she stared at the wound and saw how much blood was already from his system.

"He's lost a lot of blood already, we will do what we can for him. But I have to ask you to wait outside the operating room." The Nurse commanded, she took the handles from Jaune and pushed the gurney into the Operating Theatre where they could do their work. The five of the Hunters stood outside of the room, their hands were shaking fearfully, but not even for Killian's safety.

Of course they did not want him to die, for – for all his flaws and broken logic – he was still a human being. Jaune pushed his hands against his face and he sighed, shoving his digits through his blonde hair. "Oh by the Gods…this is not good." Jaune groaned, shaking his head with a heavy sigh.

"Yeah, as if the world didn't already have a grudge against the Academies, this will definitely not help our case. Stabbing Killian like that? What the hell was he thinking? He's just gone and proven Killian's whole case." Weiss groaned in annoyance, frustrated at the entire situation. She sat down on one of the chairs and she buried her face into her hands. "And it's my fault."

"What? C'mon, Weiss knock it off. It was Qrow, not you." Jaune told her.

"No, Jaune. It is… I had Ruby and I could have taken her in. But instead I let her go, and she got to Qrow. He was protecting her." Weiss explained to them all, Blake shook her head in disagreement though.

"No, it's not you're fault. He would have attacked Killian no matter what, he hated the man with a passion. Just like most of us." Blake explained, she paced back and forth and she sighed, she felt the sweat bead from her skin, rubbing her eyes as she stood there. Pyrrha stood beside Jaune, she held Milo down against the marble floor, waiting to figure out what they could do next.

The only one of them that did not look shaken in any way from what Qrow did was Winter, she stood by the wall, where there was the display of drawings from children who came here. Injured from countless things, sometimes they were little playground injuries, some were sick, and then there were the scary ones. The ones that were facing death, not things that just needed to be patched up.

Winter never liked hospitals, not because she didn't like being in them – but because she hated seeing people who were innocent in pain. A natural response of someone who was trained to protect people, no matter the cost. Weiss looked at her sister, noticing how she had little to no reaction to all this whatsoever. "Winter?" She asked her.

"Yeah?" Winter replied.

"Are you, alright? I mean you haven't said a word, did Qrow stabbing Killian get to you? Like us?" She asked her.

"It got to you?" She asked them, the four Huntresses and Huntsman looked at Winter with confusion.

"Y-Yeah…I didn't think that Qrow was like that. He stabbed Killian with no hesitation at all…" Jaune stammered.

"Of course he did." Winter replied, Jaune stared at her with confusion.

"What?"

"Have you never had to kill someone?" Winter asked them all, Pyrrha did not answer but they all knew that she was the only one out of all of them that never killed anyone. Ruby blamed herself for the death of Roman, a death that was not hers to take responsibility in the first place. Roman killed himself, at the end of the day, he was responsible for his own demise the moment he starting spouting off about how he always survived.

Until he didn't.

But none of them, ever killed a soul. Never ever wanted to, Blake had seen people die by Adam's hand, but she never did deliver the killing blow.

Never wanted to.

Not even to kill Adam.

Their lack of an answer was all that Winter needed, she shook her head as she looked at them all. They may have grown up after four years, and yet they all were still so childish in the way of which they are viewing this whole thing. The career of being a Huntress or a Huntsman.

"Did you really think you could do this job without getting blood on your hands?" Winter asked them all, they all stared at her and they stammered.

"I…I don't know. I wanted to kill Cinder for what she did to Pyrrha, for what she could have done to her." Jaune explained, he stared at his gauntleted hands, and yet he could never imagine himself actually murdering her, even if she did not outgun him with her Fall Maiden powers.

None of them were murderers, but sadly Winter knew that unless their goal was to die – then no matter what – they have to spill blood eventually. "You can't avoid it forever, guys. We all will end up killing people."

"But we're Huntresses, it's our job to protect people." Blake argued, Pyrrha sat down on one of the chairs and she wrung her fingers.

"Protect the innocents from evil. Not the Grimm – from evil. Evil can come in any form, it could be a fire or a storm. It could be a Creature of Grimm. Or it could be a person, a man or woman who spreads chaos. Someone who attacks the people that represent all that is good in the world. People like Jackdaw Branwen, like Neopolitan. Like Cinder Fall… like Killian." Winter explained as she stared at them all, they all looked at each other as she said that, and Jaune scoffed.

"If you want Killian to fall so badly… then why are you here?" Jaune questioned, Winter stared right back and she looked at her hands.

"Because it's what Ironwood would have wanted me to do. He would have wanted me to put the people first. And whether we like it or not, Killian's idea… it could save millions of lives." Winter explained, Blake walked over to the window of the Operating Theatre, seeing that the nurses had ripped his shirt open to patch up the stab wound. There was a lot of blood, but the situation was under control.

They were saving him.

"I'm not blind to all this, not to killing people. When I was with the Atlesian Military, I had killed countless people to protect Atlas and its self interests. From things I never wanted to know about… because it was my duty as a Huntress. Just as it is Killian's duty to hide the darkest secrets from the world to prevent chaos." Winter explained, she may hate Killian for the things he did but she knew why he did them. Just as it was her job to follow orders, to protect people, he protected people from the scariest things that people did not even know about.

"But… that doesn't seem right. To just follow your orders, even when you know it's wrong." Jaune stammered.

"We don't get that choice, our job is simply to protect people. Sometimes… protecting people means doing things that deep down we think is wrong." Winter explained as she drew her sword and set it down on her lap. That was why she did not go with Eryka, despite her personal reasons to hate Killian, when he imprisoned them and everything to do with Jaymes Ickford four years ago… it was her job to protect people.

Going against Killian, proving his point that the Huntsmen Academies are dangerous and need to be controlled – or worse – destroyed – would not protect people. It would simply hurt more people, civilians or Huntsmen.

Despite how much she loves Eryka, she is a soldier. Eryka was not, she was always a survivor long before she met Winter. Part of Winter understood that, but at the same time it still hurt that she disappeared one night without even telling her.

Something they all had in common.

"I just can't imagine Qrow being so cold like that. I mean, he just stabbed him, and walked off like he just bought some sweets from a store. It was nothing to him, he didn't hesitate or flinch. He just walked away." Jaune said as he remembered Qrow's face, how he showed no emotion whatsoever.

It sent chills down his spine.

"I know, I mean I know Qrow's had a rough life. He and his sister were raised with Bandits, that is bound to break you inside, to turn you into something cold. But I never saw him like that before, he was always so fun whenever we saw him." Weiss agreed, which meant Winter scoff.

"That's not the word _I_ would use." Winter chuckled, remembering the fight they had at the Beacon Courtyard.

"Alright, but you know what I mean. He's never been cold like that, at least I've never seen him like that." Blake agreed, Winter nodded her head and she sighed.

"Being part of a Bandit Tribe does that to you, makes you cold. It's the same thing for Spartans." Pyrrha explained, Winter was going to say something similar but it was the first thing that Pyrrha added to this debate, which surprised them. "When I killed… Penny… I remember just blocking everything out. I saw all of those blades coming towards me… and I just thought to myself… _I have to stop the blades, I need to stop her._ It didn't click that it was Penny until I saw the cables… wrapping around her body." Pyrrha's voice broke, the one person she ever took the life from was an innocent and kind person.

Someone who did not deserve to die, and even now it still ate away at her.

Jaune held her hand gently to ease her nerves. "It's alright, you don't have to explain." Jaune assured with a kind smile, she nodded her head and wiped a tear from her eye. But even then, this was not like what Qrow did, she felt grief and heartbreak for what happened, but Qrow did not care one bit.

Jaune thought on how Qrow did it, and could not get the idea out of his head, or the question. _Would Qrow hesitate to kill any one of us?_

That was an answer he never wanted to find out, but at this point it was a chilling possibility.

As the five of them sat outside of the Operating Theatre, they heard the sound of someone approaching with great concern. She had a limp in her step as she tried to run to where Killian was held, they did not know who she was but it was Veronica. She approached the Operating Theatre and stared through the window, pressing her hand against the window. She gasped as she stared at him fearfully. "Oh Nathan… please…" She begged nervously as she stared at the nurses that all worked on him.

The five of them looked at her and started to figure out who she was to him. "Excuse me… are you a girlfriend to him, or something?" Jaune asked as he walked over to her, but Veronica snapped her head to him with a coarse glare. It made Jaune jolt from how sudden it was, her eyes narrowed and she stepped away from the glass.

"I know who you are… who all of you are." She said, staring at the five of them. "Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, Weiss Schnee, Winter Schnee and Blake Belladonna."

The five of them all stared at Veronica as she stood there, it surprised them to find out that she knew about them all. "H-How do you know that?" Blake inquired.

"I knew who all of you were before I met Killian, I worked for the Remnant Special Task Force in Recon and Intel Gathering. I know plenty of people who gave me information, it was my main source of income after… this." She said, gesturing to her Prosthetic Leg.

"You're an Information Broker? Like Lil Miss Malachite?" Winter asked her.

"No, I don't break the law and use Prostitution. I simply sell my intel to people willing to pay for it, and I give most of my earnings to the Veterans who need it." Veronica explained to them all, Jaune looked at her prosthetic leg, that was slightly shorter which gave her a limp with every step that she took. He felt bad for her, Yang at least had a well made Cybernetic, but the harsh truth was that the Veterans who fought in the military rarely ever got the things they needed to survive the war that came after the fight.

Proper prosthetics, help with P.T.S.D, stable jobs.

They were just tossed aside, and sadly this happened in every single Kingdom. "Someone has to." She growled.

"I'm very sorry." Jaune apologised, but that was not enough. She scoffed, shaking her head.

"There it is… _I'm sorry_. Yeah I doubt all the Veterans who were thrown in the streets appreciate your grief for them."

"Excuse me?" Winter questioned.

"You heard me. I do not have the greatest love for you people, Huntsmen and Huntresses. You have brought people like me nothing but suffering or embarrassment. You've humiliated us with how the government favours you over us, with all your fancy weapons and technology." Veronica scoffed, shaking her head with anger in her voice. "All your cybernetics and security, I cannot count how many friends I have lost because of how they could not handle the real world after returning from debrief. Do you know how many Veterans die from suicide ever single year?"

"I… I don't know." Jaune stammered.

"Two hundred and fifty three. Because until recently nobody bothered creating a home for Veterans, where they could be helped. The numbers are starting drop, thankfully, but there are not enough other homes for us to help everyone." Veronica explained to them.

Veronica sighed, she sat down on one of the chairs and she pressed her palms against her face. Jaune looked at her and then at Pyrrha. The Nikos Spartan walked over to Veronica and she sat down next to her, she understood her pain and her anger. End of the day, the soldiers who were not as powerful as them had more than enough reason to hate them. Not just through jealousy, but the fact that the Government treated them so harshly in comparison.

"I know it means nothing, and it doesn't ease the suffering of all those brave soldiers. But we are sorry, and we want to make sure that everyone gets to be happy. To make sure that all warriors, Huntsmen or Soldiers it doesn't matter, get to live their best lives." Pyrrha promised, Veronica looked at her and then at the Operating Room.

"What happened to him?" She asked them.

They froze, felt their blood run cold. Telling her about what happened would simply strengthen her reasons completely. She stared at them and they stammered, so Blake attempted to lie. "We were attacked by some criminals in Vacuo, he was stabbed." Blake claimed, but Veronica stared straight at her, and saw through the lie.

"I worked in Intel and Recon, Miss Belladonna, don't you dare lie to me." Veronica warned with a growl in her voice. Winter stood up and walked towards the Recon Specialist.

"Qrow Branwen stabbed him after he tried to attack and take his nieces away from him." Winter told it how it happened, she glared at her narrowed her eyes. Veronica grit her teeth in anger, and sadly she knew that Qrow and his nieces had gone rogue.

"A Huntsman… did this to him." She growled, she stood up and stared at where Killian was being patched up by the Surgeons.

"We don't agree with what he did either, believe me." Jaune assured.

She pointed at them, and it was like a Volcanic Eruption, she could not hold back any longer. "This! This is what we've always been talking about! Every damn Academy has the same thing happen every year, Rogue Huntsmen and Huntresses break out and start killing people! Jack the Ripper! Raven Branwen! The Grimm Reaper abandoning her post! Countless more!" Veronica started yelling with great anger. "You need correction! Better leadership, better security and disciplined better. It's what makes our soldiers so loyal, because we understand the rules. We get the job done… unlike all of you."

"You don't know us, you don't know what we've done." Blake stated.

"Oh but I do. I know you were with the White Fang, Miss Belladonna. I know all about your… _affiliation_… with Adam Taurus." That cut too deep for them, Blake clenched her hand into a fist, she was always quite peaceful but there was something about whenever someone would refer to her as anything with Adam Taurus… it angered her.

"You better watch your mouth. I get it, you don't like us because we're trained by the Academies. But if you ever bring that name up in front of Blake ever again… you will regret it." Weiss snarled, both Pyrrha and Jaune stood ready to defend their friend at all costs. Veronica scowled with anger at them all, her fist clenched tight.

"You're all just children. Children playing war games, not taking it seriously. Not understanding that the mission always comes first. You see this?" She yelled, she lifted her prosthetic leg in front of them. "This was because of Huntsmen and Huntresses. They were supposed to help us in the battlefield but instead that just helped themselves. Protected each other, whilst they left the rest of us to die."

They fell silent, and Blake closed her eyes with grief. "We… We would never do that."

Veronica started to calm down, with careful breaths, she had more respect for these people than the Rogues or the cowardly. If anything, she wanted more Huntsmen and Huntresses to be like them, who put their personal feelings aside for the greater good. Unlike Ruby's end of the spectrum.

"Maybe not… but think about this. If the Huntsmen Academies had proper discipline in their training, like Atlas does… would those students have left us? Or would they have fought alongside us? I do not blame the Huntsmen or the Huntresses directly for how the Government treats our soldiers, I know who the real enemy is there. But Killian is right, in believing that changes need to be made to the Academies. For the betterment of both sides." Veronica explained.

And for once, they could actually agree on something.

"Well, at least we're on the same page with this." Jaune chuckled.

"I do not want anyone to die on either side, that solves nothing. It just gets more people hurt." Veronica explained as she sat down at the chair again and she crossed her arms, looking at the Huntsmen and Huntresses before her. "I just want to make sure that both sides of the Service get the respect that they deserve. The Government funds the Academies ten times more than what they fund the Military. I just hope that people don't end up being as unlikely as myself." She said, looking at her prosthetic.

"We're going to keep tracking our friends down… and once we have them back somewhere safe… we'll stop the Ripper." Jaune assured, he decided to call Jackdaw _The Ripper _since he did not know if Veronica knew, that and it was not his place to decide.

The five of them opted to leave Veronica be, it made them feel better to know that the argument they had with her did not get any worse than it started. They walked away from the Operating Theatre, and Pyrrha looked at Jaune. "What next? They went through a portal, it will be hard to track them down."

"Yeah it will… but luckily, we know who they spoke to. I doubt Lil Miss Malachite has much loyalty to her customer's privacy." Jaune explained as they walked down the hallway.

Weiss nodded in agreement.

"If she needs a price, I will pay for it. You know I will." Weiss assured.

"You're not a wallet to us, Weiss." Blake sighed.

"I know, but I got the money." Weiss shrugged her shoulders with a smile, Winter and Pyrrha nodded as well. They three of them were undoubtedly the wealthiest ones there, and even Blake was close to them on that.

Jaune – once again – was the odd one out.

They left Killian to be patched up, this was their mission now, the Black Gallows were still with them, but now it was their mission.

And their responsibility.

* * *

**Ruby**

* * *

The red portal tore the hole between the two continents, and they emerged from the dark red glow.

Raven stood there on the other side, looking back to see the others coming through. Qrow walked out and had blood on his hand and his knuckles from when he beat Killian to a pulp. They all stared at him, and he looked no different than before, completely undeterred whatsoever by what he did to Killian. Ruby and her team looked more shocked than all the others did.

Eryka nodded at Qrow as he walked over to them, Qrow walked towards Raven and Valravn who stood there, their weapons in their grasp. Valravn walked away from all of them, and he opened up one of the tents, sitting down inside as he started to do… whatever it was that he did.

Ruby watched Qrow walk away, and she held her quivering hands together, she felt such fear and shock over all of this… she felt so certain of her mission to kill Jackdaw. That it was the only way to stop him, but after seeing how Qrow did what he did, she was starting to wonder if that was the truth, if she was blinded by anger… if she could really take a life. Yang gently squeezed her shoulder, looking down at her little sister. "You alright?" Yang asked her with concern.

"Uh… I dunno." She stammered, looking across the Camp as all the Bandits walked and worked. Some of them were tanning the hides of Deer that they hunted down. They used everything on the carcass, bone was used in their armour or building. The pelts were either sold to the towns nearby or used for making clothing or armour with leather. The meat and guts were used as either food or alchemy to make medicinal drugs.

It was genius, and therefore nothing was killed for no reason, nothing was ever wasted.

Raven walked over and spoke to Vernal, they could not hear what it was that they spoke of, but it must have been about what Lil Miss Malachite informed them about. "I take it you're thinking about Qrow, right?" Nora asked curiously, resting Stormur Skeggox on her shoulder as her orange hair blew in the breeze.

"Yeah…" Ruby agreed, the four of them walked over to a nice little quiet spot that they could sit down and talk this whole thing over. "It all happened so fast."

"I know, I didn't expect to see them there… I don't know how they could have been." Ruby said with confusion in her voice, she tried to ask them how they got here but they never answered them. Ren pondered on it, and he thought of the Black Feathers that allowed them to leave Beacon without detonating the bombs.

"Maybe Jackdaw sent one of his men into the Academy? Planted those Feathers on their beds as well… maybe this is part of his plan? To tear us apart, like he did to Team S.T.R.Q?" Ren suggested, they all looked at each other and it gave them chills when they realised how similar the situations are.

"Yeah… it's starting to make sense. If this is a game played by Jackdaw then it's a sick one." Ruby sighed.

"Well… let's just hope we can stay ahead of them for now. We can go back to them when this is finished, they will be mad at us… but they will forgive us. We're family." Nora stated as she shrugged her shoulders. Ruby looked at her hands and squeezed her large silver eyes shut.

"Weiss let me go… but she was so angry at me. She's always been mad at me, but never… legit mad." Ruby stammered, it broke her heart to see her best friend that angry at her. Especially when Weiss actually referred to her as her _B.F.F._

"I know, but they're gonna have to get over it. I know they just want us safe, but this isn't their fight." Yang said, pushing her hand through her huge fluffy blonde locks of hair.

"It could have been… Weiss said she would have followed us whether or not they agreed with it." Ruby sadly said, and that was what hurt the most for both sides. Ruby didn't realise that she meant that much to her team, and Weiss was hurt at the fact that Ruby did not trust her and Blake enough to tell them about this. Nora and Ren fiddled with the grass underneath their legs, pondering whether or not they should have let Jaune and Pyrrha know.

"It doesn't matter now. After Qrow stabbed Killian, there's no returning peacefully. Killian will arrest us on sight now, hell he might even try to kill us. Y'know, to cut off loose ends." Nora said as she carved some marks into the dirt with the head of Stormur Skeggox.

"Yeah, thanks Uncle Qrow." Yang scoffed.

Ruby stared at her hands, they had some calluses from using Crescent Rose so much in the past against the Creatures of Grimm, but she never had hands that were meant to kill. They were so small and delicate looking, unlike the scarred knuckles her sister and Eryka had. And Nora's hands had the faint markings of what appeared to be lightning, scarring caused from her semblance. Ruby's hands were the only ones that looked so gentle in comparison – she could not kill another human being. She was gentle, loving and wanted nothing but the best for the world.

She hated Jackdaw more than she could ever describe, she wanted him to pay for what he did. To Summer, to Glynda, to Ironwood, to Yatsuhashi, to everyone that he murdered that day. And everyone he killed before, he did not deserve to keep walking after taking so many lives. But even then, she did not have that cold black heart, not like the Branwens.

"I don't… I don't know if I can do it." She softly said to all of them. They all looked at her with concern.

"What do you mean?" Ren asked.

"Killing Jackdaw… after I watched how Qrow stabbed Killian. He didn't hesitate, he didn't flinch, he didn't even seem affected by it in any way. Like he squashed a bug. I hate Killian just as much as you do, but killing him? I don't think he deserves that… he's a bad person sure. But I think… I think I'm wrong to wish death upon anyone."

Yang looked at her little sister and caressed her cheek. She did not want to kill anyone either, neither of them did – however Yang was one of the few that was ready to do it if it came down to it. "Before Adam I would agree with you… but what he did to Blake… to me…" She said, opening her cybernetic hand and clenching it into a tight fist. "I dunno, I guess part of me died that day. He's the only person in the whole world I would kill in a heartbeat if I saw him." She admitted.

Ruby stared at her, but she never judged her for that. End of the day she had more than enough reason to despise that monster, he didn't just only take her arm, but he also put her through torment that still affects her even now. Even when he is trapped inside of a prison thanks to the White Fang.

"I don't know if I can do that… I felt bad when I squished a spider once. If I cried for a bug then how can I possibly kill a man?" She questioned with worry in her voice.

"You… just change." Eryka entered the conversation abruptly. The four of them turned to see her stood behind them with Dulcis stood on her arm, chirping softly.

"What do you mean?" Ruby inquired.

"When the cards are down, and you're in the middle of a firefight? You don't have many choices, it's either kill or be killed. I know you don't want to kill people, Ruby – but I'm afraid it comes with the job. I may not be a Huntress like you, but I learned to just grow accustomed to it." Eryka explained as she stroked Dulcis' fine feathers. Ruby stared down at her reflection in the blade of Stormur Skeggox.

"I dunno…" She sighed, Eryka smiled and gently ruffled Ruby's head.

"You'll be fine." Eryka assured as she went off to feed and tend to her beloved Altum Eagle.

As Ruby sat there, picking a flower from the soil she stared at one of the petals as it fell. She even felt bad for the flower – she felt nothing for the Grimm. They were not living things, they were monsters that had one desire – annihilation. She lost no sleep killing them, but it was people that terrified her. Seeing the bodies of the people they couldn't save… taking a life though? That would stick with her forever, she never wanted to lose sight of who she was.

She was Ruby Rose – Daughter of Summer Rose and Taiyang Xiao Long – Protector of those that are good, and destroyer of evil… and lover of cookies.

But for some reason she never thought about the possibility of what kinds of Evil existed in the world. And whether or not some evils… are Human… or Faunus. "I'm not a killer, I can't be." She said.

"We might have to some day, Ruby." Yang warned, they both looked across the courtyard after they noticed both Nora and Ren glaring at her. Cinder was fighting and training against the Grunts, she swung her axe and just missed the head of a ducking Bandit, who tackled her down to the ground.

"I can't… it's not me. I wasn't even responsible for Torchwick's death… and that still haunts me. And Neo nearly murdered me for it. I've seen what murder turns people into, you either become like my Uncle… or like that." She said, staring at Cinder as they watched her swing the axe down towards the Bandit's skull. Only to freeze just in time, the blade would have split his skull if she didn't.

She pulled him back up and she collapsed her Axe down into dust, walking away from the training grounds to play some chess with the adorable little Amber.

Ruby looked around, and saw that Qrow was sat down inside of one tent, scraping a whetstone across the edge of his sword – Harbinger. Sparks bounced from the connection of the Whetstone and the blade. Ruby gently patted Yang's knee and she stood up, walking away from them, until Yang caught her hand. "Whoa, where're you going?" She asked her.

"Gonna talk to Qrow." Ruby told them. They were not blind, they knew what she wanted to talk to her Uncle about.

Ruby walked away from them and approached the tent that Qrow was inside of. As she walked, she heard the sound of Valravn's Semblance, the voice of the Crows, all whispering from his tent, the chiming pieces of metal that hung from the Dream Catchers could be heard, and she smelt the scent of some kind of herb. She understood next to nothing about Valravn, especially not for his hatred for the Silver Eyes. All she knew was that the Branwen Tribe had a feud with the Silver Eyed Warriors at one point, which must have been why his trust was so weak with Ruby.

The Silver Eyed Huntress avoided his Tent, and walked directly towards Qrow's, she opened it and looked inside. He was sat down, then looked at her. He smiled whenever he saw her, he always had more than enough time for his adorable little niece. "Hey, kiddo. What's up?" He asked her, she sat down on one of the red pillows that the Branwen Tribe had, it was surprisingly squishy and comfy.

"Ooh… that's quite nice." She giggled, which made Qrow chuckle.

"I know, right? Seems Raven added a bit of style to the Tribe since I left."

They both sat on their pillows, then Ruby started the conversation, as she stared at the necklace around his neck.

"Uncle Qrow?"

"Mm?"

"What… what does that Necklace mean?" She asked curiously, he looked down at it and he smiled.

"It was a gift… from your mother. It was the first birthday I had when I knew her, Taiyang git me some awesome boots to wear, my sister gave me this whetstone…but your mom? She bought me this necklace." He explained, he detached the ends of it and he placed it in her hand. Ruby gently held the silver upon her palms, gently caressing the sideways cross. "She wanted to make sure I always had something to remember her by… she never needed to get me a necklace for that though." He said with a sigh.

It surprised Ruby that her Uncle was actually in love with her mother, but she actually felt for him, because he did not just lose a friend… he understood Taiyang's pain. "You really loved her… didn't you?"

"I never stood in the way of them though. Tai knew how I felt about her, I always had a crush… but she didn't reciprocate them. He nearly didn't say yes when she asked him out for the first time, because he thought of me… but I could never be good enough for her. But I always looked over… I just wanted them to be happy." Qrow told her with a gentle smile. Ruby smiled and she gently wrapped the necklace around his neck with a smile. She then hugged him lovingly, despite their differences when it came down to killing… she loved her Uncle so much.

"She's always with you… just like with me and Yang, and Dad… and even Raven." Ruby told him with a bright smile on her face. Qrow smiled back and he hugged her again, kissing her cheek gently, caressing her soft black and red hair.

"That's my girl." He chuckled.

They broke their embrace and Ruby sat back down on the pillow.

They both sat there and Ruby looked at him, he could tell just from her expression that it must have something to do with what he did to Killian. He always knew that she had a very strong opinion when it came to fighting people, it was never something she agreed with, never something she signed up to when it came down to being a Huntress. "I guess you didn't come here to hang out with your cool Uncle, huh?" He asked her.

"Uh – N-No… I-I…"

"It's alright, Ruby. I know why you're here… it's because of what I did back at Vacuo, right? Against Killian?" He asked her, she swallowed and she nodded her head. "I know you don't like the idea of hurting people, let alone killing them… but it's our job."

"Our job is to protect people from monsters." Ruby disagreed.

Qrow sighed and shook his head. "From evil, sadly evil comes in two forms. The Living… and the Grimm. Sure we face the Grimm more often than people, but… I can't remember how many people I've killed over the years. The Bandit raised me to never keep count."

"But how? How can you… How?" She stammered.

"You were lucky, Ruby. Your mother was the kindest woman I had ever met, but just like you she could never kill people. I think that was partly why she died by my brother's hands… she just couldn't bring herself to do it. Sometimes… we have to do the things we swore off doing to get the job done." He explained.

"No, that can't be right." She argued.

"What if someone is trying to kill you? Say Neo is here, right now? She's coming at you with a knife to finish the job? Are you just gonna stand there and let her kill you?" He asked her.

"N-No, but…"

"You have to protect yourself, because your enemies will not hesitate. You never hesitate for the Grimm, don't change it up just because someone is Human or Faunus. It doesn't matter, because evil is evil. There is no difference, and both will hurt the good people in the world." Qrow explained.

Ruby could never agree to this way of thinking, never. "Were you going to kill him? Killian?" She asked.

Qrow looked at her and he looked at the faint stains of his blood on his hand. "I probably should've done." Qrow told her.

That was not the answer she wanted to hear, she had hoped it was because she was there and did not want to scare her. "The only reason I didn't kill him was because we had to go." Qrow stated with the shrug of his shoulders.

"Was it?" She asked.

"Yeah… Killian is dangerous. And he is hiding something… I know it in my bones." Qrow stated as he stared down at his fists.

"What? Hiding what?" She asked him.

"I don't know… but it's nothing good." Qrow predicted.

* * *

**Amber**

* * *

Night fell upon the camp…

Cinder gently and kindly started to tuck Amber away into bed so then she would be able to get some sleep for the night. Amber giggled as Cinder tucked all the edges of her bed sheet around her tiny body, like she was a butterfly waiting to hatch from its cocoon. "There ya go, tucked in enough?" She asked with a chuckle, Amber giggled.

"Yeah!" She grinned, Cinder chuckled as well. Amber was already starting to show the good inside of Cinder more than the bad. Cinder looked at her and patted her head of hair gently. But she was still not a mother, especially with how she told kids to go to sleep.

"Alright, make sure you get some sleep or a Grimm will eat ya." Cinder said, Amber shuddered at the mere thought of that. She laid there in her bed and she closed her eyes.

A few hours seemed to pass instantly as she slept. She gasped when she woke from a nightmare, she saw them… the killers who massacred her town. The Vasillias Cartel, they charged inside and killed them all. Their reason was uncertain, she was only a child but it was most likely for a debt that the leader of the town failed to pay in time. She saw them… as they dragged her parents from the room and shot them both dead. She hid inside of the closet where her parents told her to stay.

It felt… so real…

It terrified the little girl.

But when she woke, she gasped from what she saw stood over her bed. It was no Grimm – it was a man. Not Jackdaw Branwen, but someone else.

He has these huge metal wings that extended from his hack, razor sharp feathers extended from them alongside these huge thrusters. His eyes are angled and sharp, flaming amber eyes like Cinder's but more like a Hawk's. His fists were clenched as he stared at her, gasp vented through his mechanical jaw, like breath.

She tried to scream, but his hand grabbed her mouth, muffling her cries. He stared at her, like a monster as the wings hovered over her head. "So you're the girl she asked me to track down… no loose ends… an old friend of yours would like to see you." His dark metallic voice snarled. She screamed as loud and as hard as she could, but then she felt her mind slip away into unconsciousness. She picked up her little body and looked back at the tent, leaving something behind before he left the tent, and blasted off into the sky, flying away towards the mountains.

Left inside of Amber's Tent…

Was an egg…

A Spider's Egg.

* * *

**Author Note - Oh shit, who was that? It was not Jackdaw, as I said. This is a new enemy, we will have to wait and see who he is, quite a cool character though. That much I can promise you.**

**Sorry this took a while to come out, tonnes of things piled up recently, getting in the way of me finding time XD. But here I am! The next chapter is one I have been waiting to write for so long now. The thing I hate about chapters like the one here is that I call them "Glue Chapters" and it is because you need to have them between these little chapters to make sure that things make sense and bind the story together. I find them so annoying to write because I never know what to put in.**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter - The Spider's Web**

**\- Matt**


	21. The Spider's Web

**Viewer Discretion Advised - Graphic Violence**

* * *

**Chapter 20 – The Spider's Web**

* * *

**Ruby**

* * *

The night was cold, a deep fog had set in across the land where Ruby was trying to fall asleep. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't do it.

Her large silver eyes stared up at the roof of her tent where she could see the glowing Shattered Moon through the tears in the fabric. The flows of fog passed through the Tribe, some of them were still up as well, but not for the same reasons. Ruby could hear Cinder talking to Shay and the other Bandits about things she could not decipher from inside of the small home they had given her.

The bed – well, sleeping bag, she was using itched something awful. It was nothing like her squishy and comfortable bed back home at Beacon Academy, and yet with all these things coupled together, it was not the discomfort that affected her sleep. As she stared up at a spider's web up in the supporting endo-skeleton of the tent, feasting on the fly that it had caught.

_Are we just like that fly?_

_Following Jackdaw's trail the way we are, maybe they're right… I thought that following Jackdaw's trail was smart, but now? Qrow and Raven are not lying when they talk about how clever Jackdaw is, so the idea of him setting a trap for us along the way is not so crazy._

_We didn't come this far just to die by his hand, like that fly up there._

Ruby sighed, she rolled over onto her side and tried to close her eyes, but every time she did, she would hear his voice. She could never decipher his words, they were slurred and whispery voices, but it was always his. Jackdaw Branwen, Jack the Ripper – the monster that murdered his mother, Glynda, Yatsuhashi and Ironwood. And many other good people, she could not get him out of her head,

She huffed with anger at herself, sitting forward and burying her head into her hands. Nora was laid down beside Ren, and Yang was next to Ruby, asleep like Ren was. But Nora on the other hand could not sleep, just like Ruby. "Can't sleep, either?" Nora asked.

Ruby sighed, they both spoke softly so they did not wake up Yang and Ren. "No… I can't stop thinking about Jackdaw."

"I know, I can't either." She sighed, that surprised her. Ruby knew why Nora and Ren decided to follow her and her sister to stop Jackdaw from hurting anyone else – and yet she did not know the exact reason behind Nora's reasons. Ren lost his parents and understood his pain, and so did Nora… but Nora never struck her as someone who would seek revenge.

"Why? Is that okay to ask? I never really knew why you wanted to help us." Ruby said to her.

Nora looked at Ruby and she smiled softly, looking at Ren, gently caressing his soft black hair. "Well, you know about what happened to Kuroyuri and Ren's parents. But I lost my home and my family long before I found him… his childhood… until the Nuckelavee was better than what I went through."

Ruby listened to the Valkyrie's words carefully. "But when I was a baby… it wasn't so simple. My mother was a Faunus, a Valkyrie, but when I was born I never had the Faunus traits. A rare thing to happen really, especially since the Faunus genes are supposedly the dominant ones in a coupling like that."

"What do you mean, a Valkyrie?" Ruby curiously asked, Nora smiled gleefully.

"My mom was an Eagle Faunus. She had these huge golden feathered wings that came out her back. However she never wanted to be a warrior, she just wanted to help people." Nora explained to her, but then the smile began to waver. She sighed through her nose grievously. "But the Mayor of our town – Kuchinashi – hated the Faunus, like quite a lot of Mistraalians. My mother was the only Faunus there, so he demanded that she leave. But she refused, and so did my father, since she was pregnant with me. He could never banish a woman who was pregnant, not even a Faunus. So… he plotted a scheme."

"A Scheme?"

"He waited until I was born, and one day when my mom was going to the shops to buy some food and some toys for me… he paid some townsfolk to attack her. They beat me, and ignored my cries – as they took out carving knives and cut her wings from her spine. It paralysed her… and she bled to death… right in front of me." Tears streamed from Nora's eyes as she told her that. "I was too little to remember that… but it was my father that reminded me… every day." She sniffled, massaging her forearm.

"H-he hurt you?" Ruby stammered.

"Yeah… because every single day that he saw me, he would see his wife that died… and he couldn't defend her. At least that was how it started, he didn't hurt me for a long time… until that anger just became… anger… and hate. For a crime I never committed, just for having her face." Nora explained, wiping the tears from her cheeks.

Ruby stood up and she walked over to Nora, wrapping her up in a warm hug. "I'm so sorry, Nora."

"It's okay. But you wanted to know why I want to help you stop Jackdaw? It's the same reason why I hate Killian. They all remind me of that Mayor, how he poisoned my father's mind with hatred, how he killed my mom. I hate men and women who do such terrible things and get away with it… they don't deserve to keep on going without punishment. I could never stand by and let you go after Jackdaw alone, you have a right to make sure that he finds Justice for what he did to your family… because to me… you're family too." Nora smiled, she then hugged Ruby again, and she hugged her back with a smile.

The two of them were always friends but this was one of the few times she ever had any one-to-one time with her. They broke their hug and sat back down next to each other, watching the Grunts that sparred with each other outside. Cinder was stood in the background with her arms crossed, before she gave Ruby a stern glare, and walked away towards her tent where Amber would be sleeping.

"So… even after all that… you're still this ball of joy. How?" Ruby had to ask, which made Nora chuckle.

"It was always my way, for Ren. I was too young to remember my mother, and I never really knew a time when my father loved me. But he loved his parents, so when they were killed by the Nuckelavee… it broke him. So I wanted to see him smile, so I made all the jokes, even though he was the brave one. Ever since… that's been our way. He calmed me, and I made him laugh… then things just got… better." Nora smiled, and Ruby smiled back.

"I don't know if I could ever do it." Ruby sighed.

"What do you mean?"

"You and Ren, Pyrrha and Jaune, Blake and Sun, Weiss and Neptune. I don't think I'm right for that kind of life."

"Some day, you never know what can happen."

"Maybe… but I've always had one thing on my mind, and it's always been being a Huntress."

"But how long can you keep living like that though?"

Ruby paused, and she never thought about that. "You have to have something else in your life than just killing monsters… otherwise you'll end up like Raven, or maybe even Qrow." She said to her with a smile. "Not saying you _have _to fall in love with someone. But… just find something, something you enjoy outside of this job. It's what we did."

"You did?"

"Yeah. Ren's a crazy good artist, and me? I love teaching kids stuff, going to the Orphanages and stuff." Ruby smiled and looked out at the distance. "So what do you like doing in your spare time?"

"Uh… I dunno… I like playing video games."

"Then why not focus on that? You like books too, ever thought about writing one? Combine them?" She suggested, Ruby never looked at life that way. It was not a huge industry on Remnant, but she always loved playing her video games on her scroll. Helped her escape the world for a while – especially when on a hunt for a Grimm.

"Maybe…"

"Just an idea, think it over." Nora shrugged.

Ruby opened her mouth to keep talking, until they heard the commotion outside. "WHERE IS SHE?" Cinder screamed, running out from Amber's tent. She looked around with fear, that was an emotion they had never seen before from Cinder fall. Ruby and Nora stood up, and they walked outside, the screams from Cinder Fall woke up both Yang and Ren, then they followed them outside.

"What's going on?" Nora asked her, all of Cinder's reserved hatred for the four of them instantly seemed to fade away. Her mind was completely focused on finding Amber, it was clear now that Cinder really did start to care about her.

"Where is she? Where is she!" Cinder yelled with immense worry, Ruby and Yang turned when Raven's tent suddenly opened and Raven emerged with Valravn and Qrow, the three Branwens walked over to the commotion, seeing Cinder in the most fear they have seen her since Raven first picked her up after the Fall of Beacon.

"What is this?" Raven questioned, Ruby turned and she stared at Valravn, who also stared straight into her Silver Eyes. Ruby shuddered, looking away from the unnerving man who stood beside Qrow with those windchimes ringing out.

"Amber! Amber is missing! I went to check on her and she's gone!" Cinder shouted, Raven immediately stormed towards her tent and she threw it open, staring inside of the empty room, where her teddy bear was still sat. She crouched down as Ren walked over and looked inside with her. Raven picked the teddy bear up, staring at it, and she knew that she would have never ran without taking the plushie with her. It was her favourite toy, and her only toy.

Ren was the one to spot the biggest clue though, he crouched down as the spider crawled across her bed, he picked it up by the leg as it dangled, writhing in his grasp. He looked at Raven and she stared at the Arachnid, she clenched her hand into a fist with anger, she dropped the toy and walked outside.

"Malachite." Raven told them all as she came out, Eryka walked out from her tent and so did Oscar and everyone else. Vernal picked her weapons up with a shocked stare.

"Malachite?" Ruby asked.

"She must have had a contact watching our camp, taken her when she had the chance, after we cleared out the Hearthstone Chateau." Raven explained, walking into her tent and she picks her sword up instantly, Qrow does the same, kicking his sword up in the air and catching it in his grasp. Everyone started to pick up their weapons, whilst Ruby, Yang, Nora and Ren looked around at everyone. Fear started to fall upon them all, they were all moving with a determination they had never seen before.

"W-What are we doing?" Ruby stammered.

"We're getting her back!" Cinder growled, forming her Obsidian Axe in her hand, her amber eye ignited with anger. Vernal caught Cinder's forearm as she walked past her.

"You alright? I didn't think you –"

"Cared? The girl is me, and she reminds me of someone I killed for Salem. I will not let her die, I will not let her end up like me." Cinder snarled, she stormed off from Vernal who reached out for her, sighing. But then Vernal hardened herself and she joined the Grunts who were all picking up their many weapons. Firearms, blades, axes, explosives – they are taking everything.

Raven approached the oldest members of the group who were not able to fight anymore, but helped in other ways. Medical care, food, cleaning, alchemy and much more. "O'Connor, Frankie, Jenny, Abby. Stay here and start packing up the camp, we're moving out, heading to the Mountains. Whether or not we come back with Amber, be ready to get moving." Raven ordered.

"What are you going to do?" O'Connor asked her, he was one of the older men here, he was the man who helped them build their ammunition from whatever scrap they found on their raids. He was also very good with managing money as well.

"We're gonna go have a little chat with Miss Malachite." Raven snarled, Yang stared at Raven with shocked eyes.

_She'd do this for a little girl she hardly knows… but never came for me when I lost my arm?_

_Is she serious?_

"The four of you! Stop standing around, get your weapons. If Malachite doesn't come to her senses and gives us Amber – we're going to kill them all." Raven explained, their eyes widened with fear.

"K-Kill?" Ruby stammered fearfully, Raven walked straight past them. Yang watched her mother walk straight past her… and Valravn's words when they first met were starting to make more sense.

_Ah, the shining light in the sky that shrouds its darkness from within. I wonder, what will we uncover when we cast your shade upon your light? What secrets will we find? What mistakes?_

She understood it now… Raven was the one who let her shade shroud her light, whilst Yang had not done it yet. Yang had the blood of a Branwen, which meant that she had this fire in her, just not ignited.

Ruby stammered, when she turned to see that Shay had gone into their Tent with some other Grunts, throwing their weapons to them. Ruby caught Crescent Rose as the collapsed weapon landed against her chest. Silver eyes wide with fear of the prospect that had faced her… they had fought people before, but they never used Lethal Strikes – only hit them enough to break their thin aura and to knock them all out.

Even then though… they could have indirectly killed people… but never directly.

Raven walked towards the enraged Cinder, she was shaking with anger, her Fall Maiden powers were stronger than ever, feeding from the immense anger that flowed through her veins. "Cinder, we will get Amber back. I know you have started to grow close to her, and I promise you, that you will grow even closer. I swear to all the Gods." Raven promised, she turned to Eryka and picked up her bow, offering it to her. "You with us?" She asked her, Eryka nodded her head and took the bow.

"Yeah." She growled in agreement, wanting to kill these people just as much as they did. Anyone that kidnaps a child… they should be punished for their actions.

"Those staying, get ready to move out! Everyone else, with me!" Raven demanded, she unsheathed her sword and opened the portal behind her as all her Bandits got ready to charge, cheering and hollering to go to war against the Malachites and all their little spiders.

They could take and accept threats…

… but this?

No… not this.

Raven walked through the portal with Cinder and Valravn, and in an instant, they stepped from grass to sand. They walked past all the destroyed buildings that surrounded them all, left behind after the Drought claimed the exterior. Everyone followed, and the last who came through were Ruby and her friends. Raven closed the portal behind them, and their force of Branwen Bandits marched across the sands of Vacuo.

The night was still dark, the Shattered Moon watched the Bandits as they moved ever closer towards the Chateau in the distance. All the bandits started to ready themselves, loading their firearms, sharpening blades, and rolling their shoulders. Some of them looked excited to battle once more, it had been quite a long time since a good raid against another Criminal Gang.

"How the hell did this even happen?" Qrow questioned as he walked with Ruby and the others, he stayed close with them, he did not want to leave his nieces alone with this Bandits, not on a raid like this.

"I don't know! I mean I heard something half an hour ago, but I thought it was one of Shay's boys screwing around with one of the fireworks we found." Vernal stated, but Shay shook his head, as he loaded his dual Revolvers with dust charted bullets.

"No, we heard the same thing. Sounded like a goddamn jet!" Shay called out as he slicked his mullet back.

Everyone knew what they were talking about, none of them though even knew about the assailant with the metal wings that stole her. "Are you certain this is Malachite's doing? I mean we paid our way with her!" Ruby asked with worry.

"Did you not see what was in that damn Manor, kid?" Cinder asked her. "The Malachites and all her Spiders are loyal to nobody but themselves. It's not the first time she has taken someone as a bargaining chip so she can use you for her other deeds. Or she could just double cross you and kill everyone you know to cut off loose ends. Lil Miss Malachite is the most dangerous person in Vacuo…"

"We never should have dealt with her." Oscar stated.

"We didn't have much choice, we had to stay ahead of Killian and the Black Gallows, you saw how close we were to getting caught last time." Raven reminded.

"I'm gonna kill them all…" Cinder snarled with anger as she walked with them, dragging the blade of her obsidian axe through the sand, scorching a trail behind them.

"Cool it, Cinder. If she knows where she was taken, we cannot risk losing that info. Anima's a big continent, whoever it was who took her could be anywhere." Raven explained.

"How the hell did someone manage to get into the Camp in the first place? We have tripwires and alarms set up around the entire base, no way they could have got in without anyone noticing." Vernal stated as she charged up Wind and Fire in her hands.

"I don't know, but whoever it was must have had some kind of aerial system on them, like a jetpack or something. Because there were no tracks into the Camp, just ones that landed outside her tent and the scorch marks where he left." Raven explained, Valravn was still silent as he walked, staring directly ahead at the Chateau.

Ruby looked up at Qrow with fear in her big silver eyes. "Uncle Qrow?" She whimpered.

"Don't worry kiddo… just… just stay close, alright? All of you… this isn't your fight. And besides… what's about to happen… let's just say there is a reason why her Tribe are feared." Qrow warned, which just made the four of them even more nervous. Eryka held Dulcis on her forearm and she whistled, letting the big bird take off into the sky, and she connected to his eyes, staring through them and able to see all the Spiders that were in the building.

They had done quite a lot of work on the house, already had it mostly repaired, however they were still working which gave them the advantage. "They don't even realise that we're coming." Eryka informed.

"Good, means we have the element of surprise. Shay, take your boys and flank the entire perimeter, get the whole house in your sights. On my signal, open fire, kill them all." Raven advised, Ruby stammered and she shot forward to get in front of Raven. Qrow's eyes widened and he reached out for her.

"Ruby!"

"Raven, wait… please… can't we find a more peaceful way to do this? We don't have to kill them, can't we just talk to her? Scare her maybe? She'll answer, tell us where she took Amber, why she took her." Ruby desperately suggested, in the vain hope that they did not have to murder these people.

Raven stared at Ruby, and Cinder just scoffed. "Get out of the way, kid." Cinder snarled, but Raven held out her hand.

"Because you're Summer and Tai's little girl… I'll consider it. I'll give them a chance to talk… but if they don't? We're going to kill them all." Raven stated, before they barged past her again, then the Grunts all began to circle the perimeter of the house, stealthily keeping to the shadows and the dunes. Whilst the others all remained in the darkness by the ruins. Raven sat down on a rock, whilst Yang stared at her.

She wanted to know why… why she would risk so much for a child that is not hers. "Why are you doing this?" Yang questioned, Raven stared at her with confusion.

"I beg your pardon?" Raven questioned, coldly staring at Yang.

"Why do you even care? I doubt you even knew her name, yet when she's taken you put your whole tribe at risk for her. But when this happened?" Yang asked, lifting her cybernetic hand up. "You weren't there."

Raven stared at her with near emotionless eyes, it was as if the one that was being kind to her a day ago had completely vanished, and now it was the Chieftess. "She's one of _us_." Was her only answer, it cut deep, as if all that talk of family that Yang had with her mother meant nothing in the end. Yang stepped away and turned back to the others, seeing how scared both Ren and Nora looked.

They never seemed afraid of anything… but this?

They knew what the Branwen Tribe could do, they've seen what remained from villages that Shay raided. But never what they could do when they were lead by Raven herself.

As they waited, Raven heard the whistle from Shay nearby, letting her know that they were all in position. Raven exhaled and stood up with her sword still sheathed as she walked out into the open. "Come on, let's go have a chat with these Spiders." Raven said to them all, then they all walked out into the open.

Raven, Valravn and Cinder at the front.

Then behind them were the brunt of their forces. Oscar, Eryka, Vernal, Ruby, Yang, Nora, Ren and Qrow. Raven walked with Cinder beside her and she muttered to herself. "Who steals a damn child?" Raven snarled.

As they approached, they stopped before the Chateau, and Valravn's whispers entered the minds of the Spiders who all spun around to see them stood there. "We would like to have a word with your boss." Raven told them, the men all had no idea that they had the crosshairs of countless weapons aimed at their heads. Melanie Malachite was stood there, and she walked towards them with her white dress on and blades heels stabbed into the sand beneath her.

"You should have cautioned against this decision, Branwen." Melanie warned.

"Oh I doubt that." Cinder growled as her eye ignited, gripping her Obsidian Axe in her hand.

"You should not have come here, and if you were wise you would leave before you all get killed." Melanie warned.

"We are simply here to speak with your boss, you took one of ours. Amber Phusia? Name ringing a bell?" Raven asked her curiously.

"Yeah, it does. She's ours now, and you will do what we tell you – otherwise we will wipe you out." Melanie warned, Ruby stood there with desperation, hoping they would just let them talk to Lil Miss Malachite. Raven pinched the bridge of her brow, she was trying to honour Ruby's request, but they were making it very hard.

"Look, I don't want to have to kill all of you to get the answers I need – but I will if you force me to. Now if you wanted to threaten us, you could try your damndest… but stealing a little girl? That is not the way you do things. Tell us where you ordered the kidnapper to take him." Raven demanded one last time. Melanie scoffed as she walked forward.

"Get the hell out of here, before we all light you up where you stand!" Melanie demanded, Raven glanced at the house. Noticing that the Spiders were now in position to fight, rifles and Repeaters all glared down at their heads. Raven looked back at Ruby and just sighed, which made Ruby's blood run cold, and her hand tapped the hilt of her Odachi.

"If you're not gonna be civilised about this." Raven said, then she whistled.

Suddenly the dark dunes lit up with gunfire, and Grunts with melee weapons charged towards the Spiders on the ground with deafening hollering. Raven slashed her Odachi free from the scabbard and slashed the fire dust coated blade towards Melanie, which impacted straight into her chest. The fiery attack knocked the aura protected woman down to the ground, then the ground around Cinder suddenly erupted, and she floated up into the air.

Eryka grit her teeth, and she charged with Vernal and Oscar, Qrow stood with them, and he looked at them. Ruby covered her mouth with fear, she could not even move… none of them could. "Just… stay in cover!" Qrow ordered, he knew they would die if they did not do so, and then he spun round and deflected an incoming shot. The Bad Luck charm caused the rebounded round to shoot straight through the Spider's skull, his blood and brains splattered across the window behind him. He walked beside his sister and his uncle as they approached the Hearthstone Chateau.

* * *

**Qrow**

* * *

The Branwens walked faster and faster towards Melanie who was slowly getting back up from the sudden attack from Raven Branwen, and then the doors burst open and the Spiders came flooding out to defend their Broodmother.

Melanie yelled with anger, and charged towards Raven, jumping up and kicking at her with the blades that extended from her heels, but Raven blocked the incoming strikes with the blade of her Odachi. Sparks erupted from the contact of the blades colliding into one another, then when she landed, Raven slammed her head into Melanie's, knocking her back. The Malachite Twin grunted and staggered away from her, when suddenly Raven shot her sword from the scabbard and the hilt slammed into her chest. Melanie staggered back again, then the sword returned to Raven's hand, and she lunged forward, drawing the red blade and slashing it across Melanie's aura.

Valravn turned upon hearing the sound of many Spiders cocking their guns and firing them at him. He suddenly leapt forward with a haunting roar, the whispers of the Ravens all started to shout around him. He drew his dual sickles and he slashed them through the Spiders and their unarmoured bodies, carving through them with such ease. Thick red blood sprayed from their bodies, severed limbs flew from their cleaved bodies and splattered onto the ground. Valravn slid across the ground as he landed, blood drooled from the curved blades, then he rose tall, turning as he walked away from the others, the constant whispers infecting the minds of the Spiders like a plague.

"Valravn… Valravn… Valravn…"

Qrow stared the attacking Spiders down as they charged towards him with their swords and bats, yelling with rage, and one of them goes to slash him with the sword, only to trip on a piece of rubble that protruded through the rubble, breaking his ankle from the Bad Luck Charm. He crashed down to the ground with a scream, whilst Qrow dodged the incoming baseball bat, ducking underneath it, then he swung round with Harbinger. He brought the sword round and sliced it straight through the shoulder of the spider, and down into the centre of his chest. Blood poured and sprayed from the impact, choking on his blood as Qrow pushed the corpse from the blade, before he transformed the blade into the long Scythe. He jumped up in the air and spiralled through the air, beheading the third Spider in one swing, sending his skull flying, bouncing across the ground.

He landed and collapsed the Scythe back into Sword form, then the blade folded down and he aimed the barrel of the gun at the face of the Spider who begged him for mercy. "P-Please!" But Qrow showed none, he just mercilessly fired and blew his brains out from the shotgun, splattering his skull across the sand.

He turned to see Shay charging with his men towards the House, their many Grunts were flooding the unsuspecting guards, they had no idea that they were all around them, meaning the ones from the sides and back took the attack so suddenly. One of them tackled a Spider to the ground and battered her skull in with a hammer, killing her quickly but he kept collapsing her skull, laughing maniacally. "It's been a while since our good hunt, hasn't it boys?" Shay bellowed, firing his Dual Revolvers at their enemies. He shot one of them in the throat, causing him to choke on his blood, collapsing down to the ground. He walked towards the Manor, as the guards panicked, shooting at him, but he rolled down to a piece of rubble left behind, and then he aimed round, firing and nailing one of them in the eye.

"Look out, Shay!" A Bandit yelled, as he suddenly emerged and launched a missile from a Missile Launcher that they collected. The missile exploded and blew the double doors and the walls apart, collapsing down onto some of the Spiders. The flames spread fast across the flammable wood. Shay smirked, pleased to hear the screams of the Spiders who were blown to pieces by the explosion. Arms and legs were lost, and some lost their innards, begging for the pain to stop.

Shay grinned disturbingly at a woman who cried out for the pain to stop, he crouched down and began to strangle her slowly, enjoying the sight of her pain. Yang watched from the distance, horrified to see the brutality of what Raven's Tribe could do when they were unleashed… they were monsters.

Eryka sprinted across the battlefield and she slid under the attacking blow of a Spider who held a Two-Handed Hammer, nearly taking her head off with it. She twisted round and fired an arrow at the Spider, it went straight through the back of his head and out his eye. He jolted from the sudden pain, and then the end came… his body collapsed to his knees, then to the floor. Eryka rose and she whistled to Dulcis, who dove down and slashed his talons across the throat of a Spider, spraying blood out like a pressure hose. She ducked and avoided the sudden shot from a Spider, who then charged at her with a machete. She rolled aside and just missed the attack, then smacking the Spider across the jaw with her bow, breaking the woman's jaw.

The Spider took her machete and slashed it towards her bow and knocked it from Eryka's hand, but that did not stop Eryka. She grabbed onto the Spider's long grey hair and yanked her head back, suddenly driving her Hunting Knife down into her jugular. The woman choked in agony as Eryka slit her throat, dropping her to the ground, picking her bow back up. Blood covered her hand, she stared at it for a moment and sighed, before she walked away from the corpse, seeing the others all slaughtering the Spiders in their home.

Oscar charged towards the house and launched one of his Chained Hammers towards the Spider, colliding into his chest so hard they could hear the sound of his ribs collapsing from their. The body of the Spider flew through the window, then he slid across the sand to dodge the incoming fire from a Spider. He jumped at him and wrapped the chains around his throat, strangling him on the spot. Oscar howled viciously as he crushed the man's throat, then snapped his neck with a single sudden twist.

Vernal slashed her curved blades across the chest of a Spider, so hard that the blood sprayed from the wound like a fountain, then she fired her shotguns at them, constant beams of superheated dust carved through their bodies with terrifying ease. She rolled aside and she blasted both of the guns up at one of the Corinthian Pillars above them, and caused the pillar to dislodge, and come toppling down. The Spider shrieked as it crushed him flat underneath its immense weight. More Bandits rushed past her, firing shotguns and repeaters into the Spiders, killing some of them instantly. But not all of them, most of them died agonizing deaths, stabbed and hacked to pieces by the Grunts, blood pooled out into the sand.

Vernal turned her gaze to see Shay with blood around his hands after he strangled that woman to death who begged him not to kill her. He had a deranged grin on his face, one that even scared her. Until the sky above them darkened more, blocking out the stars as lightning gathered and came crashing down. A Spider screamed in agony as Cinder blasted lightning down from the clouds and into the balcony. The Balcony shattered like glass, throwing his charred corpse from where he was stood, splatting down to the ground beneath them. Cinder hovered above the Spiders with a furious burning eye.

She held her hands above her head and she blasted flames down from the sky upon the Spiders that were still outside. Ruby had to cover her ears from the haunting sound of all their screams. Nora hugged her knees with fear of what these people could do when they were banded together. After all the terrors they had seen the Grimm do… it was people, that scared them the most.

Raven stopped the incoming slash from Melanie's bladed heel with her sword, then she grabbed her by the throat and slammed her down into the ground with great force. Then she stabbed the Odachi down into her leg with great force. That was when her white aura broke and she screeched in agony, blood poured from her heel, unable to move from the pain. Melanie stared up at Raven, red eyes staring down into hers. "W-We had to… we had to make sure… this wouldn't happen." Melanie stammered with fear.

Raven scoffed.

"And look how that turned out." Raven chuckled sinisterly.

"Y-You… will never fi-"

Melanie's words slurred to silence, as Cinder suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and slammed the head of her Obsidian Axe down into her head, splitting her skull. Blood poured and shot out from her head, splattering against Raven's cheek. She barely even reacted, it was Qrow who flinched from how sudden that was. Cinder pushed her boot against Melanie's now dead body and kicked her from the blade of her axe, blood poured from her skull, and she toppled over to the ground. Her corpse twitched for a moment, then Cinder just walked away.

Not saying a word.

Raven sighed, ripping the sword from Melanie's leg. "All you had to do… was talk." Raven sighed, she walked with Qrow and the others and they entered the building, looking around to find Lil Miss Malachite. "Find the Broodmother of this lovely little gang of Spiders! But do not kill her! We need her to tell us where she took Amber to." Raven demanded, and all the Bandits nodded their heads. Eryka emerged from the window, blood was over her, but not as much as Valravn or Shay. The Leader of the Grunts kicked a door down, and the screams of the Prostitutes and Strippers echoed from inside.

"Well look at this!" Shay laughed, until they heard the sound of a gunshot. They were killing them all, and as Qrow walked past Shay as he shot the innocents… it reminded him of why he left the Tribe. They were monsters, Shay was a madman, and he enjoyed nothing more than killing and causing chaos.

A man suddenly emerged from a room with a Double-Barrelled Shotgun and fired at Valravn, who simply stepped aside, and threw his Sickle straight into his chest, pinning him to the wall. He walked over and ripped the sickle from his chest, whilst Raven, Cinder and Qrow walked up the stairs. There were more dancers and Prostitutes on their knees, shaking with fear, just wanting to be let go. Raven walked straight past them, because she knew the bandits were going to kill them… and she could not stop them.

Raven approached the Master Bedroom, and she turned to her Bandits and she whistled to them all. They all gathered up and aimed their Firearms at the door, then she kicked the door open. Militia was stood there, guarding her mother, but she did not stand a chance. She was lit up from the bullets that came firing her way, shredding her aura in seconds. Militia gasped as some of the bullets went straight through her body, blood leaked from her body as she slammed against the wall. She slumped down and crashed to the carpet with a thud.

Lil Miss Malachite was cowering with fear of the Branwens who had decimated her estate, she could still hear them shooting her people one by one down there. Raven stared at her, then grabbed her by throat and lifted her up, slamming her against the wall. "This did not have to go down this way!" Raven yelled, Qrow turned and his eyes widened to see that Ruby, Yang, Nora and Ren had followed them in. They could have easily fought… but the slaughter…

… that was what this was… a slaughter.

"So… you want me to kill you too, Malachite?" Raven snarled viciously, pressing the tip of her Odachi against her throat, covered in her daughter's blood.

"You damned savages! My family have ruled the Intelligence Trade for over one hundred years in Vacuo! Look at what you have done!" Lil Miss Malachite screamed.

"Oh wah, wah, wah. I don't give a damn about that, where is Amber. I know it was you, your man left behind a Spider. I am not stupid, it is your sign, and your daughter confirmed it." Raven growled, Qrow looked at the four and he walked over to them, shielding them from what is happening.

"I told you to stay down there…" Qrow whispered.

"Y-You… massacred them…" Ruby gasped with horror, her silver eyes wide and mouth agape.

Qrow felt like he failed her, he never wanted them to see this side of him, where he came from. In fact, he never wanted to do another raid with them… and yet now he has.

Cinder stepped forward and pressed her burning hand against Malachite's cheek, which scorched her skin and made her screech in agony. "Where is Amber! Who was it you hired that took him?" Cinder yelled with anger.

"Y-You murdered my people! My children!" Malachite cried out, Raven smirked and chuckled.

"Oh and I will surely finish off your last one right here, unless you start talking." Raven warned, Malachite then began to laugh.

"Oh, I know your kind. Scum, every single one of you, only out for the chaos." Malachite snarled at them, Raven narrowed her eyes and she stared straight into Malachite's eyes.

"Where. Is. Amber?" She slowly questioned through gritted teeth. But Lil Miss Malachite refused to answer, so Raven calmed down and sighed. "Fine, if you're gonna be that way." She said, grabbing Malachite by her hair, then she suddenly stabbed her sword down, right through Militia's heart. And as soon as she ripped it out, her blood sprayed across the room, right against Ruby's cheek. She gasped with fear, and Qrow shielded them from what Raven was about to do. "Let's take this hag outside! Any more little spiders for us to deal with?" Raven asked them, as she dragged Lil Miss Malachite towards the stairs.

"Nope, pretty sure we've swatted them all, just some defenceless stragglers left." Cinder laughed.

"NOOOOO!" Lil Miss Malachite howled as Raven started dragging her down the stairs, one by one. Qrow stayed with the four of them, shieling their eyes from the slaughtered bodies that surrounded them.

"Don't look… just… don't look." Qrow softly said to them as he took them down the stairs behind Raven. His sister stopped and she yelled out to her Tribe as she smelt the scent of fire.

"Yeah, that's right! Burn this dump to the ground!" She erupted, her voice breaking in the process due to how loud she yelled. She kept dragging the crying Lil Miss Malachite down each step, before she dragged her through the blood of her people. Shay threw the last of her dancers into the ground, shooting her in the head with a smirk.

"Guess that's the last lap dance I'll be getting here!" Shay guffawed with excitement, and even Raven laughed. She was showing her true side, the Bandit Chief that they followed.

This… was the Branwen Tribe.

The real Branwen Tribe.

The flames spread like the plague throughout the house, burning the entire place down, not only erasing the Spider's Web… but also the history of the Vacuo Mafia as well. Raven kept dragging the blood covered Malachite out, when she finally threw her down into the dirt, face first. Malachite grunted, and Raven walked down the wooden steps, pointing her blade at her face. Qrow took the four of them, and kept them shielded from the terror.

"Last time I'm asking you, Malachite. Why did you take Amber?" Raven snarled.

"Insurance! To make sure that you would never rise up against us! To pay a debt!" Malachite yelled.

"Pay a debt? To who?" Cinder questioned, so Malachite told them. She smirked as she turned to face them all.

"I sold that little girl to the ones who needed to tie up loose ends on their own business. I sold her to the Vasillias Cartel." She revealed.

Eryka's eyes widened and she looked away with fear, because that meant they will have to face Lavinia Vasillias… and her mother was a woman to be feared… and the Cartel were just as terrifying. However, she did not notice that Shay noticed her reaction to that name.

Most of the Tribe did not know what Eryka's last name was.

Vasillias was a feared name, a very feared name.

"So if I were you, I'd start running, as far as you can! Because Lavinia will stop at nothing to tie up all her loose ends! She will kill every last one of you!" Malachite yelled, everyone stood there, knowing that now they had to face the Vasillias Cartel. But now… Cinder had only one thing on her mind. She let her axe collapse into dust, then she looked at Raven as Malachite turned to stare at the house that was burning.

Raven just nodded.

Cinder walked over to Lil Miss Malachite and crouched down next to her, staring at the flames. "Now you know how it feels… to watch your whole world… collapse into embers." Cinder whispered.

"You will all suffer for this…" Malachite snarled, but Cinder smirked, her eye ignited and then she grabbed her by the back of her neck.

"No… only you." She whispered, then she took Malachite and started to drag her back into the burning house. But as Cinder entered, her Fall Maiden powers extinguished the flames she walked into, forging a path through the collapsing building around her. She pulled Malachite back up the collapsing stairs, and grabbed the chains that did not burn yet, ripping it from the wall that held the chandelier up on the ceiling. The Ornament came crashing down into the hall beneath them.

Cinder approached the destroyed Balcony and wrapped the chain around Malachite's neck and melted the other end to the inside of the house. She held her close to the edge and stared at her. "This is the life you lead, Cinder Fall? A life of murder?" Malachite yelled, desperately trying to get through to Cinder.

But she knew more terrifying people than her, and nothing she could say would ever terrify her.

"What does it matter? Isn't the best way to deal with a spider, to kill it?" She asked Malachite.

"Knowledge… it is the only power that matters in the world!" Malachite preached.

Cinder smirked. "You see, that's where you're wrong. Knowledge might make you strong… but even the wisest Broodmothers… can get crushed by one that is stronger." Cinder told her, before she kicked her in the chest.

Malachite screamed as she fell out the house and plummeted towards the ground, only for the chain to suddenly tighten so hard that it snapped her neck instantly. Her body hung, and she writhed from where she swung, gasping for air as her face turned blue from lack of air.

Ruby jolted from the horrible sight, watching another person die horribly.

"We need to get to the Vasillias Cartel, make a deal with Lavinia, we need Amber back." Raven ordered, walking right past her actual daughter, who was simply frozen with shock from what just transpired.

Cinder jumped from the building, floating down to the ground and walked away from the hanging corpse of Lil Miss Malachite.

Qrow turned them away from the sight, leaving the burning manor, and the wiped out Spider's Web behind.

Only crackling flames, and the swinging chain echoed…

… amongst the silence.

* * *

**Author Note - The Spiders and the Malachites are no more**

**I have been wanting to do this chapter for ages, to show the Branwen Tribe for the terrifying group of Bandits that they really were, and that in this world - the people were sometimes more terrifying than the Grimm were. Especially Raven, Cinder and Shay, they showed no mercy and Shay enjoyed it way too much than a Human Being ever should.**

**But that was the point of being so graphic, to show them for what they are - monsters.**

**They even killed the innocents as well.**

**Question is, do you think the Malachites deserved it or not? And now, they are faced with a more terrifying prospect of facing Lavinia Vasillias and her Cartel, who are the most dangerous Criminal Organisation on the whole planet.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!**

**\- Matt**


	22. Thicker than Water

**Chapter 21 – Thicker Than Water**

* * *

**Ruby**

* * *

_Is this what life looks like now?_

She could not get that question out of her head, she had been back for a few hours now since they destroyed Lil Miss Malachite and her nest of spiders. That blood that once belonged to Militia still splattered her cheek, hardened from the now risen sun. She had not even noticed that the Shattered Moon had fallen behind the horizon, and that it was now a crisp Anima Morning. Her hands still shook, heart was pounding a thousand beats a second. She looked around, and suddenly all these people bar the three friends she knew she could trust… they all looked like monsters to her.

_How could they have done that? They butchered them, I heard their screams… they were begging for mercy. Raven didn't even stop them, she just let those people slaughter them like they were cattle._

_How do you live like that?_

_How can they sleep at night?_

Ruby turned, seeing that her friends were just like her, Nora held her axe atop her crossed legs, staring down into the reflection of the blade. Her trauma was mixed with anger, she felt so much rage… because she was a part of all this. Pink electricity coursed through her muscles as she stared at the Bandits, her hands squeezed over the grip of Stormur Skeggox, her eyes faintly shimmered bright. Ren just stared at the ground, trying to stay calm unlike his girlfriend, and Yang had similar anger. But hers was matched by seeing what her mother truly was, part of her honestly believed she was better than the rest of her bandits.

But after last night?

It proved her wrong.

Yang held her hands together, breathing slowly and carefully, she could feel the red flowing into her lilac eyes, staring at Shay who had his eyes directly on Eryka as she walked around with Dulcis on her shoulder.

There was silence among the four of them, Ruby had not actually said a word since the Fall of the Malachites. She ached with fear of where they were standing, and it was not her that spoke first. "Do you think we're on the wrong side now?" Nora asked as she spun Stormur Skeggox with her fingers, her eye twitched as she stared at them all, the Branwen Tribe, a band of murderers and thieves.

Ruby looked at her, she did not rightfully know how to respond to that question, simply because she had no idea. "I don't know… I still stand where I do against Killian… but… after what they just did? I dunno… maybe staying behind… maybe playing the part would have been smarter." Ruby stammered, it hurt to say those words, but she would rather sacrifice her freedom to choose than to become like these monsters. To kill people, and smile while she did it, to hear their screams as they died in pain, and feel nothing.

That was not who she was… it was never who she was.

But Yang did not agree with that, she turned and stared at her sister. It was very rare to see her this scared, sure she has been afraid in the past. She was only human after all, it was natural to be afraid. But that never stopped Yang from worrying about her, for just like her, she was her big sister.

"Hey… you're not seriously giving up on me are you?" Yang asked with great concern in her voice.

Ruby stared at her with confusion, those large – usually bright – silver eyes, looked so dim with fear of where they were. "Yang… did you not see what happened last night? This was the exact thing I wanted us to avoid. We allied ourselves with Raven because she wants to take Jackdaw down as well, but not this! Not murdering people like last night." She argued, she touched her cheek and felt that dried, scabby, blood on her.

It was like some kind of sick reminder for her.

Of why she became a Huntress, to never take life but to protect it. And yet after everything, she is faced with so many conflicting thoughts.

_I will never kill a soul, I cannot. But Jackdaw cannot walk away, he does not deserve to walk away after everything he has done._

_Which path should I take?_

_I really don't know… I can't be like Raven and her tribe… Mom and Dad would never want that for me._

Yang looked at her sister with concern, and she gently held her hand. "I know, and I don't like this any more than you do. But we took the only path that was in front of us. We never could have agreed to what Killian was demanding, because there was never any real choice. Doesn't matter how that bastard paints it, there was never a real choice involved. Is this what I wanted us to see when we took this path? No… but maybe… just maybe it helps us take him down."

"How can you say that? They butchered them." Ren disputed.

"They were criminals." She reminded.

"Yeah, and your own mom cared more about some random kid than she did for her own daughter. Did she ever march down to Beacon and butcher the White Fang and Adam?" Nora asked, that cut deep for Yang. Any mention of the Bull Horned Psychopath made her sick to the stomach, made that Phantom Limb Pain return ever so slightly. Nora calmed herself down, neither Ruby or Ren could tell who would win in such a fight.

"That's cold, Nora." Yang stated, Nora sighed and she shook her head.

"I'm sorry, but I'm just trying to say that it is not right. Criminals or Innocents, it does not matter. What they did was ruthless. They killed innocents, prostitutes and dancers were being murdered and tortured, I heard their screams, begs for mercy. Even the Spiders themselves, not all of them were real fighters, and yet when they cried out for mercy, they amped up the suffering. It was barbaric." Nora explained with anger in her voice.

"I know, and I am not defending that. Especially not my mother, I thought she would be better than them, that she would have tried to control the situation rather than make it worse." Yang stated, staring at her mother who was still polishing her blade, she had gotten the blood off ages ago, but she kept on polishing it. Looking after every single one.

"I suppose this is the real world now… murderers and thieves." Ren sighed as he stared at the Grunts with anger.

"It does not have to be… it's why we're here. After we stop Jackdaw… maybe we can make things better." Ruby said.

"Stop?" Yang asked her. "You used to say you wanted to kill him, has that changed?"

"Yeah… I mean… I wanted to, but I've been thinking about it. He has to be stopped but… with life there is possibility, y'know?" Ruby stated with the shrug of her shoulders.

"Yeah, like him continuing to kill people?" Yang asked. "I know you don't want to kill people Ruby, and I would never make you… but I don't really agree. If I can avoid it, then I would but sometimes we may not be given a choice. And with Jackdaw? I don't think there is one. He's been arrested over and over again, put in jail by the Black Gallows, over and over again. And every single time he gets out and kills more people."

"But what if… what if we can change him? What if that maybe it takes the right person?" Ruby asked her with curiosity, but Yang shook her head.

"I don't think certain people can change, Ruby." Yang said, looking at Nora, whom sadly agreed with her.

"I'm with Yang, what happened last night was terrible and I would never kill people – but some people in the world? Are just too evil to change. Sometimes killing is the only good and heroic thing we can do." Nora stated with the shrug of her shoulders. Ruby shook her head as she stood up.

"I can't accept that… I won't accept that. We're Hunters! We're supposed to be better than that."

"Huntsmen and Huntresses do what they have to do to get the job done." Qrow suddenly said, they jolted as they turned, seeing the old Warrior stood behind them with a flask in his hand. There was a slur behind his voice, he was not completely blind drunk, but he was tipsy at best. He stumbled over, leaning against the barrel next to him with a belch.

"Uncle Qrow? Are you drunk?" Ruby asked.

"Yuuuuup…" He slurred with a laugh.

The four of them were finally in agreement as they united with a disgusted groan. "Whaaat?"

"Just get some rest, Uncle Qrow." Ruby sighed, then as he burped, he sat down next to her, and he sighed.

"I'm… not that drunk, Ruby… I still know what I'm saying… kinda…" He grumbled.

Ruby looked at her Uncle and she just wished that he would quit drinking. But that was always the curse when it came down to any form of addiction… it was not as easy as a simple decision. One does not just quit their addiction, it takes a lot more than that. "Look… Imma sorry for what happen last night… it all went… b-bad." He burped, yet his words were sincere, if he was sober Ruby and Yang knew his words would sound more so.

"That's putting it very mildly." Ren stated.

"Iss juss the way things are." Qrow slurred softly as he sat there.

"It was a massacre. Nothing normal about that." Ren reminded.

"You all come from an Academy, you never lived this kind of life. One where you were so hungry that you thought you weren't going to wake up the next morning. Do you know what a lot of these people were? Before they joined Raven?" Qrow asked, and suddenly his slurred voice changed into his usual speak, as if he was sober. They all looked at him with inquisitiveness.

"What?" Ruby inquired.

"Some of them were petty criminals, ones that just couldn't fit into society, only found a skill through stealing or using their intelligence in fraud." Qrow explained, looking at all the different people that walked around the area. "But most of the Grunts? They were soldiers… Veterans, most of them left for different reasons. Some of them were badly injured, others were sick in the head from the fighting. And others were just tossed aside by the Government. The problem was… that there were not enough Veteran Homes to take them in at the time. If there is _one_ thing that I admire about Killian? It's his devotion to people like him, soldiers who never unlocked their auras or their semblances."

"How do you mean?" Ren asked him.

"He never gave up on them like the Councillors did, the way that most of society did. I have seen so many soldiers be cast aside, thrown away like they were trash. Hell I've seen some Job Offerings that specifically excluded Ex-Servicemen. It disgusted me… so a lot of those people just… turned to crime, using the skills they had, since there were people out there who would actually pay them for it. The Malachites, the Vasillias Cartel, the Vacuo Mafia, the Valerian Biker Gangs… and of course – the Branwen Tribe." Qrow explained.

"Surely… not all of them are?" Nora asked.

"No, no… not at all. Most of them are simply thugs or broken souls that they _saved_. But Raven? And our fathers and Grandfathers who lead the Tribe? They knew how to manipulate those that society betrayed… sometimes I felt we did the right thing… but eventually I always remember the truth." Qrow stated.

"What truth?" Yang asked.

"That any Criminal Organisation, no matter who leads it… never cares for those who serve them. Not really… in a funny way it's the only thing that they have in common with the legal ones. People who work for them are just numbers. I guess it's the one thing that separates the Academies from them all. We actually care for our warriors." Qrow stated as he stared at the Tribe.

"It's ironic, isn't it? How close the Criminal Underworld and the Legal World really are." Nora chuckled.

"It is… Valravn once told me that both sides secretly work together, to control the world. The Legal side stops the people from rising up against them, whilst the Underworld controls the flow of information. It always confused me as a kid, never really knew what he meant by that. But… when I got older he started to make sense. Both sides need each other, in their own weird ways." Qrow shook his head with a heavy sigh.

This… was the real world.

It was corrupt, and cold.

A world where men like Killian and Lavinia Vasillias could do the things they do and get away with it. And where people who fought for their Kingdoms, for their families, were tossed aside the moment they were not useful.

"I'm sorry you saw what you did last night, I tried to hide you all from it. I didn't want you to see what this Tribe really was… I tried to hide from it when I left. But every single time… I wind up here again." He sighed, staring at the Tribesmen who were finishing up the deconstruction of the camp.

The Drunken Old Qrow sighed, staring at the flask and he took another swig of the whiskey inside of it, before he shoved it back inside of his jacket pocket. "I would have stopped Shay from forcing you to come with us, but it all happened so fast." Qrow stated, he burped again and Yang looked at her Uncle, before she stared at her mother who was speaking to Vernal. Both of them had their eyes on Shay.

"Uncle Qrow?" Yang said.

"Yeah?"

"My Mom… you once told me that she would only save me once… but she said she tried to help me again at Beacon, but didn't make it in time. Was she telling the truth?" Yang inquired as she stared at her Cybernetic Arm.

"I don't know, she told me she tried, despite her rule. It was the way in which our parents raised us. Well, Valravn did… neither were around enough to be there for us. But Valravn would help us out of a situation once, but would expect us to find our way out the next time around. So that we would learn how to solve our own problems." Qrow explained, he looked at the tent where Valravn would spend most of his time, away from everyone.

"I sound like such a bitch… but… seeing her go after a girl she barely even knew like that? When she never did anything like that for her own daughter? I dunno… it hurts. Like she never cared." Yang stated, crossing her arms.

"She's the Leader of this Tribe, Yang. Do you think they follow her because of her last name? Anyone can become the Tribe Leader, they just have to prove themselves with strength. If she shows any sign of weakness – _any _ – and the whole Tribe could rise up against her. It's a fragile thing… leadership." Qrow explained, and Ruby looked at her hands.

_The state of my team… torn apart because of my decisions, because I lied to two of my closest friends._

"Tell me about it." Ruby sighed.

Qrow looked at her, and he gently squeezed her shoulder. "I know that once this is over… they will accept you. In time." He assured.

"I dunno… you didn't see Weiss… you didn't hear the way she spoke. She felt betrayed… betrayal is a wound that takes a long time to heal from." Ruby stated.

They all sat there, and they just fell silent from their grief, regrets and fears. But as they sat there, they could hear a commotion building from the middle of the Tribe. Ruby stared at the start of it after she felt Ren gently bump her side, since he was the one who heard it first. It was between Shay and Eryka, he shoved her back and he started grilling her, over and over again. "Go on, really – why don't you tell me what's on your mind, Blue?" Shay asked her curiously as he walked towards her.

"Back off, asshole!" Eryka barked, she looked around and saw that the camp's attention was starting to stare at them. One by one the Grunts started to watch the scene, Raven and Vernal watched the scene building. Cinder was pacing back and forth, her blood boiling over what has happened with Amber, but she stared at the two of them as this argument started to brew. This camp's biggest weakness was the fact that if there was any form of negative emotions formed then it could cause a Grimm Attack.

Oscar emerged from his tent and so did Valravn, standing tall with the chimes ringing as they hung from his feathered cloak. Ruby, Yang, Nora, Ren and Qrow stood up as they watched the situation brew. "Why should I? Give me a damn good reason, Blue? I saw the way that you looked at Malachite as soon as she mentioned the Cartel." Shay growled.

"So what? It's the goddamn Vasillias Cartel, we all know how bad they are." Eryka stated.

"OH BULLSHIT!" Shay exploded with anger, pointing at her face with great rage. He turned and the huge Eagle suddenly landed on her shoulder, screeching a deafening roar at him. Shay backed off from the massive Altum Eagle that was protecting his best friend, yet his anger did not subside. "We were all pissed off when we heard their name, but you looked scared! Scared because you didn't wanna go back to them, right? I've seen that look more times than I can count!" Shay yelled.

"Shay, enough." Raven demanded as she stood up, walking towards the situation.

"Hell no, I've had it with this. You always kept this one under lock and key when she was with us, and you let her go without any ramifications last time! Why?" Shay barked.

"Watch your tongue, Shay." Raven hissed.

"Why?" He repeated.

"She is my friend, and everyone can leave whenever they wish to. She wanted to look over her little brother, I granted her that wish." Raven stated.

"That the only reason? You know there's always been something I've been curious about – why did you never tell us your last name? Raven never told us, you never told any of us. But I bet… that Vernal, Cinder and Oscar? I bet all of you know." Shay laughed as he pointed his Revolver at all three of them. They recoiled back from the sudden gun that was waved around at their faces.

"Put the gun down." Qrow ordered.

"Stay out of this, Qrow. You're an out on this Tribe, you don't get to order shit!" Shay yelled, he spun round and glared at Eryka again. "So… Blue? What's your last name?"

"That's none of your business." Eryka deflected.

"Oh… I think it is. How about this… Surname for a Surname? I'm Shamus Desmond Mann. What about you?" He asked, but Eryka stayed quiet.

Shay laughed, then he spun round and stared at Ruby, Yang, Nora and Ren. "That's it. You two! At the same time! What's her last name?" He snarled, pointing his gun straight at Ruby's face, and Yang grits her teeth with rage, her eyes flared red. But before chaos could ensue, Eryka suddenly shouts.

"MY NAME IS ERYKA LAVINIA VASILLIAS!"

"Well hell, ain't I the belle of the ball?" Shay laughed, drawing his second Revolver and pointing them both at Eryka with a smirk, until Vernal swiftly aimed Fire and Wind at him, so he pointed the other at her as well.

"Put the gun down." Vernal ordered.

"Shut it, honey. Didn't you hear? Our illustrious leader has been keeping the Queen Bitch's Little Bitch under lock and key! We should kill her! Or maybe sell her to Lavinia! In PIECES!" He roared, finger on the trigger, and Dulcis snarled as he stood on Eryka's shoulder.

But then Shay felt the cold blade from Raven against the back of his neck. "Back. Down. Now." Raven growled, Shay lowered the guns, turning to stare straight into Raven's eyes. "I never told the Tribe about Eryka's relations to Lavinia because it was not your business. Besides, she is not her mother and doesn't like her any more than you do."

"I remember when you said that you treated us all as equals… was that a lie?" Shay asked as he squared up against Raven, but she just stared straight into his eyes.

"No… but there are some things that are simply not your business." Raven reminded.

"That so? I think that maybe… we need to think of a change in leadership." Shay threatened, as he holstered his dual revolvers and Raven sheathed her Odachi. "Someone who actually can lead the Tribe forward! Someone who makes us do what we do best! Instead of making us only fight against those who are just like us! We are bandits! We raid others and take their resources for our own! We do not sow! But you? The only thing you care about, is Goldilocks over there." Shay said, before he looked her up and down and started to lick her lips. "If I were in charge? I'd show her a real good time."

Suddenly Raven swung her fist into Shay's face, so hard that it knocked him against the ground. He rolled across the floor with a grunt and Raven drew her Odachi, coated in Fire Dust, igniting from the air making contact with it. She pointed the long blade at his throat, and he held his hands up from his bleeding jaw. "If you dare… lay a finger on my daughter… you will be me to kill you. And if she sees me as a monster for what I did to the Spiders? She will see me for what I can really do… if you did anything to her. Because your suffering would be unimaginable." Raven snarled viciously.

Shay stared at Raven, and that was the Raven that they all knew and followed. There was that fire in her eyes, and Yang stared at her mother… she did not know what scared her more. What Raven would do to protect a little girl? Or what she would do for her actual daughter?

Not many people could leave Yang speechless, but Raven always did.

Shay just spat blood onto the dirt, and he stood back up as Raven sheathed the sword back into her massive scabbard. Shay glared at her, there was still that doubt though – he wanted to lead the Branwen Tribe.

Raven always knew he did.

"This Tribe? It's on Borrowed Time… how long will it take for you to realise that?" Shay snarled, before he walked away from the conflict, punching a barrel to take that anger out of him. Eryka sighed, pushing her hands through her soft blue hair, before turning to Raven who defended her,

"Thanks." Eryka said.

"Well… the Tribe knows now." Raven stated.

"It was gonna come out sooner or later." Eryka stated, she turned to see Ruby approach with her friends and Qrow. Valravn was stood in the foreground with his staff held in his hand, those cold eyes watched her every move like a hawk… she could not tell if he was studying her or waiting to make some kind of move.

"Did you mean that?" Yang asked her mother, and Raven stared at her.

"You're my daughter, of course I did. I know you don't agree with my methods… but as you said a while ago. You don't know me. But in time I hope you will." Raven said.

"So what's the plan?" Ruby asked with a sigh, she decided to think about the mission instead of the terrifying Tribe and what they could do.

"We head up to the Mountains, and we go to the Vasillias Cartel." Raven explained. "It won't be an easy journey, but it's the best bet we have. I can't risk using my portals up there, so many summits and chasms? We could fall to our deaths."

"So we got a long walk?" Nora sighed.

"Yeah…" Raven groaned.

"Well, I know a way and a place that will make it faster." Eryka revealed.

"Yeah? Where?" Qrow asked her.

"There's a place in the Mountains, the place I was trained and where Dulcis came from. And where I found my way." Eryka explained.

"Where's that?" Vernal asked as she walked over to the conversation.

Eryka turned to them all and whistled to Dulcis who descended down onto her shoulder, chirping. "The Summit's Claim."

* * *

**Jaune**

* * *

The smell of burnt wood… of burnt flesh… it choked the desert air.

Jaune's eyes were peeled wide with horror of what he was staring at, seeing the remains of Lil Miss Malachite, whose body still swung by that chain. Yet they could only tell that it was her due to how large the body was, completely charred and destroyed by the flames that consumed her. The stench of all that burnt flesh, burnt wood and toxicity in the air… it made them feel sick to the stomach. They had to look away from Malachite's corpse after a while, the Authorities and the Black Gallows were here, and Winter turned as a familiar soldier approached.

It was Dutch, the soldier that she and Eryka captured and interrogated for answers back at Beacon Academy. He had risen up the ranks four years later, now he was Killian's Right Hand Man, something that surprised even her. He was bigger than before as well, with his helmet collapsing back into his shoulder plates, piece by piece, revealing his face to the world. He also had a fresh scar across his jaw, one that he had stitched up himself. "It was the Spiders, Lil Miss Malachite's Gang. They ran Vacuo, at least they did for a time." Dutch stated as he walked over to them, with his double bladed sword sheathed onto his back.

He was not only his right hand man, but he was also an Obsidian Glaive, the highest ranking soldier beneath the Dark Eclipse (Killian). Winter held her hands on her hips as she looked around, and she walked beside Dutch, staring at the corpses that had been stabbed to death. "I know this style of attack, this was the Branwen Tribe. No doubt about it… meaning it was them." Winter stated with a huff in her voice.

"So not only do we have a bunch of Huntsmen and Huntress going rogue, but now we also have a deadly Bandit Tribe on our plate as well? Gods this situation just gets better and better." Dutch sighed, pushing his hands through his short black hair.

"Indeed." She agreed, it seemed like the two of them had set aside their differences for what they happened four years prior.

Jaune stared at all the bodies, he may not have known that Ruby, Yang, Nora and Ren played no part in what happened here – but it did not look that way to them. The last that they saw of them was that they left Vacuo in a fight, and a bunch of Stockholm Troopers were murdered in the process. "How could they have done this?" Jaune stammered with fear, Pyrrha held his hand as she looked around, seeing the fire damage – she knew that only one person could have possibly done this damage.

"This is my fault…" Weiss whimpered with horror, they turned and stared at her.

"What are you talking about? This has nothing to do with you, nothing to do with us." Blake asked with confusion.

"I let Ruby go… maybe if I didn't let my emotions get the better of me… maybe if I had looked past her just being my friend? Maybe this would never have happened." Weiss stammered.

"She wouldn't have ordered a massacre… no… this had to have been Raven… what scares me is if Ruby and the others were involved." Jaune stammered, they were all afraid. They never wanted to imagine the idea that their friends could ever do something so monstrous. So callous and savage, this was never their way.

But it was Raven's.

Jaune stared back at Malachite's body, seeing a Black Gallows Raven Talon taking off into the air with a jetpack, with a blade extended from the bracer so then he could cut the chain. He severed it with a metallic bang, causing her body to crash down with a thud. The soldier descended and stood by her burned remains. Cinder made her point very clear when she murdered Lil Miss Malachite.

"It's making me remember… Beacon…" Pyrrha wobbled her speech, able to picture it all over again. "It's like what Cinder did."

"Hey… it's alright." Jaune assured, still unaware to the fact that Cinder was with the Branwen Tribe.

"Hey! We got a live one!" A Stockholm Trooper called out by the dunes, two of them had their guns aimed at the survivor and she slowly emerged. She looked exhausted from the night of terror she endured, but it was clear she was one of Malachite's. A Dancer judging by her lack of clothing on her shapely body, she must have been freezing from how cold that night was.

Winter and Dutch walked towards the Dancer, and she crouched down in front of her when the soldiers helped her sit down, wrapping her up in a warm blanket. "What happened here?" Winter asked her.

"Y-You're a Huntress… you're like them…"

"Excuse me?" Winter asked.

"I saw them… the Branwens… that blue haired girl, the kids! They killed everyone! The girl… with the one eye…" She sniffled with terror, Winter's eyes widened, she nearly wanted to tell Pyrrha and the others – but they were rattled as it was. The last thing either of them needed was to find out that Cinder Fall was still alive and was responsible for all of this chaos.

"The kids? Was one of them blonde?" She asked.

"Yeah… they didn't kill anyone… but they didn't stop the Bandits either." The woman hissed with hatred in her voice. Dutch looked at Winter and she looked at him, they both stood up and walked away from the girl as the Authorities started to take her somewhere she could be safe.

"This is bad. You know that this would be seriously bad for your side of the Consensus deal, right?" Dutch asked her, Winter looked at him with concern as well.

Compared to Killian, Dutch was very different when it came down to his views of the Huntsmen. Some soldiers were more like Killian, ones that were not tormented into seeing them as their saviours, not all of them suffered from extreme cases of Stockholm Syndrome. He was one that joined because of his skills and his rank, but he did not blame the Huntsmen for the things that happened, and he did not hate them. But he also was not blind, and new that sometimes, lies have to be told to protect people.

And unlike Killian – he had one ideology, not two – and it did not mess with his mental health like it did for Killian.

Winter sometimes thought that maybe he would be better off as the leader of the Black Gallows, maybe they all would be. At least he was honest with himself, and knew who he was.

Winter looked at Jaune and the others, then at Dutch. "I'll stick around here, see if we can learn anything else. I'll tell Jaune, Pyrrha, Weiss and Blake to go. Their presence here? I dunno it may give off the wrong impression. I mean if Ruby and her friends were involved… like you said, maybe keeping as many Huntresses and Huntsmen off site would be best." Winter explained, Dutch nodded his head and he walked away from her, before he turned round and looked at her.

"You know… I don't blame you. For any of the things that Killian says… he's just… angry, with how the Politicians run things, and he takes his anger out on their favourite toys." Dutch stated, and Winter nodded her head with a sigh.

"Well… it'd be nice if he laid off us for a while." Winter stated, then she turned and walked towards Jaune and the others.

"Was it them?" Jaune asked her.

"Doesn't sound like they directly killed anyone… but the Dancer said they didn't help the situation either." Winter answered as she sat down on a piece of rubble, looking at the destroyed house. The fire damage had caused most of the roof to cave in, but the from was still standing… barely.

The Ambulance Crews began to take the bodies of the Spiders, putting them in black bags and zipping them up so then they could be taken to the morgues. But most of the bodies, inside of the building were now just ash in the wind. They were never going to find Militia's remains, the fire had consumed her, and buried her in ash.

The Police had also locked the entire area off with tape, and there were News Crews already reporting on the scene, still unaware of what happened. They could hear countless different theories and stories being told by different News Broadcasters.

_Huntsmen massacre Crime Lord Lil Miss Malachite and her people_

_Terrorist attack_

_Grimm attack_

_Gang War starting?_

_Aliens?_

The list went on, and they could tell which ones were jumping onto the trend of blaming the Huntsmen for every little problem that came up. One of the stupidest ones they had heard, that even Killian knew was ridiculous, was when the news blamed Beacon Academy for the death of sixteen chickens in a farm. Turned out that someone did not lock them away, and a fox managed to get inside and eat them all.

That was how quickly people liked to pin the blame on what they believed was their enemy – ninety percent of the time it was crap, but that ten percent? Sometimes those were true.

"They just watched? They let it happen?" Weiss questioned.

"We don't know, maybe they froze… maybe they couldn't stop it from happening. I've heard how the Branwen Tribe do things, Qrow told me about it once. The Grunts? He said that Raven does not really have full control over them, and once a Raid starts? There's no stopping them until they have killed everyone." Winter explained, it gave them chills to imagine that… it was like having a Grenade that you had no real control over the detonation of.

"So you think maybe there was nothing they could have done?" Blake asked.

"Seems likely, the real question that's eating at me though? Is why would they go back to the Spiders and kill them after they gave them the information they agreed on? Raven Branwen is many things but I never took her for someone who would break her word, unless someone did that first." Winter explained.

"Well… I guess we'll never know unless we track them down."

"GUYS!" Dutch called from behind.

"Yeah?" Winter asked.

Dutch walked over to them with a small map in his hands. "I was talking to the Dancer, and she said that she overheard where they were heading." He said, circling the Mistraalian Mountains. "She was hiding when the fight was happening, and they interrogated Malachite out here. She told them she sold some girl that they took from the Tribe, to the Vasillias Cartel." Dutch explained.

"Oh shit…" Winter gasped.

"Vasillias… Neptune and Eryka's family?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah, which means that they must be going to Lavinia Vasillias… that's not good. She may be one of the most dangerous people in the whole world." Winter explained to them.

"My mother dealt with them once… to punish the kids who bullied me… they put them in debt that would last even after they died of old age." Pyrrha explained, Blake looked at Pyrrha with a slight bit of fear. She knew that her parents could be dangerous if anyone dared cross them, but she never expected her mother would do something quite like that.

"If they are going to get this girl back from the Vasillias Cartel, then that means they are heading into the Mistraalian Mountains." Dutch deduced.

"Yeah, I guess that's our best bet. Okay, you four? Head back to the Airship, get anything you need from the markets. We'll get to the Shadow of Broken Promises and we will head to the Anima Mountains as fast as we can. Raven has her portals she could already be there right now." Winter ordered.

"Are you sure?" Jaune asked her. "I mean, w-we could still help."

"Trust me, we won't be here too long. I've done this kind of thing more times than I can count, especially with Dutch and his men in the past four years." Winter explained as she crossed her arms. "We'll catch up." Winter assured.

* * *

They parted ways, and around fifteen minutes later they walked towards the landing strip where they had left their airship. Jaune looked up at the sky, able to see the Shadow of Broken Promises all the way from down there.

It was hazy, but still there.

"Man things just seem to be getting scarier, don't they?" Jaune chuckled.

"I know, tell me about it." Blake agreed, scratching her cheek. "Reminds me back when we –"

Suddenly a missile flew in from out of nowhere, exploding into the building above their heads. Rubble covered in flames came crashing down from above. They scattered, wide eyed and shocked as they all drew their weapons.

Blake turned… and her eyes widened with fear.

He was stood there, with Wilt and Blush held in his hand, smirking sinisterly as his coat blew in the wind, eyes hidden by his mask. And he was not alone, there was a massive human stood next to him, at least he looked like he was a human being, sewn together like some kind of monster. Lightning Dust crackled through his arms after he stabbed the dust crystals into his body, turning his voice metallic with anger.

There were also two very identical looking Faunus, both of them were Fox Faunus, one with pointed ears and the other with a fluffy tail.

Weiss looked around as she saw the Faunus Militia emerging from the houses with guns aimed at them, Pyrrha and Jaune both stared at them all.

Then he spoke.

"Well, hell… hello my darling." Adam greeted.

He got out…

… and was with Hazel Rainart.

* * *

**Author Note - Adam is back, the question now is how the hell did he get out?**

**Things are looking rather bad, especially since Ruby and co. have to go to Lavinia Vasillias of all people to help, easily one of the most dangerous people in the world below Salem and Killian, maybe on the same level as Killian actually with the power she has created for herself. And now a new White Fang, headed by Adam Taurus - with Hazel - has arisen.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**\- Matt**


	23. The Feral Ones

**Chapter 22 – The Feral Ones**

* * *

**Adam**

* * *

Madness…

It was devouring his heart and his mind. Once the valiant leader, driven by the idea of Justice against Humanity for their mistreatment of the Faunus, into a monster trapped in a cage.

Merely half an hour before he attacked them in the streets…

He was shoved up against the corner, his clothes motheaten and grime had covered the scars around his eye. _S.D.C_ it spelt, the Schnee Dust Company, burned over his eye which turned the sclera blood red from the burst blood vessels inside. It was like it glowed, bright and almost demonic, he gripped his hair, pulling the copper strands with pain. Blood ran down from his scalp, trickling over his scarred eye.

What was real anymore? That was the question he could never find the answer to, he kept seeing things all around him.

He turned, wide eyed as he saw her, stood right in front of him with flaming amber eyes, her cat ears were pointed like that of a Bengal Tiger. Her long locks of black hair were like smoke, embers trailed within the smog as she stared at him, with pale cracked skin. He clenched his hands into fists, staring at her. "You… you did this to me! You ruined everything!" Adam bellowed, but he turned and gasped, seeing Blake sat next to him, looking right into his eyes with a disturbing smile.

"We can still be together… all you have to do is come get me…" She whispered seductively, unusually so – as that was never Blake's way. He could not feel her hands as they moved over him, countless copies of her surrounded him, but his teeth gritted together, and he spun round and punched her in the face. The hallucination vanished, and another pinned him against the wall, staring straight into his eyes.

"You! This is all your fault! You betrayed me! You're a coward!" He brayed, but she shushed him, placing her false finger against his lips with a smile, her eyes turned pale as she grinned.

"I am… but only your love… only your perfection can save me. Save me Adam… oh gods I can't live like this… save me!" She begged him desperately, but he pushed her ghostly figure away. He stood up swiftly, looking around as he pressed his hands against his head with great torment.

"GET AWAY FROM ME! GET AWAY! YOU'RE NOT REAL YOU'RE NOT!" He screamed, until he heard a ghostly groan behind him. He turned and his eyes widened once more, he saw them – his parents – they were on their knees with maggots falling from their mouths and ears.

"How could you betray us, son? Why did you fall in love with that monster?" They both asked him, their voices were merged as they spoke, demonic and terrifying. He then saw a knife press against their faces, before a brand burned against his mother's cheek. She shrieked in immense agony as her skin melted and bubbled from the torment. The dark laugh emerged from the darkness and he walked out, tall with the Brand in his hand.

It was Jacques Schnee himself, cleaned up and looking as perfect as always, his moustache waxed as he always liked it. His mother cried where she was knelt, and the hallucination of Jacques Schnee walked towards him, as two skeletal soldiers held knives to the throats of his parents. "What are you going to do, boy? Are you going to save them? Go ahead, try." Jacques Schnee said to him, stood right next to him. He felt like he changed, and in the puddle of his own tears, his hallucinations had turned him back into the boy he once was.

His hands were shaking erratically, he was terrified, staring at where his mother and father were. Tears streamed down their cheeks as they stared at him, blood poured from the fresh burn on his mother's face. The small boy with short red hair shyly approached the soldier, holding nothing but a fork in his hand to try and save his mother and father. The Hallucination echoed his memories, of how he lost his parents. The soldiers were laughing, clad in S.D.C Armour, yet another Private Military outside of the Atlesians.

"Mama… papa… please don't hurt them." Adam begged them, his soft voice was tender and broken, as he held the fork with both hands, tears streamed from his eyes, as he walked closer and closer. The cruel leader of the S.D.C smirked and he nodded to the Skeletal Soldiers, who laughed, and carved open their throats. Blood sprayed out across covered the same eye that would become branded. "NO!" Adam wailed, he went to run to his dying parents who choked on the floor, a pool of blood formed around their heads.

Until a soldier punched Adam in the nose, giving him a nosebleed. He fell to the floor and then they rolled him face down, into the blood, and turned his head, so then the blood covered eye was showing. Jacques smiled down at the boy, heating the brand up once more. "You see… the Faunus are simply animals. It's all any of you are, just savages that we can use. Nothing more, and nothing less. And like all pets, and children, when they misbehave they should be punished. You all tried to run away, but you have to remember, you are my property. And thus… by that logic… what I do with my property? Well that's my business… and I can do what I want with you." He explained, the brand was burning hot again.

"Mama! Papa!" He wailed, his mother reached out for her baby boy as she slowly died in pain, and then Jacques held the heated brand above the screaming child's eye.

"That's her blood, isn't it? Well… at least this way she'll always be with you." He assured, before he ruthlessly pressed it against his cheek, and her mother's last dying word… was weak but desperate.

"ADAM!" She choked, until the soldier spun round and shot her in the head, finishing her and the husband off in a second shot. Their bodies twitched as their blood poured from their bodies. Adam continued to wail in agony, writhing as his skin and flesh cooked, blinding that one eye in the process. The stench of burnt flesh filled the air, and Jacques yanked the brand from his face, blowing some of the molten skin off, staring down at the boy.

"Remember that… you are nothing. Put the kid back in his cell." Jacques ordered.

"What about the parents?" A soldier asked the Schnee Dust Company C.E.O. Jacques barely even looked at their corpses, he just looked at the soldiers.

"Where we always take their bodies. To the Atlesian Wildlands, if the snow doesn't bury them… then the Grimm will have a tasty meal won't they?" He asked.

Adam was barely conscious as he laid there, and even now, he was laid in the same position, he pressed his hands against the cold floor and he tried to get up. He grabbed his horns and he growled with anger, lifting his head to see Blake in front of him again. "If you were stronger they would be alive… don't you want that? To protect me? To save me? You need power for that." She whispered as she seductively played with her hair and touched her loosely worn white shirt.

Adam looked at her hand as it moved towards his, and in this state of hallucinations… he saw that Wilt and Blush was in his grasp. "Do you have what it takes?" She asked him softly, longingly. Adam stared at the blade and then at her, when he suddenly thrusted it straight through her stomach. She smiled, and blood poured from her mouth as she leaned forward and kissed him. "You're weak because of me… show me I'm wrong… find me… and make me pay." She whispered into his ear, but he stabbed her again.

And again.

And again.

He did it over and over again, stabbing the laughing hallucination of the woman he despised, fake blood covered his hands and the floor. When in reality he was punching the stones over and over again. The guards stared into his cell, and one of them slammed his stave against the metal bars. "Hey!" He yelled, Adam stopped, sweat covered his skin as he stared at the Prison Guard. "Cut it out, you're giving me a headache." The Guard demanded, Adam snarled and he stood back up, his fists clenched. He stared at the walls where he had scratched the days he had been in there… alongside her name.

_Blake!_

_KILL BLAKE_

_MAKE HER PAY_

_BE STRONG_

_BE POWERFUL_

_SHE DIES_

_TAKE IT ALL FROM HER! TAKE IT ALL!_

_TAKE THEM ALL_

_TAKE IT ALL_

There were others, some were more scrawls than they were words, his sanity was always in question before, but he had become quite the lunatic now. He stared at the wall, and he closed his eyes, breathing in slowly, trying to make sense of this madness. "Damn psychopath, wouldn't it be better to put him down and be done with it?" One of the guards asked the other. One of them was a Stag Faunus whilst the other two were both Dog Faunus'.

"High Leader Khan says he needs to be alive, as a message for what we are fighting against. He represents everything the humans view us as, if we kill him, then we are no better." The Stag stated.

"Yeah… I guess…" The first Dog Faunus said. The other sighed, leaning against the wall until he heard something behind him.

Suddenly a Spiral Dagger stabbed into the side of his throat, twisting and as soon as the blade was pulled out, blood poured out from his throat. Adam turned when he heard the commotion. "No!" The Dog Faunus screamed as he swung his sword at the Albain, only for him to drive his knife into his stomach, pushing him against the wall as he stabbed him repeatedly until he died.

The Stag Faunus when to charge and kill the two Fox Faunus Killers, until a massive hand grabbed the top of his skull and turned him around. His eyes met his hazel ones as they stared right into him, the unnatural man was like nothing he had ever seen. His body was sewn together with different human parts, and he had more scars than clean skin. He felt the grip of the man tighten, until he swung round and pummelled his skull into the wall so hard that his entire cranium splattered against it. His brains fell with skull matter, lifelessly his corpse crumpled to the floor. He wiped the blood onto the wall before he punched the door from his hinges. Adam staggered aside with widened eyes.

"W-Who are you? What is this?" Adam questioned.

"I am Corsac Albain, and this is my brother Fennec – alongside an mutual friend of your friend Cinder Fall. Hazel Rainart." Corsac Albain introduced. "We all work for her master – the Rightful Queen of Remnant – Salem." He announced.

"And we have come here because our Queen is a forgiving one, and offers you a second chance for redemption." Fennec stated as he bowed his head honourably, they both spoke so fanatically, as if they were following some kind of unknown religion to Adam. Then the large man named Hazel Rainart approached, and he held what looked like the clothing that Adam wore when he was arrested, alongside Wilt and Blush. He threw them onto the floor in front of Adam, and he crouched down, picking up the sword, slighting unsheathing it as the red blade glowed.

"What do you want me to do?" He asked them, he knew next to nothing about Salem, other than the fact that she was extremely powerful.

"Help us track down the Relic of Creation and the Relic of Knowledge."

"The what?" Adam asked.

"All will be explained, but we know that Jaune Arc and his band of friends are out there, and capturing him would make this task a lot easier. We take him alive." Hazel reminded.

"His friends… is Blake among them?" Adam questioned.

"Unknown." Hazel simply responded, Adam did not know it but it was simply so then he could keep Adam on track with the mission that was at hand. The last thing they needed was Adam to go on his own little rampage to kill a girl that has nothing to do with their mission.

But why did they want Jaune?

And why is he so important to locating the Relic of Knowledge?

Adam stared at the blade, he breathed slowly and closed his eyes. _Do you have what it takes? Do you have what it takes? Do you have what it takes?_

"Adam." Hazel repeated, he stared at him. "Are you with us?"

A smirk formed on Adam's face. "One thing first… Sienna Khan is in the next room, is she not?" He asked.

"Yes, it was hard getting in here quietly to not alarm her." Hazel explained.

"Good… because I don't intend on letting her leave. Or any of the White Fang, the whole thing can burn. Only our mission matters now." Adam growled savagely.

"We have our own army now, called the Feral Ones. Warriors who will fight to the death for our Queen's Goals." Fennec stated.

"Well, isn't that convenient. I will help you and your Queen, so long as you help me kill Sienna Khan." Adam demanded, Hazel looked down at the Albains who nodded their heads. Hazel exhaled through his nostrils and nodded his head.

"You have a deal." He agreed, opening his palm, and Adam closed the blade into its scabbard, before shaking his hand.

* * *

**Ilia**

* * *

Sienna sat at the table in her office with Ilia Amitola, both of them were drinking some nice wine, clinking their glasses together.

"Congratulations, High Leader. You've managed to completely lift the Faunus Ban in Mistral and in Mantle. This is quite a day." Ilia giggled with a bright smile, sitting back against her chair as she crossed her legs.

"Indeed, I must admit I didn't think this day would come. Especially with how I felt with Ghira's way of doing things." Sienna admitted as she took a sip of the Wine. The red blood coloured drink always was a great taste for them,

"I'm sure that Blake is proud as well. Wherever she is, haven't heard from her in a while." Ilia shrugged her shoulders, and Sienna nodded.

"Well I have heard a few things that have happened recently. All the stuff at the Academy with this Jack the Ripper guy. I had hoped he was dead, back when I last heard of his stories. I was only a kid when all of it came up." Sienna remembered.

"I wasn't even a thought." Ilia chuckled.

"Wow, way to make me feel old." Sienna joked, which made the adorable Chameleon Faunus gasp, her eyes widened and she covered her mouth.

"Oh gods… I'm so sorry." She apologised.

"I'm just screwing with you." Sienna assured, she set her glass of Wine down on the table and she sighed, staring at the map of Remnant. Vale, Vacuo and Mistral were now ticked off with the Faunus Ban being lifted from all the establishments. And even Mantle, now it was only Atlas – which was going to take a very long time to make that all work. Especially since the Northern Continent was undoubtedly the most troubling location of them all.

But after everything that the Atlesians have put their race through, it was going to take a lot more work to get them to lift the bans and treat them as equals.

"One left… and that will be a nasty monster to tame." Sienna sighed.

"First we'll have to get Jacques Schnee to comply, or put him in a cell for everything he has done." Ilia snarled, she hated that name, she hated it so much. However she was bright enough to know that just because the father was an evil man, it did not mean that his daughters were just like him. She had met both, and she would have never believed that they were actually related to that monster of a man.

"He won't go down easy, he has his own private military in Atlas, and he funds the Atlesian Military as well. It could start a war." Sienna stated.

"He'd be stupid too, we've made powerful alliances now." Ilia said.

"Sure, but they could keel over just from the lack of funding from the S.D.C, lack of Dust Trade. He could starve us out if he wanted to." Sienna explained, it would be what she would do if she were in his position. Tactically he has the advantage over them all.

"It's never easy, is it?" Ilia sighed.

"No, it isn't. But easy isn't what we signed up for, is it?" Sienna asked her, and Ilia smiled, clinking her glass to the High Leader's once more.

"SIENNA!" Adam suddenly bellowed from the Throne Room. Their eyes widened with fear, and the Guards inside drew their weapons as they marched out, aiming their Staves at the four men that stood down there.

Once in Prison Attire, Adam now wore his asymmetrical black, long-sleeved, double-breasted stylized high-collared blazer with slit sleeves along with red thorn sigils adorned with a white crest that lined up on his left shoulder. His suit jacket had crimson lining atop his red shirt, with red thorn sigils atop a black flap attached to the bottom of the left hem and his wilting rose emblem on the back over an emblazoned white sigil resembling the curved stems and flower of the deadly nightshade plant. His blazer was half-buttoned, exposing a red shirt with a black line running parallel to his collar under it.

He wore long black dress pants, black shoes with red soles and black gloves with red sigils, alongside a black belt with white domino marks on it.

He was a Prisoner no longer, and the Adam Taurus that they once new had returned. Hazel removed his chilling mask from his internal jacket pocket and gave it to him. His mask was whitish-tan with red, Japanese style, horn-like symbols decorating the front and two slits on each side presumably to allow for vision. This is a redesigned version of the Grimm masks typically worn by most members of the White Fang.

"Adam…" Sienna gasped as her Chain Whip of many razors filled with different cartridges of dust unravelled from her wrist. Ilia drew her Whip, eyes narrowed with anger as she stared the four of them down. They were definitely outnumbered and outgunned, but they could at the very least wither them down. "What are you doing out of your cell?" She questioned.

"Well I was getting tired of sitting around, felt like I wanted to have a little walk around." Adam stated as he placed the White Fang mask over his eyes, despite the fact he wanted the whole idea to burn to the ground now. None of it mattered anymore, they were all his enemies.

"Adam… we can talk about this." Sienna begged, but Adam glared and he suddenly drew Wilt and Blush.

"I'm Done Talking." He replied, before he leapt towards her and slashed Wilt and Blush straight at her, but she ducked down and rolled out of the way. Ilia gasped, and she rolled away as well, just as Adam viciously swung round at where she was stood. They both were stood at the ready, and so were the three of their Royal Guards. The Guards charged on Adam, whilst Sienna and Ilia went for the Albains. Fennec and Corsac both charged towards them, and Fennec leapt at Sienna, slashing his daggers at her. But she slid underneath his attack, and wrapped the chains around his waist, twisting round and slamming back down into the ground. The floor shattered like glass, throwing chunks of concrete up into the air, before she threw him in the air, jumping and kicking him in the face. He fell down the stairs, growling as he stared at her, only for Sienna to be grabbed by Hazel, who lifted her off the ground.

"I'm sorry, I did not want this." Hazel sadly said, as he punched her in the chest, which launched her into the wall, blasting it apart. She fell from the crumbled wall, crashing down to the ground with a groan.

Ilia on the other hand blasted electrical dust from her whip as she slashed it at Corsac, who ducked under her attack and blasted wind from his Spiral Dagger. Ilia slid across the ground, stabbing her sword whip into the ground to stop her body from being thrown away in the powerful gusts of wind. Corsac immediately ran at her after he finished blasting the wind at her, and he tackled her against the ground, grabbing her by the throat with one hand, and going to stab down at her face with the other. Her eyes widened, and she moved her head aside, just as the Fox Faunus stabbed the dagger down into the ground. To break free, Ilia slammed her knee into his gut, causing him to loosen his grip on her, before she used her very flexible body to wrap her legs around his neck. She rolled backwards, and the movement threw the killer across the room and into the ground away from her.

She panted, spinning her Whip through her fingers, turning round as Fennec came for her as well, only for her to slash her Whip at him, crackling electricity through it as it curved and wrapped around his neck. He choked in pain as it burned his aura, then she pulled him with a powerful yank, and punched him in the face. Fennec fell onto his back and she went to stamp down on his head to take him down, until he pushed himself off the floor and kicked her in the head with both feet.

Adam blocked the incoming attack from one of Sienna's Honour Guards, the blade of the Stave channelled electrical dust through it, and Adam's hair began to glow as he charged his Moonslice Semblance up to deal an extremely dangerous attack that could decimate even the most powerful enemies, even machines. But as Adam held the solder back, he felt the stab from another soldier hit him from behind, electrocuting him repeatedly, he gritted his teeth with anger, before he was kicked in the side by the third. He tumbled across the ground and sheathed Wilt into Blush.

He stared at the charging warriors, then he swiftly drew and sheathed his sword three times, blasting red arcs of energy from the weapon like a firearm. The impacts of each slash dealt impressive damage to their auras, pushing them across the ground. Adam blasted from the ground at one of them, and he yelled, slashing straight through him. Gallons of crimson blood sprayed from his screaming body, splattering across Adam's smirking face as he took the man's life. The soldier collapsed to the ground, his head bounced across the ground like a basketball, blood pooling out where his head once was.

The other soldiers grit their teeth with great anger, and they tried to avenge the death of their friend, and the first one jumped up in the air and stabbed the stave down into the ground with great force. The impact blasted electrical energy into the ground, shattering the concrete with incredible ease, whilst the second spun the Wind Dust manipulating Stave through his fingers, then he launched the shards straight at Adam.

Adam however slashed each of them out of the air, and blocked the others from hitting him. His hair and the blade flickered bright red, channelling it back into his blade, and then the Lightning Wielding Stave, and he blasted an arc of electricity towards him. He drew Wilt and held it horizontally, absorbing the damage from the arc, and passing it back into his aura. The soldier resisted, and their eyes widened with fear. Adam leapt at them once again, and everything turned red and black, as he engaged Moonslice.

He swung through them, unleashing all the power from his semblance upon them, cutting them both clean in half. He stopped behind them, and then they crumbled away into dust, broken down into nothing at all. Their blades crashed down to the ground, clattering on the floor. Adam rose back up and he turned, staring at Sienna and Ilia who were still fighting against the Albains and Hazel.

Sienna swung round and launched one of her fire dust blades from the chain, which spun through the air and exploded against Hazel's chest. He grunted and staggered back, her eyes widened when he did not even react to the pain. He clenched his fists and he stabbed a pair of golden dust crystals that crackled into his arms. He growled as his muscles started to grow and his eyes glowed brighter and brighter. He bellowed at her furiously, a metallic howl mixed inside of his voice. Sienna gasped, and Hazel punched her in the chest, and a bolt of electricity shot into her body.

The clap of lightning threw her back against the wall, and he grabbed her again, throwing her down into the ground, punching her over and over again, beating her into the ground, shattering the ground with every single punch he made. She groaned in pain, and he lifted her up by her head, she was dazed and her aura was already broken, blood leaked from her mouth from the savage beating she suffered, and then he punched her again with a growl, launching her across the ground.

She slammed down into the ground, failing to stand back up, and Ilia gasped, her eyes widened as she tried to get to her, punching Fennec in the jaw, and kicked Corsac in the chest. "Sienna!" She screamed, until suddenly a shotgun round shot into her aura protected body, knocking her onto the ground. Hazel glared at her and he calmed his rage down, pulling the dust crystals from his arms and shoving them back into his pockets. His body returned back to its normal size, and Sienna reached out for her Chained Whip.

Adam walked towards her, and grabbed her by the throat, lifting her off the floor as she gasped for air. "I've been waiting for this." Adam snarled.

"You are… a disgrace… to us all!" Sienna defiantly barked at him, until suddenly he drove Wilt straight through her heart. She gasped in pain, feeling the red blade puncture her heart, and blood poured from her wound. She stared at Ilia and let out one last beg.

"Run…" She weakly rasped, until Adam pushed her from the blade, and swung round, slitting her throat. Blood sprayed from her neck, and she fell to her knees. She bled to death on her knees, and when she fell, she did not fall to the ground, and remained upright. Until Adam kicked her corpse to the ground with a maniacal smirk on his face, her blood on his hand.

"NOOO!" Ilia wailed, and Adam stared at her, and he walked towards her as well. Ilia remembered Sienna's last words.

_Run…_

And that was what she did, she stood up and she ran, ran as fast as she could. Adam did not pursue, he just watched as she fled.

"Shall we go after her?" Fennec asked Hazel, but he just stared at her body and he sighed.

"Go." The gruff voiced man ordered, they both turned and chased after her. Adam walked over Sienna's lifeless body on the ground, and he approached the throne with a savage smirk on his face. "It was not supposed to be like this." He stated, as he opened his journal, and wrote down two more names onto the list of people he has killed – so then he could never forget.

_White Fang Prison Guard x 3_

_White Fang Honour Guards x 3_

_Sienna Khan_

There were many more, and those he knew the names for he wrote them all – he never forgot any of them. Because he never _wanted _to kill… but if he had to… he would.

All for Salem.

"Yes it was… you have no idea… how good it felt to do that." Adam sinisterly laughed as he sat down on the throne, taking the mask from his face, staring at the White Fang Markings.

He then tightened his grip on it, and crushed it into dust, the fractured remains fell upon the floor.

"Nobody needed to die today." Hazel sighed, walking away from Adam as they headed for the exit of the White Fang Vacuo H.Q.

Adam turned to the throne and he smirked, slashing the blade through Sienna's throne, destroying it. "Oh… I disagree." Adam laughed, before he turned and walked away from the throne… leaving her body behind.

The White Fang meant nothing to Adam now…

… just another enemy that must be vanquished.

* * *

**Blake**

* * *

She felt fear, a fear she had not felt in a very long time.

Her amber eyes met his blue and red ones, and he smiled maniacally, Wilt and Blush held in his grasp, his mind completely taken from the mission that was at hand. Hazel stared at him and he clenched his fist, he knew who that was, but he also saw that Jaune Arc was amongst them.

"Well hell… hello my darling." Adam greeted with a sinister smile, his voice made her feel sick with fear. She always hoped he would stay in that cell for the rest of his days, so seeing him standing there with a sword in his hand scared the hell out of her. Weiss looked around and saw the other fighters that were here, apart from the Albains, she spotted the Feral Ones. And their name matched what they wore, they had armour and leather from the hides of whatever they could kill and find, using weapons and building them from whatever they could possibly find.

They looked feral, unlike the uniform wearing White Fang that was just decimated by their forces. Smoke trailed from the fire that burned within the explosion that blew open the side of one of the buildings. They could hear the screams of Humans being murdered by the Feral Ones, but then gunfire followed, as both the White Fang and Huntsman who were here started to defending them. "Adam…" Blake stammered with fear, staring straight back at him. "What are you doing here?"

Adam laughed, turning to the Albain Brothers and Hazel, the Monks seemed to laugh with him, whereas Hazel did not even show any emotion whatsoever. "Why does everyone always assume the worst?"

"Maybe that's because you're a crazy asshole?" Jaune asked, and Adam chuckled, staring at him now.

"So you're the one they mentioned." Adam stated, they looked at Jaune and then at Adam.

"Come again?" Jaune asked him.

"Some powerful people really want to see what makes you so useful, and I must say… I would like to know as well." Adam snarled as he paced back and forth.

"There does not have to be any conflict, all we need is for the boy to come with us." Hazel told them, pushing past the Albain Brothers.

"And what are you?" Jaune scoffed, pressing his hand on his hip.

"Yeah… you don't look great." Weiss agreed.

"Looks like a badly made doll, doesn't he?" Jaune asked her.

"Yeah, that's right." Weiss agreed, and Hazel exhaled through his nose with annoyance at how childish they are.

Blake still stared at Adam with fear, but even she was confused by her friends who were pretty much just trash talking this unnatural human being. "Are you done?" Hazel asked.

"Oh we could go all day." Jaune assured.

"Little thing of ours." Weiss assured.

"Well, as fun as it is to listen to you insult my new friend here… we would appreciate it if you joined us." Adam stated, walking forward.

"And what if he doesn't want to go with you?" Pyrrha growled, and they all started to return back to a more serious tone, she drew Milo and Akoúo as she stood by her boyfriend. Adam pressed his tongue against the inside of his cheek, rolling his blue eye.

"I guess we'll have to take him." Adam answered.

"Well, I hate to tell you, Mr Taurus…" Weiss began. "But that's not gonna happen."

"Good, I was hoping you would say that." Adam replied, as he suddenly blasted directly towards Blake, she gasped and blocked his instant attack with Gambol Shroud. The impact blasted sparks across the ground, he stared straight into her terrified amber eyes with an insane smile on his face, forcing her down onto one knee.

"ADAM!" Hazel bellowed, since they did not attack at the same time like they had planned, he was letting his personal hatred for Blake Belladonna and his obsession over her take over his emotions.

"Get off her, you psycho!" Jaune yelled, as he drew Crocea Mors with the shield still attached to the blade, forming I not the massive Bastard Sword. The slash sent Adam crashing through the stalls, her eyes were wide in terror, as Adam got back up, and she knew that he could kill all of them – well… except for one.

Pyrrha blocked off her emotions, and she walked straight past Blake, she stopped and looked at her. "I've got him, take the others." Pyrrha told her, she knew that Blake would not stand a chance against Adam on her own – but she would have a better chance. Adam got back up and he sprinted towards the Spartan who through Akoúo straight at her, The shield bounced off his chest and staggered him, and then she charged, pulling it back into her hand as she twirled through the air and slammed it downwards against the side of Adam's horn. He stumbled and she slashed Milo across his aura, jumping and kicking him in the chest. Adam staggered before he swung Wilt at her with great force, firing Blush three times at her. Pyrrha blocked the bullets with Akoúo before throwing it at him again, and as it bounced back she kicked it at him again. It rebounded right back into her grasp.

Adam swung his lethal red blade at her and she stopped the attack with Milo, holding him back as she suddenly blasted her Polarity into the blade, knocking him back, but he fired at her leg, staggering her. Adam jumped up and slammed his knee against her jaw, which made her stagger and he slashed at her face. She ducked down and she extended Milo into its rifle form. The Deranged Faunus spun his sword through his fingers, deflecting the incoming bullets, causing the blade and his hair to flash red from each impact. Adam charged at her and he jumped up in the air, launching the arcs of red at her repeatedly. He then threw Wilt and it spun through the air like it was a huge fan blade, slicing across her red aura, then it stabbed down into the ground, and he slammed the huge Scabbard against the side of Pyrrha's head, and grabbed Wilt from the ground, twisting round and swinging it round into her Shield.

He grabbed her shield and threw it aside, but she pulled it back with her Polarity, and threw it right back into his face. Adam grunted as he staggered back, but he charged at her once again, firing at her hand which blew Milo from her hand. He jumped up into the air and he brought the long red blade down towards her head, until she held it back with her Polarity, gritting her teeth back at the lunatic's smile.

Away from the battle of the Redheads, Weiss formed a Glyph which allowed her to blast towards Hazel, she spun like a corkscrew and she slashed Myrtenaster with great force across his side. Hazel grunted as she cut through him but he caught her by her long tail of white hair and he slammed her down into the ground with a bellow. He swung down at where her head was, but she slid across the floor thanks to her Glyph, then she blasted at him and she jabbed her sword into his chest repeatedly.

What confused her was the fact that he did not even seem to have an aura, because her stabs went into him, but he did not even react to the attacks. It was like she was stabbing a false organism, he felt nothing whatsoever from her attacks, so she jumped back and she formed more Glyphs, blasting icicles at him. They exploded against his body and he staggered back, ripping the fabric from his shirt off. She could see some of his wounds formed heal up, so there must be some kind of aura… but her attacks could not be stopped by it.

Hazel cracked his neck with a growl, as he pulled the Fire Dust Crystals from his bags and stabbed them into his arms. He howled at her, the flames burned through his arms and chest, igniting him from the inside out, and yet he somehow survived the procedure of doing so. He slammed both his fists into the ground, which launched molten rock out from the ground, and the sand froze into glass around her. Weiss leapt up in the air, bouncing up her Glyphs to avoid the spires of glass and shells of molten stone that came up towards her.

"All you had to do was give up the boy!" Hazel yelled at her, turning as he saw Jaune blocking the stab from Fennec, and Blake swung round and kicked Corsac in the chest with both boots. Hazel growled and clenched his hands into fists, and he sprinted towards Jaune, and he reached out for him. He grabbed Jaune by the back of the head and lifted him off the floor, turning to try and escape, until Blake jumped at Hazel and slashed her blade across the side of his face. Hazel grunted, dropping Jaune to the ground, and he rolled away from him, keeping his shield up.

"What the hell's wrong with these guys?" Jaune yelled, still confused of why they wanted him in the first place.

"Your Rightful Queen demands your presence, and I will not fail her." Hazel snarled viciously, and he reached out for her once more, until ice formed around his legs. He grunted and turned, seeing Weiss come flying towards him, stabbing Myrtenaster straight through his chest. She stared right at him, then her eyes widened, as he did not even react to it – she stabbed him straight through the heart, and he did not die – he did not even flinch. He grabbed her by the throat and swung round, throwing her through one of the houses.

Hazel ripped his boot from the ground and turned away from where Weiss was, until the tail of a Queen Lancer stabbed straight through him, he grunted and stared down at his abdomen, seeing the glowing white barb protruding through his body, before it pulled him away, right back into the building Weiss was inside of. Weiss had improved on using her Summoning incredibly in the four years, and had killed many terrifying Creatures of Grimm along the way.

Hazel slammed into the ground, growling as he stood back up, looking around as the ground erupted and the glowing white Queen Lancer rose from beneath him, with Weiss atop it, she ran her Fire Dust Coated Finger down the straight blade of Myrtenaster, staring down at him. "You are not taking my friend!" Weiss yelled, as she blasted flaming missiles down upon Hazel.

Fennec sprinted towards Jaune and he jumped up in the air, spiralling through the air with his dual daggers held in his hands, slamming them repeatedly against his shield. The metallic prangs bounced off the strikes, and then he blasted fireballs from the blades. Jaune kept them back and he swung Crocea Mors towards him, which Fennec blocked with both blades. But Jaune had learned how to fight better, thanks to Pyrrha. He slammed his knee into Fennec's chest and smashed his shield into his head as well. The Fox Eared Faunus grunted, getting thrown back from the Arc Boy's strike, crashing into the baskets of fruits and vegetables.

Jaune stabbed down at Fennec, but he kicked the blade which made him stagger, and he jumped onto his back, kicking him in the back of the head as he flipped off him, landing on the ground. Fennec grinned sinisterly as he blasted wind at him from his other blade, which pushed Jaune against the wall, and Fennec threw the other which pinned Jaune to the wall, by his Hood. Fennec sprinted towards him and he pushed the blade of his dagger against Jaune's throat, holding him there with gritted teeth.

"Our Queen will not be left disappointed, come now… and we promise this will be over as soon as possible." Fennec told him.

"Y'know… you guys really need to work on your persuasive skills." Jaune chuckled, as he smashed his head into Fennec's face. The Monk staggered back, and Blake suddenly swung into him, slamming both her feet into his head, sliding across the ground. She ran to Jaune and pulled the blade from his hood, and immediately turned to stop Corsac's attacks, holding him back.

Blake smashed her knee up into his crotch, bringing him down to one knee, before she turned and roundhouse kicked him in the head, knocking him down to the ground. Jaune stood beside Blake as the Albains got back up. "These two are really annoying me right now, Blake, not gonna lie." He stated.

"I know what you mean." Blake agreed.

Pyrrha kept on fighting Adam in the Marketplace, throwing Akoúo at him and launching Milo straight into his chest. His aura protected him but it launched him across the battlefield. She pulled her spear right back and transformed it into her Rifle Form, firing it over and over again. Adam blocked the incoming bullets with Wilt, and he jumped up in the air and stabbed the blade into the ground, blasting a wave of red energy through the ground at her. Pyrrha gasped, her eyes widened and she jumped backwards, landing a safe distance from the attack, but as she landed, she did not notice that she landed right next to a scaffolding. Adam fired Blush and the bullet blew the support apart, and it started to topple down towards a bunch of civilians.

Pyrrha gasped, her eyes widened and she caught the falling scaffolding with her Polarity, but she realised too late that this was a distraction. Adam knew he would not be able to beat Pyrrha one against one, so he ran straight past her and he sprinted towards Blake. "BLAKE! RUN!" Pyrrha yelled, Blake gasped and turned, staring to see Adam charging towards her, but as Adam got closer, suddenly a Whip caught Blake and pulled her away from them all.

Adam stopped and he stared at where she was being pulled, and saw that it was Ilia. She was still too low on aura, and so was Blake from her fight against the Albains and their constant barrage. Adam flinched when he heard the sound of more gunfire behind him, turning to see the Black Gallows attacking his Feral Forces, starting a full scale battle behind them. But Adam did not care, he went to chase after the two of them, but Hazel grabbed his shoulder, hard. "Enough of this! She is not our target!" Hazel yelled, but Jaune, Pyrrha and Weiss took this opportunity to retreat as well. "Damn you!" Hazel yelled, punching Adam in the face in anger. "Find them!" Hazel bellowed.

Blake and Ilia ran as fast as they could from the battle. "Ilia? What are you doing here?" Blake asked her as they both ran from the Albains who were chasing them, sprinting and vaulting over the cars.

"Adam was freed by those people! He killed Sienna! We need to get the hell out of Vacuo!" Ilia yelled, but as she and Blake ran across the road, suddenly a missile exploded against a car, blocking their path. Blake turned and grabbed Ilia's hand, and they both ran into the alleyway that connected into a small road between them. But as they ran, they stopped and their eyes widened.

They were at a dead end.

"Crap! We need to get out of here!" Blake cried out, but as they turned – the Albains were stood right behind them. Their blades were held in their grasp and they walked towards them. They were not strong enough to take them on.

"Kill the Chameleon Faunus, immobilise Belladonna. Let Adam have his fun with her." Fennec ordered, and Corsac smirked in agreement.

They walked towards them and Blake aimed Gambol Shroud in its Magnum Form and she pulled the trigger… but she was out of ammo. "Shit…" She stammered.

The two of them walked closer and closer, until suddenly the roar of a car engine grew louder and louder. Fennec gasped and he spun around with his brother. Corsac got smashed by the car that roared in from out of nowhere and he rolled across the roof, crashing down into the ground behind it, whilst Fennec was crushed against the wall, killed instantly, his blood splattered across the wall.

Blake gasped, her eyes were wide with shock, and the door opened. A woman shrouded in a hooded cloak emerged, staggering out as she picked up a pistol and walked towards the barely alive Corsac Albain. Blood leaked from his mouth and all his limbs were snapped. He reached up at her… and he choked. "How…"

Bang.

Blood splattered across the floor and she holstered the pistol, Ilia and Blake stared at the woman with disbelief. She had killed both the Albains in seconds with a perfect ambush. "Who are you?" Ilia asked.

She pulled back the hood and stared at her.

"Run." Sienna ordered again, somehow… alive…

* * *

**Author Note - Yep, and no that was not a Retcon.**

**Another idea David and I have been playing with, which we will go into in the next chapter, but I doubt you were expecting her to come back in the same chapter she died, huh? And Adam, my god I love writing him as a total lunatic in this. I never got that opportunity in Knights of Grimm since he was more of a Revolutionary stuck between his duty for the Faunus or the real threat.**

**And I loved writing Adam Vs Pyrrha, a fight I have never done before. We will see more cool fighting in the next chapter, don't worry. So if anyone felt this fight kinda ended for no reason, then that's why. It's because I wanted to split the Battle at Vacuo into parts. Opposed to one ma-hoo-sive chapter.**

**I hope you enjoyed! **

**Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**\- Matt**


	24. Not Dead Yet

**Chapter 23 – Not Dead Yet**

* * *

**Sienna**

* * *

"Sienna!" Ilia screamed, until a shotgun round suddenly shot into her aura protected body, knocking her onto the ground. Hazel glared at her and he calmed his rage down, pulling the dust crystals from his arms and shoving them back into his pockets. His body returned back to its normal size, and Sienna reached out for her Chained Whip.

Adam walked towards her, and grabbed her by the throat, lifting her off the floor as she gasped for air. "I've been waiting for this." Adam snarled.

"You are… a disgrace… to us all!" Sienna defiantly barked at him, until suddenly he drove Wilt straight through her heart. She gasped in pain, feeling the red blade puncture her heart, and blood poured from her wound. She stared at Ilia and let out one last beg.

"Run…" She weakly rasped, until Adam pushed her from the blade, and swung round, slitting her throat. Blood sprayed from her neck, and she fell to her knees. She bled to death on her knees, and when she fell, she did not fall to the ground, and remained upright. Until Adam kicked her corpse to the ground with a maniacal smirk on his face, her blood on his hand.

"NOOO!" Ilia wailed, and Adam stared at her, and he walked towards her as well. Ilia remembered Sienna's last words.

_Run…_

And that was what she did, she stood up and she ran, ran as fast as she could. Adam did not pursue, he just watched as she fled.

"Shall we go after her?" Fennec asked Hazel, but he just stared at her body and he sighed.

"Go." The gruff voiced man ordered, they both turned and chased after her. Adam walked over Sienna's lifeless body on the ground, and he approached the throne with a savage smirk on his face. "It was not supposed to be like this." He stated, as he opened his journal, and wrote down two more names onto the list of people he has killed – so then he could never forget.

_White Fang Prison Guard x 3_

_White Fang Honour Guards x 3_

_Sienna Khan_

There were many more, and those he knew the names for he wrote them all – he never forgot any of them. Because he never _wanted _to kill… but if he had to… he would.

All for Salem.

"Yes it was… you have no idea… how good it felt to do that." Adam sinisterly laughed as he sat down on the throne, taking the mask from his face, staring at the White Fang Markings.

He then tightened his grip on it, and crushed it into dust, the fractured remains fell upon the floor.

"Nobody needed to die today." Hazel sighed, walking away from Adam as they headed for the exit of the White Fang Vacuo H.Q.

Adam turned to the throne and he smirked, slashing the blade through Sienna's throne, destroying it. "Oh… I disagree." Adam laughed, before he turned and walked away from the throne… leaving her body behind.

The White Fang meant nothing to Adam now…

… just another enemy that must be vanquished.

Her body was cold as she laid on the ground, the blood leaked from her mouth endlessly and from her neck. Adam stared at her body and he smirked, standing up as he walked over to her. He knew he had to leave and help Hazel, he made a deal with him – and they could make Blake and Humanity pay. He stared at her and he spat on her body as he walked over her corpse, and walked down the steps as he kicked her down them, she tumbled down each hard step before she came to a stop at the bottom.

He walked away and did not say a word, leaving the body of the High Leader behind. Sienna remained there, alone and cold as she bled. But then… her wounds closed slowly, her throat seemed to fuse back together and so did the hole through her stomach where Adam had stabbed her. The blood stained her clothes as she laid there… and then her heart began to beat.

She did not come back to life immediately, it took a second for her brain to reactivate, and then she gasped loudly. Her eyes focused as life reanimated in them, and she grabbed her throat immediately. The pain was still there even now, gasping as she touched the new scar where her open wound closed. She rolled onto her front and she winced in pain, pressing her other hand to her stomach. She stared at the whole in her shirt where the blood was spilled, still sticking to her bronze skin.

She groaned as she slowly sat up, the pain slowly began to fade as she reached out across the floor and grasped onto her chains, pulling it back to her body as she laid there, disgusted by the blood that was still warm, sticking her clothing to her body. "Gods… one more down… not many left… get off your ass!" Sienna yelled at herself, she pushed her body back up off the floor and she limped across the ground. She stumbled past the cracked wall where Hazel had slammed her into, and she could see the remains of the Honour Guards who Adam wiped out. Some of them were just ashes on the ground, reduced to matter from the Moonslice he used on them.

_This was what he has become… because of me._

_I was so stupid, so stupid to think that this wouldn't happen. I thought his time in that cell would have helped him learn from his sins, but it has just made him even more of a monster._

_What have I done?_

_This is my fault…_

_Adam is a monster of my making, I need to stop him._

_Before anyone else dies._

Sienna walked away from the destroyed High Leader Throne that Adam left behind, she held her stomach as if her guts were hanging out, because that was how it felt. Her intestines and stomach were still healing from what Adam did to her, and her voice was barely functioning from the damage.

Sienna approached her office, and she fell down to the ground, coughing up the blood that was still in her mouth. It splattered onto the ground, her lungs felt like they were on fire, but she had felt this agony before. She pushed her hand against her knee, her chains wrapped around that forearm. She grabbed onto the table and stood tall, turning to see her new clothes she was going to choose.

She grabbed her undercover gear, which was made up of a dark brown hooded cloak, a black Special Ops vest like Ilia's and black combats, alongside a pair of White Fang Military Boots. She removed her clothes, revealing her naked body covered in scars. There were many different scars on her Tiger Stripes that wrapped around her curvy and muscular body. She had many stab wounds and slash marks, alongside what looked like a bite scar on her throat from something, alongside some kind of dark bruising around her throat that never faded. It was no longer trapped blood, just a mark to remember it by.

She pulled the new shirt over her nearly closed wound after she washed the blood off in the shower, drying herself off. She zipped the rig over her body and pulled the trousers up her legs, buttoning them up. She put on her boots and then wrapped her body up in the cloak, picking up the one Pistol that was left behind, clipping the belt and holster around her rounded waist.

Sienna had more secrets that she was letting on, and perhaps… this was not the first time she died.

Which begged the question… how?

* * *

**Blake**

* * *

Sienna's fiery tigress eyes stared at Ilia and Blake, Ilia was more shocked than her friend was who was staring straight back with total disbelief. "S-Sienna?" Ilia stammered. "B-But… he killed you…"

"What?" Blake questioned with confusion.

"Enough talk, come on! We need to keep moving, the Albains had more people with them!" Sienna ordered as she grabbed them and pulled them both up. The chains fell from her concealed forearm and she turned, swinging it as she walked. The three of them walked through the alleyway and they exited the darkness. Sienna looked around and her pointed Tiger Ears heard the sound of more Feral Ones charging towards their location.

Sienna stared at them as they barged through the crowd, and some of them had melee weapons. Axes, swords and knives, and the others have Firearms. One of them aimed his shotgun at them and he pumped it, Sienna glanced at both Ilia and Blake. "How's your aura level?" She asked them both, and they both checked their scrolls, they were currently in the orange and needed more time before they were in the green. However that did not mean they could not risk fighting against these soldiers.

"Orange." Blake answered.

"Alright, be careful then." Sienna commanded, she spun her linked chains round, and then she sprinted towards the soldier with the shotgun. She dropped down and slid under the firing shrapnel that shot from the barrel. She swung her chains across the Feral One's legs, tripping him over as he fell, then she sprung up in the air and slammed her knee up the other's jaw. Saliva sprayed from his mouth as he yelled out in pain, staggering back as she twisted round in the air and slammed her chain down his back. He yelled in agony and fell to the ground and she landed on both boots.

The soldiers sprinted at her, and she ducked under the oncoming swing from a Feral One who wielded a machete. "Die coward!" The Feral One howled. He had curved goat horns and wore some kind of modified version of the White Fang Mask, and instead of the white and read markings of the Grimm, they were black steel forged masks that hard sharp horns that protruded from the upper corners. The Faunus gritted his teeth as he forced the machete towards Sienna, who caught his wrist with he hands, stopping the blade from hitting her neck.

"Coward? I've died more times for the White Fang than anyone!" She yelled, she swung her leg underneath his other leg which knocked him onto the ground. He slammed onto the floor with a grunt but rolled aside as Sienna brought her boot down where his head was. But one of the bigger Faunus, a Hippo Faunus, tackled her to the ground. He slammed her against the floor, and the overweight man punched down at her face, hitting her over and over again, but she kicked both her boots into his chest, and then wrapped those legs around his head. She twisted round and she struck her elbow down onto his head over and over again, but the Feral One carried her and smashed her through one of the Market Stalls.

The Stall shattered around her but she flipped backwards, she was elegant with her movements and could move like a ballerina. She twirled round and yelled, launching one of her dust blades towards the soldier. He grunted as it exploded against his chest, throwing him back. He crashed into one of the cars, and she swung across the Marketplace towards him and she took both her boots and pummelled them into his chest. The door of the car bent inwards with a deafening bang, twisting metal and shattering the glass.

The Hippo Faunus grabbed the much smaller woman with his huge hands and he started to crush her in his huge arms, she gasped for air, determined to not die again. But Ilia suddenly sent a shock round from her Whip that electrocuted the Faunus, his skeleton flashed within his body as the energy coursed through his body. He screamed in pain and Sienna kicked herself off the massive Faunus' body, she turned and slashed the long chain of metal across his face, so hard that his mask flew from his face. The Feral One Mask bounced and scraped across the road.

Sienna Khan landed on the ground and she rolled towards him, and jumped over his head, throwing her chain which wrapped around her throat. She landed behind him and pulled him down to the ground with great force, smashing him against the ground. The ground cracked from his huge body as it hit the ground, finally beaten by the skilled Faunus Woman. She stood tall, and she turned with gritted teeth, she swung back and forth, blocking the incoming bullets from another Faunus who had a Submachine Gun. The bullets flew towards her but she blocked every single one, and then she rushed towards him, firing her Pistol right back.

The bullet punctured into the soldier's arm and he grunted in pain, firing again at her, but she slid underneath one of the cars, her body was slender enough to fit underneath it. She threw herself at the soldier and she wrapped her chains around the gun, and she swung it round and shattered it across the Feral One's face. The titanium exploded against him, snapping the metal instantly from the impact, shards of metal fell and bounced across the ground. Sienna's attack almost knocked the Feral One unconscious, he fell to the floor but scrambled back to his feet and he drew his baton and struck her across the jaw. She caught his arm with the chain on the second strike, and she yanked him towards her, and punched him down to the ground.

He fell to the floor, unconscious and down for the count. Sienna panted in exhaustion as she pulled her chains back round her arm, and she looked around, Another charged at her, until Blake suddenly jumped towards him and slammed into his side. Ilia did the same, slashing her electrified whip around the woman who was going to stab Sienna with a sword. The two Feral Ones began fighting the Huntresses. Blake backflipped suddenly, and she slammed both her feet up the jaw of the Wolf Faunus, who barked from the attack.

He staggered back and snarled, his sharp teeth snapped together as he jumped and grabbed her. He smashed her head down into the floor and he went to bite down on her neck, but she vanished into another shadow. The Wolf Feral One looked around with confusion, until Blake slashed Gambol Shroud across his back. He yelled in pain as the Katana cut across his leather armour they had fashioned from hunting the beasts of the land. The Wolf turned and drew his axe, and went to bury it into Blake's sternum, but she vanished again and kicked him in the spine. He staggered away from her, and stared at the Huntress who stood tall, her long raven black hair blew in the wind.

Bright amber eyes were like daggers as they burned into his.

"You betrayed us… you joined the Humans!" The Feral One yelled with anger.

"I didn't betray anyone, Adam used the White Fang for his own gain. You're fighting for a madman!" Blake argued.

"There can never be peace between Humans and Faunus… we are two species at war… and only one survives." The Feral One growled, he spun his axe through his fingers and then he yelled, charging towards Blake and he slams the axe at her head, only for her to vanish, using her Shadows to trick him. He turns and immediately collides his axe into the blade of Gambol Shroud, but she twists the blade round and pulls his axe from his grasp. She jumped and brought her heel down as she flipped through the air, knocking him unconscious.

He crashed down to the ground and reached out for his axe, until Blake kicked him in the nose so hard he was completely knocked unconscious. He laid there, out of action, and Blake stared down at the Feral One. "What the hell is this? White Fang Fanatics?" Blake wondered, she turned and heard the sound of Ilia fighting against the woman.

The Feral One leapt at the young Chameleon Faunus who bravely stood her ground, and she cartwheeled out of the attackers path. The Feral One stabbed her dual knives into the ground and then she rushed forward, slashing them both repeatedly at Ilia, who blocked and parried her incoming blows with her long electrified whip, sparks of electricity erupted from every single strike. The sparks bounced across the floor, then she jabbed forward at the Feral One, stabbing her shoulder, but she did not stop, she did not back down. The Feral One kicked Ilia in the chest and rushed her again, slashing her blades across Ilia's aura. She yelled in pain as the aura healed the previous wounds instantly, and she jumped and bounced off the wall behind her.

She grabbed the fighter by her long green hair, throwing the Lizard Faunus across the street and straight through a parked Motorcycle. The bike fell over with a bang, and she spun her Whip through her fingers, and the Feral One stabbed at her. Ilia wrapped her whip around her arm and electrified her. She yelled in agony as the high voltage coursed through her body, causing her to release her knives. Ilia finished her off with one brutal slam down to the ground, head first into the concrete floor. The Feral One was out, and she sighed with relief, turning with a smile to see Blake was okay.

But they did not have time for a reunion.

It was clear that Adam did not retreat like Hazel commanded him to, because they saw Pyrrha get thrown straight through a bus that was driving across the road. She tumbled across the street and drove Milo into the ground, staring through the hole in the bus. And Adam leapt through it towards her with a roar, he spun through the air and threw Wilt towards her, but Pyrrha blocked the attack with Akoúo. The sword bounced off and stabbed down into the ground, and Adam kept charging towards her, grabbing the hilt and swinging it round. His hair glowed a bright red as he sent an arc of red energy towards her.

The attack blasted her across the ground again, but she spun Milo through her fingers, transforming it into Rifle Form and firing it repeatedly at him. "Adam! Fall back! NOW" Hazel bellowed, but the deranged Faunus just smirked, staring at a human that he so desperately wanted to kill. But he double took and saw Blake stood there, her eyes were wide with fear again, something she could not help herself but feel.

All those buried memories of how he abused her, manipulated her, made her think she loved him.

When in reality, it was all a farce.

One more illusion.

One more shadow.

Adam snarled and Hazel clenched his fists tighter, he went to stop Adam until he turned and saw Weiss suddenly blast right into his side. They both crashed through the shop next to them, the windows shattered and the aisles of goods toppled over. Weiss jumped off the massive man's body and she slid across the ground, driving Myrtenaster into the tiles. Hazel stood tall with a growl, still with Fire Dust stabbed into his arms. That was when he changed things up, pulling more dust crystals from his pouches. "I do not wish to kill you, Schnee." Hazel told her.

"Funny, you know my name. I don't remember telling you that." Weiss said to him.

"You needn't, everyone knows who you are as soon as they look at you." Hazel told her, and she smiled.

"Is that a compliment?" She asked.

"Take it however you please… just give up the boy." Hazel demanded.

"Why? Why do you want Jaune?" Weiss questioned, but Hazel did not answer that question, he just stabbed the golden electricity dust crystals into his arms next to the fire ones. The lightning coursed through his muscles and he bellowed with rage as the energy moved through his veins. He stared into her eyes with anger.

"Last… chance." He warned, but Weiss spun her sword through her fingers and she smiled, he turned and heard the sound of Jaune appearing behind him with Crocea Mors and his Shield ready. Then Akoúo flew in and Pyrrha jumped through the shattered window.

"You wanna get to Jaune, then you have to get through all of us." Pyrrha warned, and Hazel looked back at Weiss, and he yelled with fury. He charged towards her and he jumped up in the air, and slammed both his fists into the ground. The action created a powerful and electrical explosion with fire shattering the tiles that they stood upon. Weiss leapt up with her Glyphs sticking her to the roof, and she shot down towards him. She blasted powerful energy into him, concussive in force which pushed the Child of Salem away from them. He staggered away from her and she shot forward, only for Hazel to catch her by the neck and he swung round, throwing her into the wall.

Akoúo bounced into the side of his head and he grunted, staggering against one of the shelves as Pyrrha jumped at him. She pounded both feet into his wide chest which crushed the aisles to the ground. She aimed Milo at his head with gritted teeth but she hesitated, kind hearted in nature, which was a costly mistake. He channelled the electricity from their housings in the crystals and he blasted the arcs of light into her chest, which smashed her against the ceiling, causing the lights to flicker as dust fell from the ceiling.

Jaune turned as he heard the nearby gunfire from the battling Feral Ones and Black Gallows nearby, Winter was close, he knew it. But as Hazel stood up, and the others were currently down, it was up to him. Jaune sheathed Crocea Mors into his Shield as he stared at Hazel, and as the sword and Shield combined, he drew it and they both extended into its Bastard Sword form. But there was another secret upgrade his sword had that Weiss gave him in the four years they had been friends…

… he pressed a button in the hilt, and the plates opened, revealing a similar rotating chamber of dust cartridges inside just like Myrtenaster's. It landed on fire dust, and the entire blade suddenly ignited with flames, and Jaune smirked as he stared Hazel down. The massive Brute's eyes widened with surprise, as Jaune yelled and swung the sword horizontally, blasting a powerful arc of fire into his chest. Hazel grunted as he was sent flying through the aisles, toppling them over and crashing on the other side.

Weiss smirked as she stood up, nodding to Jaune. The Arc Huntsman walked towards Hazel as he stood up. "You want me? Here I am, come get me." Jaune growled, and Hazel yelled demonically as he sprinted towards him, smashing through the aisles as he got closer and closer, but Jaune stopped the incoming fist with the burning blade, and he pushed against him. Pyrrha suddenly jumped over Jaune and threw Akoúo at Hazel's face, which collided into his eyes and knocked him back with a grunt. Pyrrha vaulted over her boyfriend and kicked Hazel in the chest, giving Jaune the chance to swing the burning blade of Crocea Mors across Hazel's chest, and Weiss fired icicles that punctured into his body but they melted from the heat that he had accumulated from that fire dust.

Jaune, Pyrrha and Weiss ran straight at the Hulking Warrior, who raised his fists, and charged at them as well.

Blake on the other hand stopped Wilt as it collided into her Katana, the attack was so aggressive and sudden that it brought her down to one knee. She gasped as the glowing red blade pushed closer and closer towards her neck, until suddenly Sienna's chain wrapped around her throat. She gasped for air as Sienna pulled him away from her and he spun round, his eyes widened with disbelief as he saw her stood there. Alive and aiming that pistol right at his head. "How the hell…" Before he could finish she was already firing shot after shot at him, not missing once, but his glowing red aura protected him from being killed instantly from the blows. He drew Wilt and started to block the incoming blows with gritted teeth.

"Did you think it would be that easy, you son of a bitch?" She yelled, as she threw another explosive blade from her chain, which activated as it corkscrewed towards him. He grunted as it exploded in front of him, throwing him across the street, he stabbed Wilt into the ground to control his descent, swiftly sheathing it again as he contained the energy from the attack. Blake smiled as he saw Ilia and Sienna stand beside her, so she stood tall as well and she held Gambol Shroud tight.

Her fear of Adam was waning, now that she knew he was released… she had time to focus on the fact she needed to be put away again. Adam rose up once more as he held the hilt of Wilt, staring at the three of them. "I should have executed you when I had the chance." Sienna growled, and he chuckled.

"Yeah, maybe you should've." He replied with that cocky grin on his face.

"Stop this Adam… we have bigger problems than you." She told him, and he scoffed.

"You think I care? You think I give a damn about Faunus Rights anymore? Following your rules is what got me in that cell!" He yelled at them all, specifically Sienna who stared him down with that Pistol still aimed at his head. "Oh no… I'm doing it my way now. To hell with the White Fang. To hell with Humanity. To hell with you, Blake. I'm gonna let _her_ do the leading from now on."

"Her?" Ilia questioned, but Blake had heard that name before. Ironwood mentioned her, and the Praetorian Knight mentioned a Queen. There was only one individual he could be talking about.

"Salem? Is that who you're talking about?" She questioned. "What does she want?"

"A better world… but to build it… it can only be done through blood." He replied, and suddenly he drew Wilt and leapt straight for them, his hair began to glow a bright red, and suddenly as he swung horizontally, three dark red shadows of himself burst from his aura, slashing at her as well. Blake vanished, using her Semblance to her advantage to avoid the attack. Adam jumped and he threw his sword straight at them, and Ilia deflected the attack, which caused the sword to be buried into the ground. Adam fired Blush repeatedly, round after round, and then he grabbed Wilt, slashing it at them once again. But Sienna jumped at Adam and kicked him across the jaw, and belted her chain across his cheek, which knocked him back but he kept slashing at her.

Sienna walked towards him, spinning her chain and throwing those dustless blades repeatedly at him, one of them stabbed right into his leg but he ripped it out, allowing for his aura to repair the damage. Sienna roared with anger, jumping and wrapping the chains around his throat, trying to crush his windpipe, but he kicked her in the back of the leg and he grabbed the back of her head, and he pulled her head back with great force. She cried out in pain, desperately trying to hang on, until he went to behead her this time.

That was when she released the chains, rolling out of the way, and Adam could finally breathe again. He turned as Ilia and Blake both went for the attack, Blake fired Gambol Shroud multiple times at him, which lead to him deflecting them with Wilt's Blood Red Blade. But then Ilia kicked at his blade and she flipped back, and started slashing her long electrified whip over and over again at him, dodging the incoming blade that he slashed at her. He sheathed it and suddenly drew it again, throwing an arc of red energy into her body, Ilia yelped as the attack threw her to the ground.

Blake threw her Grappling Hook which connected to one of the traffic lights, and she swung round towards Adam and slammed Gambol down towards him. Her Sheath collided into Wilt, and he stared up at her with rage in those broken eyes of his. The impact threw Blake up into the air, and Adam jumped after for her, slashing her Aura repeatedly. He kicked her down to the ground and she crashed through a car. He dropped down and drove his sword straight through her eye, only for her body to vanish once again. He yelled with anger, looking for her, and she suddenly kicked him in the face again.

Sienna and Ilia both sprinted towards Adam, and he blocked Sienna's whiplash attack, the many sharp pieces inside of that chain dragged across the blade of Wilt, and he fired at Ilia who cartwheeled once again, just dodging the incoming bullet. Blake vaulted the car and punched Adam in the face, before she went on the offensive, screaming as she slammed her much shorter Katana against his sword. He blocked her strikes and kicked her in the chest, going for her again, until Sienna drop kicked him through one of the stores. The stall shattered around him, and Sienna grabbed a frying pan that was hanging from one of the displays and smashed it into his face. Adam grunted, staggering back as Ilia fired an electrocuting shot into his arm, and Blake jumped towards him.

He swung at her, but she cast a shadow, with some fire dust that Weiss helped her upgrade with. The fire ignited in the shadow and exploded, throwing the Psychopath into the side of a mail van. The Van crashed onto its side with a deep impression inside of it where Adam had slammed into it. He jumped out from it and he partially drew Wilt from Blush with a growl, the red energy coursed through him as he stared at the three of them. "Look out!" Blake screamed as she pushed them all down, and she vast her Shadow.

She just avoided Moonslice as Ilia kicked a Motorcycle with all her might, and the blade cut it clean in two. The attack also caused the bike to shatter and dissolve into dust.

Back inside of the Supermarket…

Hazel caught Akoúo as it flew towards him and he slammed it against the floor with a growl, only for Pyrrha to lift up one of the steel shelves and launching it straight at him. Hazel growled and clenched his fist, punching through the shelf as his fire dust turned his blow into an explosive attack, and he jumped towards them, smashing his fist into the ground with great force. The attack shattered more tiles and fire erupted through the ground, Jaune switched Dusts and he changed to wind.

He swung Crocea Mors with great force, and that sent a huge gust of wind that slammed into Hazel, pushing him across the ground. He held his huge hand up, blocking the gale that was slamming into his body, but as he held himself there, Weiss zoomed towards him on one of her Glyphs, and she thrusted herself forward, blasting the Unnatural Human against the wall. She shot forward and stabbed right into his chest, but even then… there was no reaction whatsoever. At this point she did not even think he was alive, that was through his heart and nothing even seemed to bother him.

He punched Weiss in the belly so hard that the electricity shot into her aura, throwing her through the shelves, and her aura crackled. Jaune's eyes widened and he ran over to her, and he started using his Semblance on her. "Hold on Weiss, I got ya." Jaune assured, slowly bringing her aura back, Pyrrha turned and she grit her teeth as Hazel paced back and forth, waiting for her to make her attack.

"Come on!" Hazel yelled, and caught Pyrrha by the throat and slammed her down into the ground again, he pulled his fist back and went to pummel her in the face, but she reached out to the wall and pulled a piece of metal from the concrete. The rebar snapped and shot out, stabbing straight through Hazel's shoulder, he stumbled off her and she gasped, catching her breath as her polarity called Milo and Akoúo back to her hand. She stared through her red hair that fell over her eyes, blowing it out from her gaze.

Suddenly the lights and power in the supermarket started to drain, and she saw Hazel stand back up, channelling the electricity into her body. He howled with anger and he punched his fists forward and she gasped, lifting her shield up, only for all that electricity to collide into her. The impact threw her through the window which shattered, crashing against one of the cars with a groan.

Jaune's eyes widened when he heard Hazel walking towards him whilst he helped Weiss boost back up. Jaune grabbed Crocea Mors and with a yell he slammed the burning blade across Hazel's head. Hazel staggered back and he charged towards him, bringing his fist down at his head, only for Jaune to hold the sword up, stopping his massive fist from getting any closer. Jaune grit his teeth as he held the hulking man back, until Jaune smirked, and he raised a brow.

He turned and his eyes widened.

"Back off." Winter growled, she formed her Glyph and shot straight at him and blasted him through the building. The wall collapsed as he bounced across the road on the other side. Winter turned to Jaune and Weiss who was getting back up. "Are you okay?" She asked her baby sister and she nodded her head.

"That guy… I've never seen anything like it… he's not human, he can't be. I stabbed him in the heart, I didn't want to… but it didn't do anything. He never felt a thing from any of our attacks, and it looked like he was built… out of body parts." Weiss stammered, Winter looked at Jaune for confirmation and he nodded. That was exactly what he looked like, Pyrrha pulled her body from the car and she limped over to them, needing her aura back up as well.

"Good thing I got here then." Winter sighed with relief. "What about Adam?" She asked.

"Oh crap, Blake!" Jaune realised, knowing it was just her against Adam… well not just her.

Blake aimed her Pistol attached to Gambol Shroud at Adam, he was weaker… barely hanging onto his aura. But he did not look like he was backing down, Ilia and Sienna were ready to attack but they never knew if that was the right idea. But as they stood there, Adam turned and Hazel suddenly erupted out and he grabbed him by his shoulder. "Get off me!" Adam yelled with anger.

But as they stood there, something exploded right at their feet, throwing them across the ground. Blake looked up with widened eyes as a huge Bullhead of some kind hovered towards the two of them. But it was far bigger than any Bullhead they had seen before, it had four huge thrusters and covered in armour plating. It also had some pretty formidable weaponry on it. As it descended, Hazel literally dragged Adam and threw him inside of it. The vehicle took off and there was a man inside, they did not recognise him, but he hard cold eyes and a thick black moustache.

They did not know it.

But that was Doctor Arthur Watts.

The Airship swiftly bugged out now that they had Adam, and left the Feral Ones to be picked off or to retreat from Vacuo. The gunfire had begun to die down, and Jaune walked over to them, helping Blake back up to her feet. "That man… he works for Salem, doesn't he?" Blake asked him.

"That's my guess." Jaune agreed.

"And now they have Adam." Sienna growled with anger.

Adam was out now, and he was on a warpath.

* * *

**Adam**

* * *

The massive Bullhead soared across the sky, high above the Deserts of Vacuo, passing over the Sea of Sand where the massive city was consumed by the Drought. Inside of the vehicle, Hazel punched Adam in the face extremely hard, knocking him down onto the deck of the aircraft. He stared up at the Abomination that stood above him with clenched fists, and Watts was stood there with crossed arms, and there was also Tyrian with his arms crossed. "I told you to fall back." Hazel growled as he pressed his boot down on Adam's chest.

"Get the hell off me." Adam growled.

"I wouldn't if I were you, boy." Watts warned, and Tyrian sadistically laughed as he stood up, whilst Watts played with the Grave Dust that he modified, letting it float through his fingers.

"Oh please, do anger Mr Rainart. I would love to see what would be left." He giggled disturbingly. Adam glared at Tyrian and then at Hazel, he leant his head against the titanium ground and he stood down, so Hazel took his boot from his chest as well.

"What that was? It was my business, not yours. You should not get involved in other people's matters." Adam warned, and Hazel stopped as Watts sat down.

"It's _our _business now. And I don't appreciate you disobeying my commands like that. And believe me, if you disobey a direct order from our Queen? You will regret it." He warned as he walked towards him.

"You were concerned about my dedication to your cause. As long as Blake Belladonna is alive, that will be my only concern." He warned, and Watts chuckled, he stood up and he walked towards him, and the Grave Dust approached him.

"It really shouldn't be, Mr Taurus. You have not met our master yet… you only met Cinder, and she was a traitor. What do you think she will do when she meets Cinder again for her transgressions against her?" Watts asked her, Adam stared at the swirling metallic dust controlled by electromagnetic energy.

"Kill her?" He assumed.

"Oh no… that would be too easy, dear boy. No… she will make you beg for death first." Watts promised with a smirk, and then he looked at Tyrian. "And when she lets you die… you will beg to be spared."

Tyrian giggled sinisterly, Adam was many things but stupid was not one of them. He knew that Tyrian enjoyed killing, killing people slowly especially. "So if I were you? I would learn to do as you are told." Watts advised, he stood up and he let the Grave Dust return to the pack sat on one of the seats in the huge Bullhead. Watts walked back to the Cockpit and he sat down, taking it off Autopilot as he had them return back to the Sanctum.

"You have one more chance… do not fail her. Because Queen Salem does not broker failure." Hazel warned as he extended his palm to him.

Adam took his hand and stood back up, nodding his head.

"I understand." Adam agreed.

_But Blake… Blake is mine… and nothing will change that._

* * *

**Blake**

* * *

The Black Gallows were now in this District of Vacuo now, repairing the situation.

Ambulances and Firemen were everywhere, whilst the Police Force were arresting the remaining Feral Ones that they managed to take alive. Winter had her arms crossed as she stared at them as they were put inside of the Black Gallows Wasps. She turned as Dutch approached with a sigh. "Never a dull moment with you lot, is it?" Dutch asked with a chuckle, he looked at Sienna who was sat there, her chain tightly wrapped around her forearm.

"The Feral Ones. You know what they are?" Winter asked.

"I do, these ones we managed to stop? They're only the start. They were soldiers in the White Fang, ones who could not live without the violence. Angry with Sienna over there for choosing the more diplomatic option over warfare. The two Fox Faunus we found dead in that alleyway? They were working for someone else, not sure who. But they were the ones that started this. I have a feeling that Adam and the rest of the Feral Ones will head to the many Penitentiaries across Remnant." Dutch explained.

Sienna, Ilia and Blake stood up, walking over to Dutch as they overheard what he was saying. "What do you mean?" Sienna asked.

"There are a lot of Prisons that hold the crazier White Fang, ones from Mountain Glenn and even further. Freeing them will give the Feral Ones a lot more forces. And if those Albain Brothers were charismatic enough to turn those soldiers to their side? Then those prisoners will be easy pickings." Dutch explained as he crossed his arms.

"Crap, the biggest one is in Atlas, isn't it?" Ilia asked.

"It is, and you have the S.D.C Mines in Mantle as well. All those Faunus will be wanting a good fight for how they are treated. My guess is that they will go to Argus to get there, it's the quickest route." Dutch explained, and Sienna nodded her head. Blake pushed her hands through her hair. She let Ilia and Sienna talk with Dutch whilst Winter walked with her.

"This is bad…" Blake stammered.

"I know, but we need to focus on finding them. I'm not just talking about Jackdaw now, if Adam is back and seriously doing this? Then your friends are gonna be targets, they are all Human." Winter reminded.

"I know… but they're headed for the Anima Mountains, that could take ages to find them." Blake said, as they spoke, Weiss stood up and walked over.

"Unless they are headed to Argus as well. We don't know what information Malachite gave them before… whatever the hell it was that happened. What if we don't try and search the Mountains? Head straight for Argus?" Weiss suggested, they looked at each other and Jaune scratched the back of his neck.

"And if they're not?" Jaune asked.

"I mean… it's Jackdaw. He's leading them on some sort of breadcrumb trail. He's ahead of them, we could go to Caroline Cordovin. She could help us track them down with her pull in Anima." Weiss suggested, Winter groaned at the mere mention of her name.

"Cordo…" She groaned.

"Friend?" Pyrrha asked.

"Hardly." She replied. "There's a reason why we were all relieved when she was stationed away from Atlas."

They chuckled at that one. "It's possible though, she trusts me. Her help would definitely help us apprehend them. I just hope they don't bring that damn Bandit Tribe all the way there." She sighed.

"How do we get there?" Blake asked curiously.

"There's the Argus Limited. It has a few stopping points on the way there, we could catch the train and make our way there through that. I don't think going into Mistral is a good idea though, we don't know how many of those Feral Ones are out there." Jaune explained.

"So what do you propose?" She asked, so Jaune began to ponder.

"We take an Airship to Anima, we get as far from the main city as we can and we make our way to the nearest Station. Closest one to Argus is around fifty miles, there are a few farms on the way there. Nice people, should let us stay for the night in their Guest Houses." Jaune explained.

"How do you know all this?" Winter curiously inquired.

"My sister, Saphron. She lives in Argus with her wife Terra-Cotta. I've visited her every now and then, normally I go from Mistral but I remember how many stations there are between there and Argus. There're three, but that one is the closest. Just means we will need to be careful." Jaune explained, Winter nodded her head. She was never against the idea of staying low profile, sometimes it was the safest option.

"Well it's better than trudging through the mountains." Weiss shrugged, and they nodded. Blake looked at Ilia and Sienna who were stood there, and they needed to get out of Vacuo fast. Blake approached them and she gently tapped Ilia's shoulder.

"Hey, Guys…" She softly said.

"Hey, Blake." She said, the others walked over out of curiosity. Ilia still was shocked and needed answers, and before Blake could even ask – she had to know.

"Sienna… I need to know… Adam seemed certain that he killed you, Ilia too… what the hell happened?" Blake asked, Sienna looked at Ilia and then the others. She sat down and she sighed, and pulled up her shirt, revealing the scar where Adam stabbed her, and then she lifted her head so the light could shine upon the scarring where her throat was cut open.

"I have a… rare Semblance. When I die, my wounds heal and I am reborn, depending on the severity. If I die from old age, or if I explode or lose my head? Then I can't come back. But stabbings, disembowelling or others? My wounds heal and I am reborn… but it has a limit." Sienna explained to them all, she smiled and chuckled. "I guess you could say I have Nine Lives. But now I only have four."

Their eyes were wide with disbelief.

"You… can come back from the dead… nine times?" Pyrrha asked with shock.

"Depending on the severity of what killed me. Can't come back if I'm a pile of ash." Sienna shrugged her shoulders.

"If… you don't mind my asking…" Jaune did not even have to ask, she already knew what he was gonna ask.

"My first death was from a Human. I was sixteen, and a gang of boys jumped me, and stabbed me to death in an alleyway. After that, I joined the White Fang and wanted Humanity to fear us, until I realised that solved nothing." She revealed, showing the stab scars on her back, side and belly. "The second time, I was attacked by a Beowulf and it ripped out my neck." She pointed to the side of her neck where there were deep teeth marks. "The third and fourth were actually one after the other. A White Fang soldier tried to poison me, and succeeded. I choked to death on the poison and died, but when I came back I tried to throw them up… but the poison killed me again. Two lives lost from one damn dose of poison." Sienna scoffed, it actually sounded like it pissed her off as well.

"And the fifth… was Adam. He ran his sword through my gut and slit my throat. I only have four lives left, once I'm out? I'm gone." Sienna concluded, this was not what they expected from her and it shocked Ilia.

But in away… she was relieved. Sienna was one of her best friends, like a mother figure in some ways – so not losing her that day was just another reason to be glad to have her there. "It's my fault Adam is this way, I enabled his worst impulses, and I turned him into a monster. It's my responsibility, and I need to get to Argus. I need to warn Cordovin, whether she likes me or not, that all the prisons that hold White Fang convicts need to be protected. The Feral Ones are not about to stop." Sienna explained, they looked at each other, realising they all had the same place in mind.

"We're headed there as well. Our friends; Ruby, Yang, Nora, Ren, Eryka and Qrow went Rogue. We got a tip they're heading to the Mistraalian Mountains, but there is a station for the Argus Limited up there. We think they are gonna had to Argus at some point and we want to be ready for them. We could really use you help, and could help you along the way." Blake suggested as she walked over to her.

"I do not want you involved in this Blake, you saw how he was. He's obsessed." Sienna warned.

"Trust me, I know. He made me believe I loved him for years, remember?" She asked her, Sienna sighed, knowing she was right.

"We can help each other… and… it's been a while since we had a good mission together." Ilia smiled and Blake smiled back. Sienna stared at the destruction caused by the Feral Ones and she sighed.

"Alright… we'll go with you to Argus." She agreed.

Sienna and Ilia were now on their party.

Winter approached Dutch and he looked at her. "We're going to secure the situation here in Vacuo, and I need to be here to fill Killian in on what's happened. He will be waking up soon." Dutch said, and Winter nodded.

"Good luck, Dutch. We're going to take one of the Airships to get to Anima as fast as we can. We can't risk flying all the way there though. We don't know what the Feral Ones could have out there. We need to keep a low profile." Winter explained and he nodded.

"Then I wish you the best, Winter. I hope you find them, and sort this mess out." Dutch said to her.

Winter nodded as she shook his hand.

The new team:

Jaune, Pyrrha, Weiss, Blake, Winter, Sienna and Ilia.

They were ready, and they headed to where the Black Gallows Airship was landed, and they now had a new location on their sights.

The Sleeping Angel of Remnant.

Argus.

* * *

**Author Note - Goodbye Vacuo, and hello Anima.**

**This was an epic chapter to write, I love the Semblance my brother and I came up with for Sienna Khan. It started as a joke but then it sounded cooler and cooler, the idea that she only had nine lives to come back from (depending on how she died). And writing Hazel and Adam Vs the Hunters was great fun, and I love Jaune's new upgrade! Makes Crocea Mors quite a formidable weapon now!**

**Sienna and Ilia have joined the Hunters as well, gonna have some fun showing them together.**

**I hope you enjoyed! Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**\- Matt**


	25. The Mistraalian Mountains

**Chapter 24 – The Mistraalian Mountains**

* * *

**Ruby**

* * *

The Mistraalian Mountains were a brutal change of surroundings from the Bandit Tribe.

It was quite cold in Anima, but up here? It was a totally different story. Not only was there snow and it was bitterly cold, but everyone felt as if they had run a mile. Oxygen was low in the air from the altitude that they were walking on. Eryka was one step ahead of them though, she had her own mask that helped her breathe in these harsher climates. She seemed to be at home here, she was basically trained up here in the mountains.

The calls of Eagles echoed across the summits, and Dulcis flew above them, the sunlight bled through his beautiful feathers as he glided around them. The sun was beginning to set as the day slowly came to a close, but they knew that as long as they followed the trail in the snow, they would find the Summit's Claim.

Ruby shivered as she walked, they managed to purchase some warmer gear to move through the Mountains, since they had to go to Atlas anyhow, per Lil Miss Malachite's information. But they really did not buy enough to feel comfortable in this weather. The wind howled as it blew the snow against their faces, tall trees covered the mountain's sloping cliffs, branched weighed down from the layer of snow that fell on them. Ruby had a scarf around her neck that she hugged close to her face, and had fluffy gloves, boots and cloak around her outfit. Yang, Nora and Ren were the same.

Eryka walked with them, breathing through the Respirator she had with her, she took it off so she could speak to them. "You guys alright?" Eryka asked curiously.

"Mhm…" Ruby gently lied.

"Not cold?" Eryka asked, clearly able to tell that they were freezing, especially from their pink cheeks and noses.

"Nope… I'm sweating actually." Yang lied as she shook her head, she tied her long blonde hair up into a long ponytail that blew in the wind. As Ren walked, he turned as one of the Bandits collapsed from the low oxygen levels. He helped him up to his feet, and they carried on, whilst Shay lingered behind them, staring straight at Eryka with distrust. He was a danger to them all, and they knew it, but he was a ruthless warrior and the Tribe needed him. Because if they exiled or killed him? The grunts would never listen to Raven ever again, they trusted Shay… and that worried her.

"There's no point lying, living up here is tough. Not many people do, I guess it's why the Vasillias Cartel came up here. Nobody would be mad enough to try and launch a full scale attack on their own turf." Eryka said as she shrugged.

"Is that what we're doing? Attacking the Vasillias Cartel?" Nora asked with concern, she looked at Vernal who had a big winter coat on over her body, whilst Cinder was wearing a soft poncho and a bandanna over her mouth to protect herself from the Mountain Cold.

"I hope it doesn't come to that. My mother… she is many things but she is not heartless." Eryka stated.

"She wiped out the Vacuo Mafia." Ruby reminded, and she nodded her head in agreement.

"Yeah, she did. But she knows how important a child is to a mother… and by the looks of it… Cinder seems to feel that way about this kid." Eryka stated, looking at Cinder.

They scoffed, all at the same time. "Forgive my disbelief." Yang retorted, and Eryka nodded her head as she walked, easily moving through the snow, sticking to the rocks so then her boots did not sink and fall into the snow. She looked out at the horizon as the sun slowly descended towards the horizon, Ruby and Yang slowed down as they walked, and they looked at the Falconess. Dulcis circled over her head, and descended down onto her shoulder, chirping as they both looked out at the mountains.

Eryka exhaled, a cloud of mist trailed from her lips as she stared across the clouds. Ruby and Yang walked over to her as she stared at the distance. "Didn't you say… Cinder went to school with you? Before the Vytal Festival?" Eryka asked the two of them, and Ruby looked at the Fall Maiden who trudged through the snow.

"Yeah… well… I don't think I would call her a student. Cinder, Emerald and Mercury… they managed to trick the entry guidelines. I don't agree with many things that Killian spouts… but that? Well, he's right to improve the Entry Exams and stuff for the Academies." Ruby admitted, Yang nodded her head in agreement.

"Yeah, if all he wanted was to fix that stuff? I'd be back at Beacon right now." Yang admitted, and Eryka sighed.

"Yeah, well… guess Killian's bitten off more than he could chew with us, huh?" Eryka chuckled.

"Yes he has." Ruby giggled as she stood beside her, she smiled as Dulcis looked at her and she rubbed his head against her cheek. "Hey, Dulcis… you're a cutie." She cooed, stroking the soft feathers, he gently chirped as she gave him all the fuss he loved. Yang did the same, stroking his back with her cybernetic hand. Eryka smiled as she stood there, Shay walked past them and he chuckled.

"Well, ain't that just adorable?" Shay said as he stared at them, Eryka glared at him with a clenched fist.

"Screw you, Shay." Eryka snarled.

"Aw… little kiddies playing family with the daughter of a murderer." Shay said, but Yang turned and stared at Shay.

"Will you just stop it?" Yang demanded, tightening her clenched fist, staring straight into his eyes with anger. Shay chuckled at Yang, her eyes were not red with anger or even like her mother's, yet she had the same glare, the same fire in her heart.

But Shay did not back down from her, he stared at her, right into her eyes, stepping forward as she threatened him to back down. "Wow… you really think you're something special, don't ya? I saw your face when we swatted those damn spiders… you probably tell yourself every single night that you're a strong Huntress. But you're just a scared little girl, the second real blood spills… you freeze." Shay growled. "I bet you were a snivelling wreck when you lost that arm."

Their blood chilled, and not from the cold snow, but from those words. Shay did not flinch when Yang stared into his eyes, then she walked towards him, and she pushed her head against his, so hard it forced him back. "You… take… that… back." Yang snarled, as her eyes shone red, she was seconds away from igniting her hair and going full berserk on the Bandit Highwayman. But Shay never did know when to back down, that was never in his nature, he always liked a fight, until he felt a hand grab him.

"Enough!" Cinder yelled, she appeared out of nowhere as she threw his body across the snow. He slid and stopped by the rocks, groaning as the Fall Maiden stood beside Yang. None were more surprised than Yang, of all the people to defend her it was the one who caused the Fall of Beacon in the first place. The one that tried to kill Pyrrha, the one that helped kill Penny Polendina.

Yeah, Cinder Fall was the last person she expected to stand by her side.

"Last thing we need is all this arguing, Grimm could be anywhere in these mountains. And the Grimm that lurk out here are freaking dangerous. So cut it out, or I'll put you down. You hear?" Cinder yelled, her eye flared with flames.

Shay glared at Cinder, and his hand was close to his holster… and Cinder knew that, he was a loose cannon, if she had it her way she would have killed him a long time ago. But Raven was the leader, and she knew he could lead the rest of their Grunts into combat better than either of them could. Shay snarled and he refused to draw his Revolver, standing up and he cracked his neck, sighing. "Fine… have it your way, Fall." Shay growled as he stood tall. "But ask yourself this, Xiao Long… when the time comes, and you have to choose between your life and someone else's… who will you choose?" He asked, walking away from Yang.

Yang calmed herself down, the glowing red energy left her irises, then she looked at Cinder. "Hey… uh… thanks?" Yang felt conflicted on whether she should even say that to Cinder. The Fall Maiden did not care that much about it, she just walked away from her.

"Sure, whatever." Cinder shrugged. "Next time though? Don't try and get in a fight with him, you might have a good semblance and aura, but don't underestimate him. There's a reason he's survived this long."

"How's that?" Yang asked, Cinder stopped and looked at her.

"He fights dirty." She told her, looking at one of the Bandits.

He was a fighter, that much was clear, but there was a deep scar around his cheek, one that was seriously bad. As she stared at the man, Oscar approached her. "Who's that?" Yang asked.

"His name's Traynor. He's been with the Branwen tribe since he was six years old, loyal to Raven to the bone." Oscar answered, Ruby and Eryka walked over to Oscar, and they observed the man. He walked beside Vernal with his overcoat on, he had a prosthetic leg as well.

"What did Shay do to him?" Ruby inquired, Oscar looked at the three girls and he told them.

"They were playing cards with that guy over there, Flynt." Oscar told, they looked over and saw the Bandit. He was bigger and older than Traynor, from the name they expected someone like Flynt Coal, but he was very different. He was white with ginger hair and many scars on his face. "He's Shay's right-hand man, they joined together from the last Bandit Tribe they were with." Oscar told them all. "Shay wanted to make things interesting. They played the next one and he lost, Traynor slid his Liens over to him. But that was not what he meant. Flynt grabbed him, held him down, and he carved his face up with that knife. Never hard a man scream so loud before."

It made Ruby feel sick to imagine how that would have felt, especially after knowing how it felt to be stabbed by a really sharp knife. It was the most agonizing feeling she had ever known. "W-Why?" Ruby stammered.

"Because he wanted to make it interesting. Traynor was always a _pretty boy_, lucky with the girls all the time. But nobody feared him, never had a reason to. Shay had a feeling that this needed to change. So he changed it for him, instead of waiting for it happen in a fight." Oscar explained. Yang chuckled.

"Surprised he hasn't done it to you yet, baby face." She scoffed, and Oscar scoffed right back.

"He did try. They both had broken ribs after that." Oscar answered, he walked ahead of them and it made Eryka chuckle.

"Damn, he's a pip-squeak but I wouldn't piss him off." Eryka stated.

As they followed the path, they heard the voice of Raven Branwen call out. "Hold up!" She yelled, they all slowed down as they approached the incoming bridge. It was damaged but still standing. They looked around and they noticed it was an extremely old bridge, one that was older than any they had seen. Except for the Ruins in the Emerald Forest, if anything it looked like they were in the era.

Same architecture.

It was… intriguing.

Ren stood before the bridge with Qrow stood next to him, he crouched down at this echo of the past, ardent with curiosity. "What is it?" Ruby asked as she walked over to Raven, she stared at the other side of the bridge, and then they saw it. This was the last thing they ever expected…

… there was some kind of old Castle. Most of it was gone, collapsed down the side of the mountain, snow claimed half of the remains that were still intact, the rest was mainly the Tower. Stone and concrete, all of it was destroyed, either from time or whatever attacked it. "What is this place?" Ruby asked with amazement.

"It's an old Nikialos Fortress from the Great War. Anima was their old holding grounds, against the Mistraalians." Qrow answered as he walked over to them.

"Nikialos?" Ruby asked.

"Nikos." Nora clarified as she walked over to them. "Pyrrha told us once about the history of her family, how far back her bloodline goes. The Nikos Spartans that still exist now? They existed thousands of years ago too. They fought against the Mistraalians once, three hundred of their Spartans battled against every single Mistraalian Warrior. They managed to hold off thousands of foes, Mistraalian and Grimm."

"Why?" Yang asked.

"Because the Mistraalians were trying to force them into their way of life, taking their land. And if they didn't, they would wipe them out." Ren explained.

"If they didn't end up fighting together, when the Vacuo Mongrels started to invade their land. I read about the Mongrels, they were nearly unstoppable. They threw their numbers and strength against them, and if it weren't for the Spartans and their Phalanx strategy, Anima would be a part of Vacuo's Kingdom now." Nora explained, it amazed them… the Great War was one of those eras of history that utterly amazed them. Everyone simply imagined it was mindless war.

It nearly ended the world from how many lives were lost.

So everyone agreed on a way to live together, in a way that differences meant nothing, because in the end they were all the same. They named themselves after colours, it was a small and simple idea.

But it worked.

And after that? The only things that divided the world, were Humanity, the Faunus… and the Grimm.

In the grand scheme of things, this time of peace that they were enjoying had only existed for eighty years… eighty years after the thousand years that the Great War waged. During that terrible Millennia of War, the Kingdoms… they were more like Warzones of their own. There was a reason for the name "The Great War".

In Vale? There were the many Armies for Hire, taken up by the powerful who battled over control of the entire Kingdom. In Vacuo there were the Clansmen, Mongrels who fought relentlessly. Atlas was the most surprising when compared to how they were now, the Ice Dwellers were once savages nicknamed the Celts. They were Pagans who ruled the seas and believed that drinking the blood of fallen enemies would absorb their semblances, to make them unstoppable. It was a false assumption, but still a powerful one.

And finally there were the Spartans of Nikialos and the Mistraalian Immortals, who fought for many centuries over their land.

Ruby was the first one to walk across the bridge, that even now was still sturdy. She felt the wind howl beneath her, looking down the holes in the stone and seeing the tumbling rocks buried in the thick snow. Who knows what Grimm lurked down there in the blizzards that seemed to endlessly rage. Everyone followed her, Raven and Qrow stood by her shoulders, whilst Valravn kept those creepy eyes on her every single move. Ruby looked at him but he did not break glance, she could feel his distrust of her as he stared at her silver eyes. She looked ahead and walked towards the Old Fortress.

She pressed her hand against the old stone, and she softly chuckled. "Wow… to think that Pyrrha's Ancestors fought here." Ruby admired the history that was held here, she wiped the snow from the stone to see there was a plaque inside, and inscribed were the words that Jaune remembered so well.

_Infinite in Distance and Unbound by Death_

Their symbol was exactly the same as well. Qrow looked at the structure as well, and Ruby looked at her Uncle curiously. "Did you know that Pyrrha was a descendant of them?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, it was why Oz chose her to be the Fall Maiden… before Cinder changed that." Qrow revealed, she gasped and her eyes widened.

"Really?" She asked.

"The factors Ozpin made to trust the Maidens we chose depended on a few things, and the main one was who they were. The Spartans of Nikos were renowned for their honourable personalities. Kindest people in the whole world, and Pyrrha definitely fitted into that category." Qrow chuckled, since he always found it quite sweet how she was almost too polite for her own good.

"Yeah… I remember when I first met Pyrrha, I felt like I was too small to talk to her. But she was… just happy I said hello." Ruby chuckled. She swallowed her guilt down, whenever she thought of the friends she went behind the backs of, it hurt quite a lot.

"I wish she was with us." Ruby sighed, and Qrow smiled as he gently squeezed her shoulder to ease her guilt.

"It's alright, kiddo. You made your choice and they made theirs." Qrow shrugged his shoulders, but it was not even to do with the choice itself that hurt.

"It's not that… it's the fact we had to go behind their backs. I don't know if we can ever come back from this." Ruby sighed, pushing her bangs of hair away from her eyes. She looked up at the snow as it blew in the air, touching some of the flakes as they danced through the air. A smile graced her face as she touched them, following them. Qrow followed her as well, and his sister smiled as she watched Summer's daughter admire the beauty of the world. Cinder stood beside Vernal and she watched her as well, she could not understand how a girl could be so optimistic… even after everything she has seen.

As Ruby followed the snowflake, she turned to the ruins.

A massive black hand erupted from the rubble and slammed down into the ground in front of her, she screamed with shock as the Creature of Grimm rose from the burial site. Huge chunks of rock fell from its wide back, it had armour made from rock across its back and arms as well. It looked like an ape but unlike a Beringel, it was nearly four times the size, towering above Ruby. Long curved tusks, like an Elephant's, protruded from its mouth, and it reached down to a huge chunk of metal that stuck from the ground, ripping a huge club made of stone from the ruins. The beast pummelled through the collapsed wall and roared at Ruby again, this time she drew Crescent Rose.

"Troll!" Vernal called out, the Troll walked across the snow towards the Branwen Tribe, and it suddenly slammed its massive club down into the ground, bellowing at the same time. The call echoed through the mountains, and Ren turned with widened eyes. It was like an ambush, because more Grimm were coming, barraging through the Mountainous Wilderness… and tearing the thick layer of clouds.

"More Grimm!" Ren called out, and the ones in the sky were not to be trifled with.

"Sphinx and Manticores too!" Nora yelled, the Sphinx blasted a ball of fire down towards them, causing the Tribe to scatter, dropping their backpacks into the snow. The Troll growled as it walked towards one of the Grunts. He screamed in terror as he reached for his gun, only for the massive beast to grab him with its over hand. It lifted him off the floor with ease, before forcefully biting down onto his head and torso, twisting him like a piece of jerky, ripping him in half. Blood sprayed from his severed corpse, and it threw his lower half down the face of the mountain.

"No!" Ruby yelled with horror, before she shot forward and she slashed her trusty Scythe across the face of the beast. It was not about to go down in one hit though, it barely even reacted to the strike. It stumbled back but as Ruby went for a second attack, it caught her and slammed her down to the ground, creating a deafening bellow. Ruby bounced across the ground and she groaned, slowly getting back up, until suddenly Cinder blasted straight into the pot belly of the Troll. It staggered back and roared with anger as the Fall Maiden pushed it away from Ruby, she formed her Obsidian Axe and swung it across the stomach, slicing into it, but it still was not bothered by it. This was going to be one tough Grimm to take down.

Ruby knew that the Mistraalian Mountains were a treacherous place… but she had no idea that there was a Grimm hiding there the whole time. No wonder very few people dared to live out here in the wilderness.

Shay drew his duel Revolvers and he smirked, walking towards the charging Mountain Beowulves, which had much thicker fur and hide, but he could still take them on. He fired them one at a time, rolling aside from the attacking slash from one of the Beowulves. The claws cut through the snow in the air, and he kicked one of them in the side of the head. The Creature of Grimm barked in pain from the attack and went to lunge for him, only for him to blow its brains of smoke across the ground with his firearm. He holstered the other and he drew his big combat knife, and he rushed the second. He rolled across its back and slit its throat open in the process, it howled in agony as the thick black smog poured from its glowing red innards. As he landed he fired his pistol and nailed the third Beowulf in the head. The creature fell into the snow, and he grinned, spinning the Revolver through his fingers like a Cowboy before holstering it with style.

One of the Manticores came diving down with fire crackling inside of its jaws, until Nora suddenly threw Stormur Skeggox with all her might, the head of the axe stabbed straight into its arm, and she opened her hand, the glove had magnets inside that called her axe right back to her. The Manticore was pulled with the axe and as she caught it, she threw the Manticore across the ground, crashing through the rocks that protruded through thick snow. She winked at it as she spun her axe through her fingers and she rushed the huge beast, swinging it upwards, cutting clean through the thick black hide and fur, badly wounding the animal. It roared in pain as it staggered back, then she through the axe up in the air and she pulled her scroll from her pocket, and took a selfie as the axe landed in its skull. She stuck out her tongue and winked as she snapped the picture.

"Yep… still got it." Nora giggled, ripping the axe from the head of the dying Grimm.

Her triumph did not last, because the Grimm just kept coming. It was like they ran with the storm, and they were bigger than the average Grimm that they faced back in Vale. The Sphinx was circling the sky but soon it was going to land and make its attack on them. Raven swung her Odachi – named Omen – with great force and speed, slicing through the heads of three Beowulves, killing them instantly, toppling their bodies. She turned and pointed to Traynor. "Get the Non-Combatants somewhere safe!" Raven commanded, she turned and gasped, as a large Ursa suddenly rose up from the storm. The snow covered its thick tufts of fur, roaring at her. It was similar to the average Ursa, however this was a larger version, with a snub nose.

Also known as Cave Ursae.

Raven spun her sword through her fingers and sheathed it into her scabbard of many blades, drawing the Fire Dust blade, fire ignited across the blade and she leapt towards the creature. She cut across its side, causing the monster to roar in pain as the fire ignited across the fur, burning the flesh away as it crashed down. It turned and jumped at her, crashing through the soil, tearing the ground up with its huge claws. It swung many times but she blocked the blows, then drove her sword straight through its chest. The creature roared in pain, then she turned swiftly and cut it clean in half. The top half of the Ursa was thrown across the ground, sliding across the ice.

Yang shot in behind her, as she slammed her cybernetic fist into the jaw of the Beringel that jumped at her father from behind. The muscle rippled across its facial features, cracking the bone armour and sending it crashing through the rocks and snow. It dragged its big hand into the ground to steady itself, pounding its chest with full aggression.

Mother and Daughter stood back to back as the Grimm came towards them, barrelling through the snow in packs.

Eryka was moving the cleanest in comparison to the rest of the gang, sprinting across the ledges to keep a good distance from the Creeps that pursued her. They roared with anger as they chased her, snapping their jaws violently at her heels, until she jumped off the ledge and turned. She aimed her bow, and launched three arrows into the chest of the Alpha Creep, which then exploded, killing the other two in the process.

Her Bow was named Constantine Damascus.

She transformed the bow into Shotgun Form, and she fired it straight into the chest of a Beowulf that erupted from the ground towards her, pumping it and firing it once again. The shotgun shell shrapnel was in fact the same metal used in her arrowheads. Another Cave Ursa bellowed at her as it stood on its hind legs, she turned and she flicked her blue hair from her eyes. The shotgun opened back up into her bow and she drew it, and the Ursa charged through the snow. It jumped straight at her, but she fired an arrow into its leg, one that was very different to the others, for it shot a cable out the other side and into the ground. The Ursa was trapped, unable to move as Eryka whistled to Dulcis. The Altum Eagle soar past her head, and she aimed Constantine Damascus at the beast, alongside the other Grimm that came charging towards her from behind the beast.

She focused her senses, and she connected herself with her Eagle once more, and fired the Fire Arrow. Dulcis caught it in his talons, and his aura suddenly ignited into her beautiful Burning Phoenix. It melted the snow beneath his wings, and burned the Grimm to ash as they stood there. Dulcis banked across the sky and returned back to his loving owner, returning the arrow to her.

She gently kissed his cheek as he landed on her shoulder. "That's my boy." She whispered.

Nora continued to wage Nordic Hell upon the Grimm, channelling the lightning from the pack she had inside of her axe, powering herself up against them. Her semblance crackled pink electricity across her body, she jumped up in the air and the sky darkened, she yelled and slammed the axe down into the snow with great force. The rocks flew up into the air, alongside the Beowulves that she attacked, then Ren suddenly shot towards those Grimm. He slashed through them with Stormflower, cutting them away from existence, before sliding across the snow. He reloaded both his pistols and he fired them up at the Manticores that flew towards them, blasting mortars of fire towards them. One of them exploded close to Ren, throwing the Huntsman across the ground. He jumped up and threw Stormflower towards the attacking Manticore, cutting the wing clean off, causing the monster to crash into the ground with great force. As it smashed through the rocks, it came straight into the axe of Stormur Skeggox, killed immediately.

Nora pushed it from her weapon, and she stood beside her loving boyfriend, turning to see the rest of the Branwen Tribe holding their own. Shay was laughing maniacally, firing both Revolvers repeatedly, nailing the Grimm with every single shot he made. Oscar bellowed as he launched one of his powerful chained hammers forward, slamming into the chest of the attacking Sabyr. The large Feline Grim with huge canines grunted, thrown back from the attack, killed instantly as well. He turned and he brought the extended chain over his head, and the hammer splattered the skull of the other Sabyr. He retracted the long chains and the hammers returned to his hands, looking around as he saw the ground move as something tunnelled towards them.

More Creeps erupted from the ground, roaring at them as the Bipedal creatures charged forward, and Vernal aimed her dual Fire and Wind Firearms at them. She fired both beams of hot energy into the body of a Creep, before she leapt forward and spun through the air like a buzz saw. Vernal cut straight through the second Creep and slid across the ground, throwing her weapon towards the Beringel that just punched Yang into the ground. The blade sliced across the cheek, giving Yang the chance to fight back. She jumped and punched up the jaw of the Beringel, the huge Gorilla Grimm staggered away from her.

It roared and charged on all fours, punching at her again, but this time she swung back, and punched into its knuckles. The impact snapped the bone, causing the forearm bone to protrude through its thick hide. The Beringel roared in agony, then Yang shot straight through it. She panted then grit her teeth, firing multiple miniature missiles towards the attacking Sabyrs. The Tigers roared in pain as they exploded, but one of them jumped straight for Yang, and bit down onto her metal arm, shaking her like a chew toy, until Qrow suddenly ran Harbinger straight through its head, just stopping at Yang's face. He pulled the disintegrating Sabyr's body off her body. "Thanks, Uncle Qrow." She thanked, looking around at the constant battling Grimm. "Where the hell did they come from?"

"Ambush… you can thank that Troll for that." Qrow mentioned, glancing to the huge Grimm that both Cinder and Ruby were fighting at the same time.

Cinder threw her axe straight into the chest of the Troll and it recoiled from the attack, but that did nothing to kill or deter the beast. It snarled and just walked towards her, and slammed the huge club down at her, until red petals grabbed onto Cinder. They both rolled across the ground. Cinder coughed, wheezing as she got up, shaking the feeling off as she formed two more axes, and nodded at Ruby. The Silver Eyed Girl shot forward in a blur of red petals, and she slashed through the hand of the Troll. It roared in pain as she made her attack, then Cinder did the same. She blasted up into the air and slashed her Axe across the face of the titan. It staggered away from them and it roared up to the Sphinx.

Ruby fired her Rifle over and over again at the thick hide of the Troll, it used the back of its hand to block her bullets, until it suddenly pounded the ground with its club, and as Ruby avoided the attack, the old Grimm learned, and it dragged the mace across the ground as well, hitting Ruby with it. She cried out in pain, being thrown across the ground in the process, then Cinder shot at it, and slammed her axe into the beast's chest. The Troll grunted and growled, like a child that was getting annoyed with something. It grabbed the little woman and threw her away, but she kept on coming.

Cinder went for the head, until the Troll suddenly started to crack and flames erupted from within its body. The Troll howled at her and swatted her like a fly, smashing her through one of the frozen boulders. The Troll arched its back and hollered to the sky as it punched its chest with its fist, dragging the club through the snow behind it as it moved closer to Cinder, swinging the weapon down towards her, until Ruby suddenly zoomed overhead, and hooked Crescent Rose against the head of the club, saving the Fall Maiden's life. Cinder took the chance and she helped Ruby.

But they had to be careful, the Troll was going berserk, meaning it was going to be much harder to bring down, and far more aggressive.

They continued to fight the monster, whilst everyone else faced the Grimm that just kept coming. Qrow flew through the air with his sister, both in corvid form as they dove down towards the massive King Taijitu that slithered through the mountains. It lunged up towards them and they both transformed back into their Human Forms, spinning through the air as they both slice the heads of the massive snake in half. The Serpent's roars faded as it slammed to the ground, killed instantly. Both Branwens landed and they spun their weapons through their fingers, deflecting the quills that shot at them. There were new Grimm on the horizon.

Pouncers.

These things were bizarre, they were like dogs with long tails with razor sharp quills like a Porcupine attached, and by the name – they pounced onto people and ripped them to shreds. One of the Grunts grunted as a quill punctured through his shoulder, dropping him down to the ground, his claret smothered the snow beneath him. The Pouncer jumped at him with a terrible bark, but Eryka kicked the creature in the side of the head, knocking it down to the ground with great force. She aimed Constantine Damascus at its head as it roared at her, blowing it to pieces with the shrapnel from her arrowheads. The Grimm faded into thin air, and she turned swiftly, gasping as another came jumping at her.

It tackled her to the ground, snapping its massive jaws at her face over and over again, growling and drooling over her cheek. Oscar launched his hammer towards the beast, knocking it off her and it tumbled into the snow, getting back up and sprinting back towards them. She slammed Constantine Damascus across its face, making the creature lose its balance, and Vernal jumped over its head, beheading it with the powerful lasers.

Shay spun his Revolvers round and he fired them repeatedly at the third and final Pouncer, hitting it straight through the skull six times before it finally fell. Shay exhaled, but none of them had time to relax, that huge Troll was still standing and there was the Sphinx, that was coming straight for them with a deafening screech, blasting fire through the mountains as it came straight for them. The fire melted the snow and blew the rocks apart, splitting the others up. Qrow tumbled across the ground, and the huge Sphinx landed in the middle, roaring as it stared at him, building the flames within its jaws as it snarled. Raven went to attack it from behind, only for the snake-headed tail to lunge at her, knocking her over.

The Sphinx went for Qrow, until suddenly a Murder of Crows came flying towards it, and from the swarm came Valravn. He held both his Scythes back and he snarled as the whispers echoed around them.

"VALRAAAAVN!"

He slashed them straight through the thick feathery hide of the Sphinx, causing it to roar in immense pain as he soared past it. He transformed back into the Murder of Crows, banking around the giant, and that was Qrow's chance. He grabbed Harbinger and he fired the shotgun into the side of its head as it watched Valravn flying around it.

On the other side of the fight though, Cinder and Ruby continued to wage war against the Troll. Cinder yelled with rage as she slammed her fist into the side of its skull so hard it staggered back and crashed through the millennia old Nikialos tower, shattering it and causing it to come tumbling down the hill. Huge chunks of rock and ancient concrete slid and bounced down the mountain into the forestry below. The Troll growled but Cinder punched her burning fist across the jaw of the creature again, but then it snapped its jaws at her, so hard the muscle rippled through its body, then it reached down to the collapsed tower and grabbed part of it, smashing it down where she was flying, only for her to manoeuvre out of the way.

The Troll charged forward, the ground shook with every step the huge Grimm made, but it went straight for Ruby, who blasted towards it as it swung its massive fist at her. She yelled, slashing her Scythe clean through the middle of its fist, and running it right through the whole forearm. The Troll howled in agony as it felt the arm come apart, staggering forward. Ruby landed behind it and she shot at it again, firing explosive tipped bullets into the rocks that fused to its spine, blowing them apart. The Troll grunted in pain and turned with the club, bringing it down towards her head.

Until suddenly Cinder flew it and she slammed her Obsidian Axe into the open mouth of the Troll, pulling it across the snow, screaming with strain as she hauled the titan across the ground. The axe dug into the mouth and it choked. As she hovered next to the Troll, she blasted down to the ground with all her might, dragging the beast to the ground as well, digging the axe deeper into its open jaws. Black blood poured from the gruesome wound, Cinder ripped the axe from its face and it roared at her, reaching for her, but she took her Obsidian axe and roared once more, burying the blade deeper inside of its mouth, killing it at long last.

The jaw slacked, hung from sinew, before the body crumbled away into smoke, and Cinder wiped the sweat from her brow, turning to Ruby. "You've improved." Cinder commented, and Ruby shrugged.

"I try my best." Ruby shrugged, which made Cinder chuckle.

_Did… did we just joke with each other?_

The Sphinx was the last of the Ambushers to kill, and it was not about to go down without a fight, its massive wings extended and it roared at them all, breathing a cloud of fire down upon them. Oscar rolled away from the pool of flames that formed where he was stood, and he launched one of the hammers into the side of its head. It clanged and the creature recoiled back from the blunt force. It swung its long serpentine tail round and smacked Oscar across the battlefield, smashing him through the ancient barricades set up by the Spartans centuries ago. He rolled through the snow with a groan, and Raven helped him back up.

"How are we gonna kill this thing?" He asked her with concern.

"Together, now come on!" Raven yelled, she opened a portal and she jumped through it, and dove down towards the Sphinx from above, and she slashed her burning blade through one of the wings. The wing severed, followed by a deafening shriek of agony from the beast, and Yang fired herself towards the monster and punched it across the jaw. It grunted in pain and she landed on the other side. She remembered how she and Blake worked together to keep this thing down, to keep it in position so then the heavy hitters could annihilate it.

"Oscar! Your Hammer Chain Thingy!" She yelled.

"It's called _Cortex Gemini_!" Oscar yelled back.

"Yeah, whatever! Throw the hammer, we can use the chain to hold it down!" Yang yelled, and he nodded his head, so he launched the hammer over the creature, and Yang punched it downwards, causing it to wrap around its torso. The Sphinx looked at them with confusion, then Yang caught the Hammer, and pulled with all her strength, Oscar did the same. The Sphinx could not move, this lead to the beast getting even angrier.

It turned and saw the Murder of Crows rushing towards it again, and Valravn suddenly erupted through them.

"VALRAVN!" The Whispers of Valravn yelled as he shot past its eyes, slicing them out in one sudden attack. The Sphinx cried out in immense agony as the skilled and wise old Branwen flew past, the caws of many crows echoed around him. On the other side of the fight, Shay and Vernal fired their dual weapons up at the monster, Flynt and Traynor did the same with their guns, firing everything they had.

Ren and Nora battled against the creature's long snake-like tail, and Nora channelled her electrical power into the head of the axe, and just as the snake lunged forward, she blasted the beam of pink light into its mouth. The energy burned it from the inside, causing its body to burst and explode like a balloon, leaving the rear completely defenceless. Ruby looked at her Uncle and she nodded and he nodded back, they both blasted forward and spun through the air, and their scythes cut clean through the neck of the beast.

The monster collapsed to the ground with a dying scream, crashing down with great force. Oscar retracted his hammer and gave Yang a fist-bump, whilst the rest of the Tribe sighed with relief. Raven stood by the pool of blood where the Troll viciously devoured one of her people. She sighed and walked away, this was always expected… but she never liked people dying on her watch. "Is everyone okay?" Raven asked as she sheathed Omen.

"Exhausted…" Eryka sighed as she rubbed her aching knees from all that running around.

"Been a while since we had a good fight against the Grimm though." Shay replied, popping his shoulder.

"Not for us it wasn't." Vernal reminded, since they were the ones that went to the Hearthstone Chateau in he first place.

"Oh yeah, that was you guys, wasn't it." He remembered, slicking his hair back again, walking back to the others to refill on his ammunition.

Ruby walked over to Yang and her big sister gently ruffled her hair, then they both looked at Valravn who landed. "I didn't know he was like Qrow and Raven… but he turned into a bunch of them." Ruby commented as he stood there, holding a Crow on his hand as he stared off into the distance.

"I don't trust him… he's up to something." Yang softly said to her sister.

"You don't say?" Ruby scoffed, of everyone here? They trusted Shay more than Valravn, at least he was clearly a loose cannon and was dangerous.

But Valravn?

They never knew what to expect from him.

They all prepared to continue down the path, until another Grimm soared over head with small wings. They all groaned, wishing that this was all over. "Oh come on, another?" Nora groaned as she drew Stormur Skeggox again.

"What is it? Nevermore?" Cinder presumed, both Eryka and Yang stared at the strange thing that soared around the mountains. What was particularly odd about it, was the fact it sounded like a fighter jet and had vapour trails.

"Yeah… when was the last Grimm that had vapour trails?" Yang asked.

Eryka looked closer, and then she noticed something else… it was not a Grimm at all, it was a man with large metal wings and jetpack. "And… it's a dude." Yang realised too.

Then he started to bank round… towards them… at worrying speeds. "And he's coming right at us." Yang started to get more worried.

But Eryka was the one that was afraid…

… because she knew who this was.

"Oh… Shit…" Eryka gasped. Huge mechanical wings folded back in a falcon dive, a dark skinned hand outstretched. Charcoal grey eyes flared with bright red pupils, pure hatred and rage scrunched his features.

He slammed into Eryka at full speed, exploding rock around her body as they crashed into the mountain face. Her Aura broke on impact and she cried out, clutching the hand around her throat. The tips of his wings stabbed into the stone, curtains around them as he took a deep mechanical inhale.

His entire bottom jaw was mechanised, the flesh of his upper face and cheeks hanging slightly over the overlapping plates.

"WHERE'S THE SUMMIT'S MENTOR?!" He roared, bottom jaw of pistons and plates moving up and down as he yelled.

It was him.

The one that took Amber.

The one the people of the Summit's Claim call…

… Icarus.

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**Author Note - Icarus has entered the fray!**

**I have already said this on the newest Knights of Grimm chapter, but to those of you who do not read that series (which you should :D) I am back. Sorry I took a while to upload this chapter, had a busy few weeks.**

**This was a fun chapter to write, got some cool Lore as well with the Great War. You have Arkhonex in Knights of Grimm and here you have the stories of the Great War that lasted for a thousand years, and only ended 80 years ago. I love me some World Building :D**

**Love writing some Grimm battles, but Icarus is a whole new kind of threat, with a really awesome design too! If you have seen David's artwork and remember the Summit's Claim, Icarus is in that picture. Very cool character, can't wait to explore more of him!**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**\- Matt**


	26. Icarus

**Chapter 25 – Icarus**

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**Eryka**

* * *

Her mask shattered from the sudden attack by Icarus, aura broken in a bright blue flash and she grunted from the pain. "Where is the Summit's Mentor?" Icarus bellowed at her, his dreads fell over his furious dark grey and red eyes. He snarled through that mechanical jaw that was fused to his face, scarring covered where his mouth once existed.

"Get off me Icarus!" Eryka yelled, slamming both her boots into his chest. He was launched away from her, until he thrusted towards her once again, and he grabbed her by the neck, and they both soared across the sky. Eryka yelled in anger, punching him again and again and again in the face. Her knuckles scratched against the metal plates in his jaw, splitting the skin and hot pain pulsated in the bone. She grit her teeth, as she felt the ground get closer and closer, until Icarus threw her down into the snow. The soft white ice shattered around her, covering her body, she groaned, looking up at Icarus as he dove down towards her.

Dulcis suddenly flew in and slashed his claws across his face, knocking the Assassin out of the sky. Icarus grunted, crashing straight through the trees, but he used the wings like a shield, wrapping them around his body and he bounced across the rocks. Until he suddenly splayed the long metal bladed feathers out, and drew two Khopeshes that had deep red electricity crackling along the curved blades.

The Dual Khopeshes were named Undying Hatred.

Eryka pushed herself back up and she aimed Constantine Damascus at him, the arrow trained on his head. "Just calm the hell down, man! There does not have to be a fight! We just cleared out the Grimm up here!" Eryka yelled at him, he growled and clenched his fist.

"Where is he? I have been hunting him for a very long time now! I know I am close!" Icarus yelled with intense anger in his voice, but Eryka was loyal to her old friend. She narrowed her eyes and she shook her head, scratching the snow off her cold cheek.

"I know what you intend to do to him, Icarus. What happened… he was a different man then!" She argued, he snarled as he stared at her. The mask hissed, and he ripped the two canisters from them, and he grabbed two more from the bandolier across his torso. They glowed red, and there was some form of liquified nutrients and water in there, sustenance to keep him alive without his jaw. He connected the cannister and he twisted it round, locking it in and the hissing stopped, pressurizing as they continued to feed him as usual.

His ragged metallic breaths halted, yet he still growled, and the red electricity – both fire and electricity combined – coursed across the blades of his Khopeshes. He removed them from within the wings of the Wingsuit, perfectly hidden away. "I will not ask again, Falconess. Where is he?"

"We've worked together before, Icarus. Is this really how you want our friendship to end?" Eryka questioned, keeping that arrow focused on her target.

"We fought for a common goal, that does not make us friends." Icarus growled as he held the Khopeshes tight.

Eryka pouted. "Aw… you hurt me, Icarus."

"Not yet." He growled, until he suddenly shot forward, using his wings to bat the incoming arrow aside. The projectile shattered like glass against the metal wings, and he jumped up in the air, kicking Eryka in the jaw. She grunted, staggering back as he swung his wing round and slammed the metal feathers into her chest. She was thrown once again from the attack, and she crashed back in the snow, rolling through the thick dunes of ice. She coughed, spat blood from her mouth and split lip. She turned and saw him sprinting towards her, clashing his curved blades together.

Once, twice and thrice!

He roared with anger, his voice crackled as his organic and synthetic vocal chords fought constant. He brought both of them down, and she rolled out of the way, burning and crackling dust covered the blades. The snow melted instantly from the explosive attack, and as she stood up, the Bow Form of Constantine Damascus collapsed down into the Shotgun Form. She grit her teeth and fired, launching the arrowheads in clusters into his armour and aura protected body. He recoiled from each impact, a crackling orange aura covered his body, he grunted and kept getting pushed from her weapon. She stood tall again and held her weapon, allowing it to return back into its Bow Form.

She stood at the ready, and Icarus went for a second attack, the thrusters built into the pack of the Wingsuit bellowed as he threw himself at her again. This was his main strategy, attacking his enemies with overwhelming force. Something that Eryka Vasillias had come to learn very well, because his viciousness made him an adversary to fear. If he was not attacking you with his Dual Khopeshes, he would use the powerful wings to his advantage. And if that was not enough, he had skills and grenades as well… and his semblance.

Well she had no idea what that was, he never used it, never showed off his inner gift.

But he had one, that much was certain.

Icarus charged at her and he swung the Khopeshes at her again, yelling with rage as the curved blade slashed down at him. They clashed against the bow that she used to protect herself, sparks danced from the impacting blades. She held his Khopeshes, lodged over her Bow, teeth gritted, then she slammed her knee up into his stomach. He grunted in anger, then Eryka jumped and spun through the air, kicking him across the mechanical jaw. He yelled in pain, as depressurizing gasses shot out for a few moments from his mouth. He roared in agony, before he closed the opening with a switch.

Eryka took his distraction as her opportunity, she selected her explosive arrow and she shot it towards him. The arrow zoomed towards him, but he crossed his metal wings over, and it exploded around him. The fire coursed across the metal feathers, he growled as he stood there, pushed back, then Eryka cracked her neck. Her aura was thin, but because of that, it healed quick.

The cybernetic wings opened behind him and he blasted towards her, Eryka ran forward as well, only for her to slide underneath his attack, and she twisted round, firing another arrow at him, dealing some more damage to his aura. He grunted and slid across the slippery icy snow. The thrusters on his back belched fire, stopping his body from sliding any further, even driving the sharp tipped wings into the ground to anchor himself. He pulled them from the ground, and jumped upwards, the wings stretched outwards and he launched at her like a missile fired from a Fighter Jet.

He closed the wings and spun through the air, kicking Eryka in the side of the face. She grunted in pain from the impact, and then he spun round and slashed the Khopesh downwards at her. She yelled in pain, feeling it cut through her thin aura, so she rolled away from the second attack. The blade crashed into the snow and exploded the ground. She went on the offensive, pulling her bow up the throat of the Mercenary, hauling him back. He yelled in anger, choked by the bow as she pushed both her feet against his back. "Let's! Just! Talk!" She strained, only for him to snarl, jumping up and crashing down to the ground, crushing her against the rocks.

Winded, she gasped for air, and Icarus grabbed her by her soft blue hair and he punched her down into the ground, over and over again. She swung her fist up at him, but he caught her wrist with flaming black and red eyes. He pushed her down against the ground, and the curved blade of his Khopesh hooked onto her throat. With her aura down, he could cut her head off right now. But he did not, he just stared down at her.

"Last chance, Vasillias. Where… is… he?" Icarus demanded with fury in his voice, but even in the face of death… she did not betray the man who saved her from her dark past. She just grit her teeth and she spat.

"Screw… you… Icarus." She growled.

"Then I'm sorry. This is the end for you." He growled, and he went to cut her head clean from her shoulders.

Until red petals suddenly tackled into him. Icarus grunted and Eryka gasped with relief, Ruby and Icarus crashed across the rocks, then Ruby kicked herself off his body, and landed on the snow. She spun Crescent Rose through her fingers and stood in her ever so familiar pose, hands held onto her huge Scythe, silver eyes focused on the Mercenary. He stood back up and stared at Ruby Rose, his eyes widened when he saw her Silver Eyes. "You… your eyes…" He snarled.

"Like 'em?" She asked with a raised brow.

"I know people who would pay a lot for you." He growled, and Ruby could not help but wonder if he meant either the Vasillias Cartel… or whoever was responsible for the Battle of Beacon.

_Salem…_

"Well too bad, buddy. You're not getting them." She commented, and Icarus turned around as he saw the rest of the rogues jumping down to help their friend. Yang landed and she pumped her Gauntlets, ready to battle. Nora dropped from the sky with pink lightning coursing through her body and Stormur Skeggox. And finally, Ren slid down the face of the cliff with Stormflower aimed at him.

"You're outnumbered buddy, just give it up." Yang threatened, but Icarus chuckled.

"No… now it gets interesting." Icarus replied, the wings suddenly extended with razor sharp feathers and he held the Khopeshes in a fully offensive stance, ready to battle against all four of them at once. Eryka waited for her moment, her body needed to recover, she was good in a fight but her thin aura made her more of a liability than a strength. Ruby shot towards Icarus and she swung Crescent Rose at him with a yell, slashing across his Aura, only for him to hook onto her blade and bring it down to the ground. He pulled her forward and swung his leg round, and knocked her down to the ground.

He slammed the Khopesh down towards her face, but Nora blasted an almighty beam of pink electrical energy at him, and he was thrown back from the attack, before he used his metal wings to block the beam. He gritted his teeth with anger, walking towards Nora who kept the barrage going. He snarled and he got closer and closer, until Nora stopped and she swung her axe straight at him. He ducked under the attack and hooked her neck with the Khopesh, slamming her to the ground. But Nora kicked him up the jaw and knocked him towards Yang, who pounded her fist across his face and she ducked under his wing that lunged at her. The sharp feathers would have impaled her if not for her powerful aura.

She jumped up and punched him in the face with both fists, rolling past him, until he threw the Khopesh at her. She gasped and it hooked onto her neck, stabbing against the wall, holding her there. "Guys!" She yelled, restrained by Icarus' Khopesh. He launched himself at her and kicked with both his feet, so hard that the stone wall cracked and shattered like glass. She fell to one knee, and Icarus caught the falling Khopesh, and swung it across her chest. Yang grunted, thrown up into the air, then he flew up towards her and he punched her in the face, over and over, before he grabbed her, and dove down with his wings, smashing her into the stones.

Yang groaned in pain. His aggressive attacks made him a very lethal adversary indeed, because no matter how many blows they made towards him, he could counter with even more attacks. But Yang's eyes flared red with rage, she was not unleashing her final card, but she needed a bit of a boost. She jumped up and punched Icarus up his jaw, throwing the much larger man upwards, his wings opened up, and he hovered over them all. He then grabbed two grenades in each hand, and he threw them down towards them. The two pairs of highly explosive dust fell towards them and they gasped.

They all exploded and they were thrown across the snow, and Icarus landed amongst the flames, eyes seemed to burn red as he walked towards them. Ren stood up and he aimed Stormflower at him… but as soon as he did… Icarus froze. His eyes stared straight into Ren's, and the Kuroyurian froze, and Icarus just… changed. Ren noticed his fists that held the weapons shook with rage, and his eye twitched. He did not say a word, but his constant anger exploded into something nuclear, something completely unbearable. He launched himself at Ren, and the skilled Huntsman rolled away from his attack.

Icarus slid across the ground before firing himself at Lie once more. He grabbed Ren by the throat, lifted him off the ground and slammed him against the floor, dragging him through snow, ice and rocks, before he twisted round and threw him into the mountain. Ren yelled in pain from the attack, until Icarus slammed his forearm against Lie's throat, pinning him there. Icarus stared right into his eyes with anger, the metallic and unnatural voice spoke with viciousness. "The Sins of the Kuroyurian will be punished!" He yelled with anger, Ren stared at him with confusion.

"Huh?" He questioned, then he looked at the Lotus Flower on his sleeve, and then back at Icarus. "How did you know?" He strained.

"Your Village was not so innocent as you believed." Icarus growled, his wing opened and he thrusted towards him, and went for the kill. The feathers stabbed into the stones, until Ruby slashed Crescent Rose across him and threw him from Ren. The Kuroyurian fell from the rocks, and Icarus stood tall, staring straight at Ruby with anger. He spun the Khopeshes through his fingers, before he leapt towards her. Ruby narrowed her silver eyes and she successfully blocked his attack, catching the curved blades onto her Scythe.

She yelled and spun, pulling them from his hands and throwing them down into the snow. She took that as her chance, and she swung Crescent Rose upwards, slashing up his armoured vest. He grunted, and she shot up with Petal Burst, and she spun, slashing repeatedly like a buzz saw cutting through wood. Icarus flew around them and he threw the grenades down towards them, so Ruby spun Crescent Rose through her fingers and she aimed down the sights, and fired multiple shots, nailing the grenades out the sky. Each one exploded in a fiery eruption as soon as the bullets made contact.

Icarus growled with anger as he banked around them, but Ruby smirked, the huge weapon expanded back into her trusty scythe. Yang stood back up, and she slammed her fists together, watching him circle them. "The hell is this dude's problem?" Yang asked, and Eryka sighed as she recuperated.

"Long story, when we get to the Summit's Claim… well you'll…" Eryka paused as she stared at Ren's knife. She shook it off and then she continued. "You'll see."

Icarus shot himself high up into the sky, breaking the sound barrier with a sonic boom, but then he suddenly started to dive down towards them, staring straight at Ruby, and the wings opened, and fired small missiles down towards them. "Crap! Scatter!" Ruby yelled, and they all dispersed to avoid the falling explosives. Ruby shot herself up at him in a burst of petals with Crescent Rose held back, yelling as the fire erupted behind her.

But she was not fast or strong enough to predict how hard Icarus would slam down into her. They both crashed into the ground with great force, blasting snow and rocks across the ground. Icarus and Ruby rolled across the ground, then he opened his gauntlets, and there were magnets built into them that called his Khopeshes back to him. Ruby stared at him, all this tech… and it really did concern her.

_How could he possibly have all this tech if he works by himself?_

_Unless… Unless he works for Salem?_

But she could not have any further time, because Icarus jumped and he slashed both his Khopeshes down at her with great force and speed, slicing into her aura and knocking her down again. Ruby darted aside, in a flash of rose petals, but he was not stopping. He threw one of the Khopeshes at her but she deflected it by spinning Crescent Rose incredibly quickly, but he called it back and he threw both of them, hooking them onto her Scythe. He called them back with the Gauntlets, ripping Crescent Rose from her hands.

It flew towards him, and he caught her weapon in his hands, Ruby gasped as Icarus jumped towards her and slammed the blade down to her neck, trapping her beneath it, the serrated edge was touching her jugular as she tried to breathe. She reached up and pushed her hand against his metal jaw to try and get him away, but he was forcing her own weapon down closer and closer.

"RUBY!" Yang screamed, she, Nora and Ren charged forward whilst Eryka sprinted round him, firing Constantine Damascus in Shotgun Form repeatedly. Icarus growled and he stepped away from Ruby, calling his Khopeshes back to his hands, and he spun them through his fingers, laughing sinisterly as he deflected their attacks, stopping Ren from even getting close and hooking the blade of Stormur Skeggox. He twisted Nora's arm and he kicked her in the chest, knocking her away, before he turned and threw his Khopesh at Yang.

Yang caught it and she threw it right back, and the blade crashed into his chest, causing him to recoil, and Yang charged forward. Ren sprinted as well and Yang threw a hard punch at Icarus and got him across his mutilated face. He staggered back from the punch but he slashed his metal wing across Yang, but she stood her ground and returned back with a second punch with her cybernetic arm to his chest. As Yang attacked, Ren jumped over Icarus' head and fired both Stormflower Pistols at once, but as he arced over, Icarus held his second wing over his head, blocking the bullets from even touching him. He swung his Khopeshes and crossed them over as Eryka fired an explosive arrow towards his chest.

The Khopeshes caught the arrow and it exploded, throwing the weapons from his hands and pushing him back. Both Ren and Yang went for an attack, swinging their fists at him, but he caught their hands, and he kicked Yang in the face. Icarus slammed his head into Ren's, before he grabbed his long black hair and yanked him down, grappling onto his whole arm, swinging him round and throwing him into one of the rocks. Ren gasped in pain from how hard he hit it, before turning to see an enraged Nora Valkyrie blast towards him.

She slammed Stormur Skeggox down at his feet, so hard the ground split open, and she swung it at his head, but he caught the blade with his armoured hand, he snarled through that mechanical jaw at her, his eyes flared at her, but she channelled her power into the weapon and she blasted powerful energy across his face. Icarus grunted, thrown back from her attack, before she transformed Stormur Skeggox down into its Grenade Launcher form, firing three grenades at him that exploded right in front of him.

The shockwave from the blast threw Icarus back and he drove his powerful robotic wings down into the ground to slow recoil. As he tore the ground open with his razor sharp wings, snow covered his body and he wiped the flakes from his shoulder. Nora channelled her Norse Power through her body, and she blasted towards him. "SMAAAAASH!" She yelled, it may not be Magnhild, but Stormur Skeggox could still deal some damage. The thrusters on the back of the axe could slam down the blade so hard that it would shatter the soil and rocks like glass. Nora pulled the axe from the ground, and he swung round and slashed the axe across his aura and armour plating, sparks flew and she immediately swung it down at his head.

The axe slammed into the ground, and she channelled the pink lightning through the blade and caused the ground to erupt like a volcano. The ground exploded, then she threw her axe up at him, but before the blade of the axe could possibly dig into the turbine built into the wing, he used the other wing and knocked it out of the sky. The axe bounced off and stabbed into the side of the mountain. Icarus laughed sinisterly and he dove down towards her, and he called one of his Khopeshes back to him, and brought it down towards her. She bounced away from Icarus as he slammed the weapon down into the ground with great force.

Nora's palm opened, and the powerful magnet charged up and called Stormur Skeggox back to her, like Thor with Mjolnir, it flew away from the face of the mountain. Rock and soil shattered alike as the blade was yanked from the powerful magnetic pull given to her new outfit. The hand landed in her hand, after slamming against Icarus' shoulder, and the act of doing so gave Nora the perfect opening. She channelled Thor's Might through her body, the pink light shone bright around her, and she spun it through her fingers, yelling and jumping high in the air. She brought it down with one hand, and it cut clean through his armour plating. The vest split in two, and as the charged axe impacted with the snow and rock, the ground exploded as if a grenade had gone off.

Icarus grunted, thrown back from the Valkyrie's might, rolling across the ground. He growled, staring at Nora as she stood before him. Her eyes glowed bright pink and the forks of pink light rippled through her powerful muscles. "You're stronger… than you look." Icarus snarled, and Nora smirked.

"Not the first baddie to tell me that, and definitely not the last!" Nora promised, sprinting towards him.

"Overconfidence is the birth of defeat!" Icarus bellowed, as he suddenly launched two more grenades from his belt towards her. Nora gasped, and the grenades exploded against her chest, throwing her across the ground. Smoke and fire trailed from her body, and she slowly stood back up, coughing.

"Ow…" Nora groaned.

Icarus would smirk if he had a mouth, he spun his Khopeshes through his fingers, and he rushed towards Nora, only for Eryka to fire another arrow, but this one was charged with golden electricity. The arrow stabbed into the ground behind him, but the lightning shot out from the arrowhead, and it coursed into him and the suit. Icarus howled in pain and anger from the pain, as he felt his wingsuit and jaw malfunction from the voltage. He snarled as he stood there, then Eryka suddenly rushed him.

She jumped and wrapped her thin athletic legs around his neck, and she twisted round and slammed his head into the snow. Eryka slid across the snow, and he swiftly stood back up. He narrowed his grey and red eyes, he growled with so much anger in his heart, and she fired another arrow, but he charged her again, and with his wings he smashed her down to the ground, stabbing the ground where her head was until she moved. He slammed the bladed feathers down over and over again, hollering endlessly. But Eryka crawled away from the winged demon, and she rolled backwards back onto her feet, and she grabbed Constantine Damascus and whacked it across his jaw, before she jumped and kicked him in the face. He staggered back with a grunt.

"You know, Icarus? This is quite sad, I really thought you and I had a connection." She jabbed with a grin on her face. Icarus snarled at her, and he took Undying Hatred and he slashed it straight at her face, but she ducked under it and then she tackled him to the ground. She pounded her fist into his face over and over again, beating the hell out of him, bloodying her knuckles… but only with her own blood with her aura down. Icarus kicked her in the chest, grabbed her by her blue hair and threw her into the ground. Eryka bounced and tumbled through the snow. She aimed Constantine Damascus and fired an arrow straight at him, but he cut it down with the Khopesh.

Icarus growled, and Eryka stared at his eyes, hers widened as she saw the grey around the red turn pale… and the red started to glow. Flicker almost, the veins in his face pushed against the skin and his skin turned purple. He let out a deafening bellow, and he launched himself at her, so fast and so hard. He slashed the Khopeshes into her… she screamed in agony, as the curved blade sliced straight through.

Two deep lacerations were made across her torso, and blood poured from the open wounds, drenching her clothes. Diagonal in shape, the blade nearly cut her throat open. She was very lucky that she did not die. She crashed into the dirt, blood soaked the snow, and she gasped in agony, crawling across the snow. Icarus growled, staring at her with those burning red eyes, and he walked towards her with her blood leaking from the blades.

_This is it… this is how I die…_

And it would have been, if Yang had not blasted into his side, but Icarus barely even moved. He was pushed back, and Yang punched up his jaw. Her punches did not seem to do much after what just happened to him. He swung Undying Hatred at Yang's neck, but she stopped his arm with her metal arm, before she punched him in the gut, and jumped upwards, up his jaw yet again. The jaw was damaged, breaking one of the Nutrient Cannisters connected, and the jaw hissed. He howled in agony, as he fixed it with his hand. After he closed the leak, he twisted round and he grabbed her by the throat. She gasped felt his hand crush her throat.

She punched him over and over again in the head.

But she felt helpless, because his strength… came from his Semblance – called Blind Rage.

Icarus was not saying a word, he turned feral, almost primal with anger, and he could not even see. Everything and everyone that was around him was an enemy, a target to be slain. And nothing could convince him otherwise. He snarled savagely as he slowly crushed her throat, until Yang herself was left no choice. She let out her own scream, and her golden hair ignited like a slick of oil, and her eye flushed red. She slammed her fist into his face so hard it made him release her. He stumbled back, and she rushed forward, beating him with her powerful fists, firing Ember Celica with every single shot. He recoiled back from every single shot made, and during her bout, Ruby and Ren swiftly ran to Eryka's side.

They both pressed their hands against her wounds, she held Ren's arm and she pointed at Icarus' wings. "Wait… for him… to take off. Take out… his wing." Eryka winced, she gritted her teeth in pain as she bled. Ren looked at Nora and she nodded, and sprinted to Yang's aid.

The Golden Brawler yelled with her own fury, but she was not blinded by it, she could see, and she could harness it. She punched him repeatedly, and he tumbled across the snow towards the cliff. Yang fired towards him, and she punched at him, but this time he caught her fist. He snarled, and he slammed his head into hers, knocking her back. He called Undying Hatred back to his hands and he slashed them across Yang's chest, but she still had her aura to protect her from his weapons. The fire and electricity was lethal even against aura, dealing more damage than just the blades. Yang blocked his attacked, he jumped and twisted into a spin attack, cutting against the weapons she had on her wrists, cutting against the cybernetic arm.

But Yang punched straight through his defences, hitting him in the chest, causing him to tumble onto the ground. He rolled across the floor and snarled with anger, and he slashed at her with great speed. The tips of his weapons and even his feathers glowed bright red, just like his eyes. That was what happened when he used Blind Rage, it was like Yang's semblance but had nothing to do with damage. His memory would go black just as his eyes, and kills everything his path with great speed.

But when one gives into feral rage?

That sacrifices strategy.

Just rage.

Yang dodged the incoming slashes, they were becoming predictable. And Nora channelled the lightning into her weapon. "Yang! We need him to take off!" Nora called, Yang looked at her through the fire in her hair, and she quickly deduced her plan. She smirked and nodded her head in agreement.

Yang turned and she fired herself at Icarus and punched across his face, knocking him back. She fired herself upwards and then dived downwards, punched down his face, knocking him to one knee. He fired up at her, which sent her airborne, and then he grabbed her heel and slammed her down into the ground. He yelled with anger and his wings opened. He jumped up and the turbines roared with fury, throwing more grenades down towards them. Yang gasped and she jumped out of the way just as they erupt into fire.

Yang stared at Nora. "NOW!"

Nora growled and she launched Stormur Skeggox towards Icarus' turbine in his left wing. The blade stabbed into it and the powerful blades that kept him airborne shattered against the blade, and as Nora called it back, it ripped the whole wing apart. The thruster exploded into fire with a long trail of blood. Icarus howled with pain and anger as his Wingsuit started to make him spin out of control.

Icarus tried to fire the thrusters on his back, the afterburners roared like that of a Fighter Jet, and he shot towards the side of the mountain. The rock shattered like glass against his body, and so did the rest of the destroyed wing. Nora and Yang watched, the Valkyrie caught Stormur Skeggox as it returned to her palm. The Winged Assassin started to fall down the mountain, crashing against the spiked rocks in the snow, shattering the other wing and his aura broke.

He grunted and howled in pain as he plummeted, before he fell off the face of the mountain, vanishing into the trees and snow below.

Yang sighed with relief, because he was gone. Her hair extinguished and her eyes returned back to their natural lilac colours, she turned to Nora and she nodded, holstering Stormur Skeggox. They both gasped. "Eryka!" They called out, sprinting over to her.

They both slid across the snow beside their friend, she growled from the pain, but it was not something new to her. She sat upright slowly. "Careful, Eryka. Your wounds need to be tended to." Ruby told her as they held their hands to the wounds. She coughed from the pain, but she punched the ground.

"It's… it's fine… nice work you two. Icarus isn't an easy bastard to bring down." Eryka said.

"Yeah, I could tell." Yang said with a smile. They heard the sound of a portal open behind her. They turned and saw Raven and Qrow emerge from them. "Took you two long enough." Yang growled with anger, Raven swiftly went to Eryka's side, she could see the wounds she suffered from Icarus.

"What happened? Where's that… Assassin?" Raven asked with concern.

"Down there somewhere. I think… he may be dead." It hurt Nora to say that, none of them knew for certain if he was dead. But it scared Nora, she had never killed anyone before, and he could have been the first. She did what she had to do, she was left no other choice but to throw that axe. Otherwise he would have killed all of them… but that didn't make it any easier.

"You did well." Qrow assured as he gently squeezed Nora's shoulder.

"Who was it?" Raven asked as she drew her Fire Dust Blade. She crouched down beside Eryka and she winced.

"Icarus… a Mercenary, a very dangerous one… cauterizing this probably won't be a good idea. Get some gauze, it'll do. The Summit's Mentor should be able to patch me up pretty quick." Eryka assured.

Qrow helped her up and Raven looked at the devastation from their battle against Icarus. "He must have been some kind of monster." Raven commented with widened eyes.

"I think… he was the one who took Amber." Ruby said with widened eyes, Raven looked at Summer's Daughter with surprise.

"How do you know?" Raven asked.

"You said there were scorch marks, someone had to have flown in and out to take her without any of the guards catching her that night. It must have been him." Ruby said and she nodded her head.

"But… he didn't strike me as a Spider. Why would he leave a Spider's Egg behind for us to have a lead?" Nora asked with confusion.

It was getting more interesting by the minute.

"I don't know…" Raven said.

They left the battlefield through Raven's Portal, but what they did not know was that at the very bottom of the mountain, where Icarus had fell…

… his hand erupted from the snow with a vicious growl. Still alive, bloodied and bruised…

… but alive.

* * *

**Ren**

* * *

It took them a while, taking turns carrying the injured Eryka Vasillias, but they arrived. They saw the Summit's Claim, and it was beautiful. Ren's eyes widened as he saw it, and Eryka looked at him with a smile. Qrow and Yang both helped her to the gates, and she looked up at it. They could hear the calls of the Altum Eagles, even with Dulcis circling the skies, they could hear others… much larger ones.

An Archer stood atop the gate with her bow on them. "Who are you? Why are you here?" She commanded.

"It's Eryka… and… well this is the Branwen Tribe." Eryka told the Archer.

"The Branwens? What the hell are they here for?" The Archer grilled.

"Can't tell I'm a bit banged up, Sashaa? We'll talk to him, he can sort this out. We're not here for a fight." Eryka assured, Sashaa looked at the Branwen Tribe. Sashaa was a small woman, dark skinned with white and purple blue hair. She had a small burn scar on her cheek and neck, alongside a pair of prosthetic legs, which were merely pieces of hardened plastic. She clearly did not trust them, but she sighed and opened the gate. The huge Wooden Gates opened… and they entered the Claim.

For Eryka it looked no different, but for everyone else?

It was beautiful.

The Summit's Claim was a large clearing on a flat-topped mountain, a stunning view as well. It was as if the clouds parted, because they were beneath them. The sky was a sapphire blue, and the cold seemed to bite them. Eryka smiled as she saw it again. "Been a while since I came back here."

"It's… beautiful…" Nora gasped with wide eyes.

This place was ancient, at least one thousand years old, with wooden structures, elevated slightly off the ground, with tiled or thatched roofs. Sliding doors were used in place of walls, allowing the internal configuration of a space to be customized for different occasions. People usually sat on cushions or otherwise on the floor, they could see them out there, it was so peaceful. Then, around the area in different places, where Yurts, newer than the Ancient Houses and Temples.

They walked through the main road where horses would march, at least when they had them. It was hard to breathe up here, but these people seemed to be used to it. The group continued down the cobblestone road, and Ruby looked at Eryka with curiosity. "How old is this place? The Architecture… it's nearly as old as those castles." She commented.

"It is. The Summit's Mentor, he told me stories about this place. I'm sure he will do it when we meet him, but from what I can remember? This place was here during the Great War, and still stands now. One of the oldest settlements in the whole world. That at least still follows the _Old Ways_." Eryka explained, they turned a corner, and there he stood.

The Summit's Mentor.

He was far away but from here they could tell he was wise, he was clad in a black and green cloak where the black hood was pulled up. Eryka looked at Ren and she smiled, like she was about to explode. "I can't wait to see this." She whispered to Yang. Ruby's sister glanced at Eryka with confusion.

They approached the Summit's Mentor, and they waited.

"It's been a while, Eryka. I heard Dulcis a mile off." He greeted with a chuckle, stood before an ancient statue of a brave warrior with what looked like a Samurai Sword.

"Hey, old man. Got a certain someone you're gonna wanna see." She said, looking at Ren.

The Summit's Mentor stood there, and a huge Altum Eagle landed before them, it was almost as tall as Ruby with wings that dwarfed her. Ruby's Silver Eyes widened with awe at the giant animal, that made even Dulcis looked small. They looked at the Eagle's eyes, and they shone gold, as they stared…

… at Lie Ren.

They heard The Summit's Mentor gasp, and he slowly turned around. A long wispy beard of white blew in the wind, and he slowly pulled the hood down. He was blind, but he could see him through the eyes of the Altum Eagle, eyes covered with the Blindfold. He pulled the hood down with his cybernetic hand, it was old with rust and frost… but still worked after all this time. He held a wooden Cane as he looked at Ren.

It did not click for him… until Ren saw the symbol of Kuroyuri on the shoulder of his cloak. The Lotus.

Ren gasped… "Father?" He gasped.

And he gasped back. "Lie…" Li Ren gasped with total awe as he stared upon his son.

He walked towards Ren, and his son looked at Eryka. "How… How did you…"

"I only figured it out when I saw your knife. Only one man has a perfect replica of that knife. And he gave it to you." Eryka stated as Lie Ren drew the knife, and so did Li… and they were exactly the same. Nora smiled with tears in her joyful eyes for her beloved husband.

It felt like it had been forever…

… but then Lie Ren ran into his father's open arms, and they embraced with happiness. Finally reunited at long last.

They all smiled.

Li Ren survived the Nuckelavee…

… but how?

* * *

**Author Note - The Summit's Mentor has been revealed.**

**I wonder if any of you expected that? Got some really cool stuff planned for Ren and his family, and the Summit's Claim is such an interesting location. Can't wait to explore it. And of course, I loved the battle against Icarus. He is one of my favourite villains in this series because of his fighting style, backstory and design. One hell of an adversary.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**\- Matt**


	27. Fallen Angel

**Chapter 26 – Fallen Angel**

* * *

**Li Ren**

* * *

Twenty Two Years Ago…

_I was a different man before you were born, my son… once I was a Huntsman… a skilled one who fought with honour._

_Once…_

Li had blood across his face, Human and Faunus… neither race mattered to him. He let out a defiant howl of rage as he loosed the arrow into the sternum of his target. The man yelled in agony as his red blood poured from the wound, his heart stopped as the arrowhead punctured straight through the organ. He crumpled to the ground, lifeless and cold, eyes distant. He took his two daggers, one of which became the one that his son would carry after his _death_. He slit the throats of those he was paid to kill.

_My path as a Huntsman… it started as a path of Righteousness… but it ended as a Fallen Angel. Have you heard of the Fallen Angels?_

_No…_

_Well… men and women like myself were once Huntsmen or Huntresses, it did not matter where we came from. The only thing that defined us is that we broke our vow as a Huntsman, to protect people from the terrors of the world. And in doing so, we became Assassins. Paid to spill blood, paid to end lives and entire families, all for those who would pay the highest amount of money._

_That… was my costly mistake._

_The one that brought about the horrors that plagued us, the horrors that destroyed our home… Kuroyuri._

Li Ren was covered in their blood, most days he would stare at those blood stained hands, and he would always see it. Their faces in the dirt, in the trees. But he continued on his dark path, his bow held tight as he walked away from the corpses he created. The lives he ended, all for Lien. He returned back to Kuroyuri, and it was so beautiful then, commerce flourished and people were happy. Li walked into the square, where everyone was trading, everyone was living their lives.

_I helped the Mayor of Kuroyuri build the settlement, just like Oniyuri he believed we could live a comfortable life far away from the control of the Councillors. Away from the corruption, from the Atlesians… away from the Black Gallows._

_But every day that passed, it was another reminder that we were fools._

Li Ren turned his gaze when he saw the bodies being carried in on a cart, hunters who were killed viciously by the Grimm. His eyes were wide as he saw the blood that leaked from the back of the cart. People cried with anguish, and that cheerful mood they always had was destroyed in an instant. Li sat down with sadness in his eyes, and he stared at his hands. "Li?" A gentle feminine voice spoke, he turned and saw her stood behind him.

She had dusky rose hair held in a bun by a grey band and pink eyes. She wore a long green dress with long sleeves, cut-outs on the shoulders, black ballet flats, and a pink sash. She was tall with gentle curves, she was not a killer like he was, but merely a Nurse. She gently touched his cheek. "Are you okay? What happened?" She asked, she knew the difference between the blood of someone else and her husband's. It was still fresh, he had suffered a wound up his back.

_She always understood me, she did not agree with my profession, and I hated myself for taking part in it. But when Haven Academy no longer saw use for me, after I pressed my support for the creation of Kuroyuri and Oniyuri, they revoked my Licence as a Huntsman, and I lost all work._

_Unless… I became a Fallen Angel._

_I will never forget the night I first met your mother, Lie… she was beautiful, the very angel I needed to help me see the light in that time of Darkness that I was locked in for so very long._

She and her husband went to their home, and she took off his shirt, and tended to his wounds. Stab wounds, slashes, claw marks… so many scars covered his muscular body. She sewed and cleaned the wound, he never winced, not once. But as he sat there, it was not the blood of all those he killed that haunted him.

Only one life…

The fire… the explosion…

_The arrow… I never missed…_

"Li?" An gently whispered, he turned and looked at her, right into her large pink eyes. She held his hand and with the other she caressed his cheek. "Talk to me…"

_A man like me… I never deserved her… and she deserved better than a man like me._

It was that night that they conceived their son, and as his wife laid naked in their bed, he stood at the window, staring out at the dark wilderness. He could hear them in the distance. The Grimm, the threat was out there and it was just getting worse. He clenched his hand into a fist as the moonlight shone upon his skin.

_Even then, I could see the threat was getting worse. The Grimm were growing more prevalent, more dangerous by the day. I remember a time when the Grimm never got close to the Kingdoms, to even Settlements… but they just kept coming._

_Bigger and bigger, scarier and scarier…_

_But I never imagined, it would have gone the way it did._

As Li Ren stood and stared out at the wilderness of Anima, An softly moaned as she woke up, rubbing her tired eyes. She clutched the furs to her naked chest, looking at her husband. "My love? What is it?" She asked him with concern in her voice. He glanced at her and he sighed.

"What am I to do with myself, An? How can I be a father… I know being a mother is all you have ever wanted… but what am I? I am just a killer, a Fallen Angel?" He asked her with tears in his eyes. She let the furs fall from her and she walked over to him, and wrapped her arms around him. She rested her head on his shoulder, and she looked at him.

"Maybe it's time to abandon the life of a Fallen Angel." An suggested, he looked at her with confusion.

"What? But… it's all I know… fighting and killing… I have never known anything else." He said to her.

"Fighting and Killing? Do you remember how we first met? At this place?" She asked him, and he nodded his head. He never forgot, he went out hunting for some deer, he managed to spot some of them and brought back seven bucks that fed the whole town. "I was dying, attacked by a Beowulf, remember?" She asked, and he felt the three scars across her naked stomach. "In was starving as well, and if it weren't for you tending to me, making sure I was okay… I would be six feet underground right now."

Li Ren turned away from the window and he looked down at his beautiful wife. He caressed her cheek as she smiled up at him. "You are not just a killer, I have seen killers. You? You're a father, the father this village needed when they were starving. You left for the day and came back with enough food for everyone." An looked at the window where the carriage came in with the dead wrapped up in sheets in the back of the vehicle.

He looked out there as well. "Those Hunters, they never had your skill. When the Grimm came for them they were easy pickings, but if you were with the new Hunters? You would be able to keep them alive. No more bodies." She said with hope in her voice, not for the people or her friends, but for the man she loved so much. He looked at her and he smiled, and he kissed her affectionately.

"What would I do without you, An?" He asked her, and she smiled.

"I don't know… but I know that if it weren't for you, our baby would never have a chance." She said, taking his palm and warmly pressing it to her stomach.

"You will be a great father."

_A Father… how could a man like me… a man who ended so many families… start one?_

_It was all I could think about, the nature of which I started a family, even after you were born. When I saw your face, I saw the faces of all the children I orphaned, all the families I destroyed in the sake of money._

_But… despite all that… when I saw your face the night you were born, I have never felt happier than that day._

_I should have known it could never have lasted._

Ten years after Lie's Conception…

Li was out hunting in the wilds, with three other Hunters. He aimed his bow and he fired, his eye already was aiming, the large animal did not even have time to react. The Deer yelped as the arrow found the heart of the deer and it collapsed, but it was not killed instantly. It cried in pain as it writhed, and Li approached the creature on the ground, blood soaked into the soil and he looked down at the animal with the three teenage Hunters who were with him. They were hesitating to finish the animal off.

"Go on then." Li commanded, he looked at the boy and girl who both held their knives close to the chest of the suffering animal. "Do not let it suffer, it has not done anything wrong. It has sacrificed its life so then we may survive. Do it the honour of having a quick death." He commanded, the boy held the knife close but… he could not do it.

He could not bring himself to kill the animal. "I… I can't." He stammered, Li sighed and he drew his dagger and instantly drove it into the heart of the beast. Its cries ended instantly, and it stopped moving. Li sheathed the dagger and he crouched down to the animal and he picked it up, lifting it over his shoulder to carry it. The two Teenagers were shocked by how swiftly he did that, whilst the third did not even get close to the animal. Li carried it to the carriage where there were four other Stags there, ready to be brought back home to the village so they could be skinned, gutted and prepared for the village's meals.

_You see, Kuroyuri had three major areas of commerce. Pelts of animals that were hunted and sold, Kuchinashi and Haven always wanted our perfectly skinned pelts to sell to their fat rich leaders. Our other areas were the jewels from the mines we found nearby our settlement, sapphires, rubies and diamonds were in abundance in the caves in the mountains. And of course, we were set up on a perfect road, countless traders would come through here, buying things from us, and we would get whatever we needed from them as well._

_It worked… for quite a while… but nothing ever lasted._

_That Hunt I went on with the students? It was very close to another settlement like ours… a town named Oniyuri._

As they carried their dead rabbits over as well, one of them stopped. "Sir… can I ask you something?" The Adept asked, Li gently laid the Deer down on the bed of the carriage and he looked to the ginger freckled boy.

"You may." Li responded, as always he sounded almost emotionless. The nervous boy stammered as he wrung his fingers.

"How… how are you able to just… do it so easily?" He asked with a tremble in his voice. Li paused, and he could hear the voice echo in his memory.

_FATHER!_

_MY SON! NO!_

"The gods saw it fit to stain my hands in more blood than you have ever seen… and I pray you never have to." He said to the three of them, sighing as he walked back to the carriage. But as he walked, he stopped and he held his hand up to them all, after he heard something in the distance.

"Sir? What's wrong?" The Teenage Girl asked with concern.

He closed his eyes and he focused his senses, listening to the sound that the wind made. He gasped when he heard the screams of terror and agony, and could smell the smoke of burning homes and corpses. He did not say a word, he just grabbed his Bow and he sprinted in the direction he heard the screams from. "Wait for us!" The teens begged, chasing after him. He charged through the woods and as the forest cleared, he saw it.

Smoke and fire everywhere, this was extremely shocking to see. He had never seen Grimm destroy a settlement in the middle of the day before. The smoke rose high into the sky, fire everywhere, and they were people still hear… but they were beyond saving. A man shrieked in agony inside of his burning house, his skin melted and muscles charred. Men and Women left, were being fed on by the Grimm that were still here. Blood smothered the ground of this once beautiful town.

The town… was Oniyuri.

"By the gods… these people! It's horrible!" One of the teenagers gasped, but Li walked to the Grimm that were eating the dying people. He drew his bow and grit his teeth with anger, firing an arrow that nailed the Beowulf in the side of the head. It was silenced and collapsed to the ground, whilst the other spun around and roared at him. The Teenagers were not Fallen Angels like he was, but he did not expect them to fight off these Grimm. One of the Beowulves tore its jaws from the belly of the woman it was feasting on, her blood still smothered its teeth and mangy black fur. It roared and charged towards him, but he lowered his bow.

"Sir! What are you doing? It's coming!" A Teenager screamed, but he drew his dagger and he threw it and it stabbed right between the eyes of the Grimm. The Beowulf crashed to the ground with a heavy thud, whilst Li ran right for the last one, and with the second dagger, he cut straight through the beast's torso, opening it up and ending it. The creature crashed in front of the students, vaporising.

The kids were beyond terrified, but Li approached the dying innocents, covered in their own blood. He approached one of them that could still speak, she gasped as she looked up at him. "What happened here?" He softly asked her, but as she suffered, she gasped and pointed over his shoulder at the tallest building.

"The… Fallen… Angel…" She choked in agony, before she died in his arms. Li turned and his eyes widened from what he saw hunched over the edge of that building. It was a man, with a mechanical jaw and almost glowing red eyes, and massive metal wings draped around him, he was like a hawk, watching his every move. It sent a chill down his spine, he felt sick when he saw him.

It was Icarus, no doubt about it.

The same man that Eryka and the Rogues battled against in the Mistraalian Mountains previously.

"I…" He wanted to let her know that it was going to be okay, but she was already dead. He closed her eyes with a sigh and he stood up, turning back to Icarus, only to see that he was gone. He was shaking with fear, something very rare for him.

"Sir? What do we do?" The Teenage Girl stammered.

"We need to speak with the Mayor, we need Huntsmen at Kuroyuri." Li told them, and they looked at the building.

"What… was that?" One of the boys asked.

Li just stared at where he was stood. "Someone from my past… someone I thought was long gone…"

_You knew him?_

_I did… I will tell you the tale of Icarus… and me… but that day is not today. For now, just know that he is a monster of my own making. A mistake, a demon from my past as a Fallen Angel._

_I returned back to Kuroyuri with our haul, and that was when… I first saw you, Nora Valkyrie._

When they returned back home, he jumped from the wagon whilst the kids took it away from the square. He stared at the distance, the smoke still rose high in the sky where Oniyuri fell, his heart was hammering as he stared at it. He knew that it was Icarus, and he must have lead the Grimm there. He could not have destroyed the entire settlement himself, and scavenging Grimm were not responsible.

Something else was… something much, much worse.

He turned away from the sky, and he watched as the teenagers ran back to their parents. They were so happy to see them, but he asked them to not mention what they saw. Not until the Mayor addresses it and manages to keep the place safe. The last thing they needed to worry about was negativity spreading throughout the settlement. He sat down and he buried his head in his hands, he knew who Icarus was, he could never forget him.

The blood on his hands…

… what he did…

… this was as if it was some divine punishment for his dishonour.

But as he sat there, he heard something between some of the buildings. As a trained Hunter, he could sense things sharper than most could. He stood up and walked closer, able to hear the little voices that were making fun of someone. "Hey! Get back here!"

"Where'd you get that bread? I didn't see you pay for it, thief!"

"Look it's all mouldy!"

"I bet she got it from the trash!"

"Ooh! Lemme see!"

There was a snapping sound, and the boy must have reacted aggressively. "OW! She bit me!" It made Li chuckle, he liked the girl's tenacity. But then he heard the boy shove her onto the ground, she cried out in pain as she fell.

"Where'd she come from?"

"She's dressed all weird!"

"I bet she's abandoned, like a dog or something!"

"Does that mean I have rabies?"

The bullies laughed and Li turned the corner, and he saw the children. The girl being picked on was tiny with orange hair and blue eyes, Nora Valkyrie. He knew who the little brats were that were picking on her, they never escaped Kuroyuri when it fell. They were called Jackie, Vern, and Troy. And finally, the one stood there, and when the bullies stared at him, he ran away, right into his father.

None other than his son, Lie Ren.

"Father?" Ren gasped.

Li barely even reacted when his son bumped into him, he just stared at him and then at the bullies who were picking on Nora. He knew exactly what was happening, but wanted to hear it from their mouths. "What is happening here?" He growled, after what he saw, he did not want to see anyone take their freedom here for granted. Nora got up and fled, then so did the boys. Li watched the boys flee, and he looked down to his son who looked ashamed for not helping her. "Do you wish to run with the rest of them?"

Ren hung his head with shame, but Li was not angry with him, he understood that poor Ren was only a child. He crouched down and gently squeezed his shoulder. "Sometimes the worst action to take, is taking no action at all." He said to him, he sighed and closed his eyes. He was still thinking about what became of Oniyuri. "Go home, I need to speak with the Mayor." Li told his son, he turned and walked away from him. He could feel his son's eyes burn into his back, he loved his little boy so much… but he wanted him to be better… better than him.

He approached the Mayor's Home. He was a humble and good man, he lived in the same kind of house like everyone else, and he was tending to his garden, watering the plants. He was younger than Li was, quite a good looking lad too. But he only wanted this place to succeed, to be strong. "Mayor Jory." Li announced, Jory turned with wide eyes.

"Li, you've returned. How was your hunt?" He asked.

"Jory… you need to send a message to Haven Academy as fast as you can." He advised, he was not wasting time whatsoever.

"Whoa, wait, what are you talking about?" Jory asked with concern.

"Oniyuri has fallen, the Grimm have completely destroyed it. And I know who did it, he was a boy… a victim from my past… when I was a Fallen Angel. He destroyed it, luring a horde of Grimm to it. There were no survivors." Li explained to him, Jory's eyes were wide with fear. Oniyuri was only a few miles away, it was once their best partnered place for business.

"Oniyuri…" He gasped. "How do you know it was this person?"

"Trust me, I know." Li assured, Jory had many advisers and Li was one of them, and the one he trusted the most.

"Okay, I will send my swiftest messenger to Haven, hopefully Lionheart can send us some Huntsmen. Do not tell anyone about this, the last thing we want is spreading panic." Jory told him, Li nodded his head in agreement. He turned and walked away from the Mayor, he knew he was going to need time to process this.

_The Messenger never made it to Haven, and even if he did it wouldn't have mattered. I never realised that Icarus was following me._

_Because that night, was when it happened._

Night fell on the last day of Kuroyuri.

Li was stood outside with his loving wife, she had her head on his shoulder and she held his hand lovingly. "I thought it had been years since I last saw you." An said to him and he chuckled.

"A year? I was only gone for a week." He replied with a smile, and she giggled, poking his nose.

"And that… is long enough." She giggled. He kissed her passionately and she pressed her head to his, she looked into his eyes, then she held his hand to her belly. His eyes widened, because he knew what it meant. Before he left they tried for another child, and clearly… they were expecting.

"We are?" He asked.

"Mhm… Little Lie is going to have a baby sibling. I hope it's a girl… I'm sure he will be a fantastic older brother for her." She said proudly and he smiled at her.

"I'm certain… he is stronger than he realises." Li agreed with a proud smile, before he kissed her again. She giggled, caressing his cheeks. They broke their kiss and she stroked his beard.

"My… you never stop improving at your romantic skills do you?" She playfully swooned.

"I try." He chuckled, he went to kiss her again, but she stopped him.

"As much as trying for a third sounds enticing… I need to make sure he is asleep first." She whispered, and he smirked. She stood up and walked back into the house, and Li stayed out there.

That's when he saw him.

Icarus.

He was stood just like he was back at Oniyuri, perched on top of the tallest building with his powerful robotic wings draped around his body. Li walked away from the house as he watched, unaware of the trees rustling behind Kuroyuri. "Don't do this… please…" Li begged Icarus, but he just stared right into Li's eyes, cold and emotionless.

Then came the screaming and the howls, the roar of something terrible and massive. Buildings were being shattered by the shrieks of the monster that lead the army. An ran out from the house with widened eyes. "Get Lie out of here An." He told her, he turned and he picked his Bow up alongside the quiver. "Go." He repeated, she nodded her head and she ran inside. The Grimm charged towards him and he sprinted at them with a defiant roar. He slid under the attack from a Creep, and fired his arrow up into its soft underside, and it crashed behind him, rolling across the cobbles. But the Grimm kept coming, so he defended his home at all costs.

The shrieks of Nevermores echoed all around him, and that howl… it was unlike anything he had ever heard. Until he saw it, his eyes widened as he saw the monster, using its long extendable Imp Arms to flatten buildings. The Horse clamped its jaws down over the skull and torso of one of their people, shaking him like a chew toy until he was ripped in two. Blood was everywhere, and the Imp howled to the sky, grabbing Mayor Jory and ripping him in two.

"JORY!" Li screamed with horror, then the Nuckelavee bellowed once more, attacking everything it saw. Li stared back at Icarus, his red eyes never left him, he was watching him the whole time. "Enough of this! I know who you are! I know why you are here! You want me! So here I am! Kill me! Spare everyone else!"

He begged, but Icarus never said a word, he just continued to stare straight into Li's eyes, utter hatred in his irises. Li knew this was the end for Kuroyuri, the only thing that mattered to him now was his family. He saw more Grimm incoming and he stood his ground. He aimed his bow and fired more arrows, killing each of them before they could even get close, then he suddenly was slammed in the side by a Boarbatusk. He crashed across the pavement, grunting in pain as the bruises formed.

He held his side in pain, noticing it was worse than just some bruise, it had slightly opened him up, blood soaked his side. He growled and he stood back up, as the Boarbatusk charged once again, but this time he twisted and launched one of his daggers towards it, nailing the bullseye through its eye socket. The Boarbatusk crashed into the ground, and faded away, giving him the chance to pull the dagger from the head and sheathe it again.

He returned back to the house, only to see that An and Lie were still inside.

"Li!" She gasped, staring at the blood coming from his side.

"An! What are you doing? We have to hurry!" He begged with fear in his eyes.

"We can go to the Safehouse." She suggested, there was indeed a place near Kuroyuri they could use, but he saw Icarus… but he did not want to scare her, so he used the Nuckelavee instead.

"No… I saw the beast… we need a Huntsman, and you two need to leave!" He commanded, he knew that Icarus would follow them to the safehouse. Not only would his death be slow, but so would An's and Lie's… that was not going to happen. Never.

"What?" She gasped, until the Nuckelavee howled once again, closer this time, shattering yet another house.

"Mother…" Lie whimpered fearfully, the gentle loving mother crouched down in front of her son and she comforted him lovingly.

"It's okay darling, everything's okay –"

The ceiling shattered and caved in over her head, collapsing onto her, and Li reached out for his pregnant wife, screaming in horror. "AN!" He wailed, as the rubble killed her instantly. A piece of wood crashed against his son's head too, knocking him unconscious. The Nuckelavee was right outside, bellowing as it reached up, eyes piercing red and the Imp hung from the back of the Horse's body.

Li fired an arrow at it but it slashed the long claws across his chest, opening him up even more, slamming him against the wall. His head cut open more, running hot red fluid down his eye. He stared at the beast and it turned its gaze to his unconscious son. He stared at Lie and An's body, she did not feel a thing, it ended her instantly… but…

… it was the woman he loved…

He hardened his heart, and pushed that thought aside. He swiftly got up and grabbed his son, fleeing from the Nuckelavee as it bellowed, bringing the rest of the roof down from the tectonic crash it created. Li held his baby boy close, not looking back, but Icarus was watching everything unfold. He heard their screams, watched the people of the town get killed in agonizing ways by the Grimm.

As Li ran as fast as he could, he knew the Nuckelavee was following them, it was Ancient… meaning it was intelligent as well. As he ran, Ren started to come to, looking around. "Father? Where… where's mother?" He asked with tears in his eyes. Every pant that Li made brought him pain, it was a miracle he could still run. Every single body he passed, Ren started become more terrified. "What's going on? Where's mother?" He begged for an answer, but Li never answered, he didn't want to believe his wife had just been killed by that terrible thing.

As he ran, he tripped and fell, the wound was starting to cripple his body and he collapsed to the ground. Ren rolled across the ground by his father and he crawled back to him. "Father!" He screamed. Smoke filled the air, and Li coughed from the pain, slowly sitting upright, as best as he could. Ren grabbed his father's knee desperately.

"Lie… you… have to run." He winced.

"No… don't please! Get up!" Ren begged his father, them Ren heard the howl of the Nuckelavee once more, he turned and saw the horror marching through the smoke, eyes glowing red as it fed on the fleeing civilians. Ren then turned back to his father when he started to speak once more.

"Listen to me son… you have to be brave now… do you understand?" Li grunted, fighting the pain as best he could.

"No, please! Please, I can't!" Ren sobbed, so Li knew he needed something to protect himself with. It was not much… but this knife became who Lie Ren was. He drew the knife and pushed it into the hands of his son.

"Yes you can!" Li believed, Ren fell back and he held the dagger in his hand, looking back at his father, he looked so proud of his son, even now, as the world was ending around them. "Take Action Son." Li reminded him, and Lie's eyes widened as his father bravely stood back up, picking his Bow up as well. "Your mother and I love you."

Ren teared up as his father stood tall. "Father…"

Suddenly the Nuckelavee brought its clawed hoof down right behind them, snarling as it stared straight into Li's eyes. Ren's father grit his teeth as he nocked his arrow, glaring right back at the horror's eyes. "Run!" He yelled, his son did exactly as his father commanded, and he got up and fled, ran straight for the river where he looked at the water lily. Li let out a bone chilling howl of rage, firing arrow after arrow into the Nuckelavee as it got closer and closer.

It roared back when he launched the last arrow, and it lunged the long arm towards him. But Li was not about to go down without a fight, he rolled out of the way and drew his last remaining Dagger, and slashed it across the leg of the beast. It snarled with anger, and turned to crush him. But he rolled aside, stumbling across the ground from his wounds. The Nuckelavee tilted its Imp Head at him ever so curiously, and Li charged at the monster with rage.

The Nuckelavee swung its long arm towards him, and the razor sharp claws dug straight into his eyes. He bellowed in agony as the claws cut through them with terrifying ease, blood poured from his wounds, and he stumbled across the ground. He screamed, he could not see a thing, just felt pain. The Nuckelavee then brought the arm round again, hitting him in the chest with great force, knocking him onto the ground. His arm was stretched out, and the Nuckelavee trod on the arm with its huge hoof so hard his entire arm splattered, severing him from it.

The agony was unbearable, he shrieked from the searing hot suffering, and then the Nuckelavee picked him up by his head with its huge hand. He hung from its grasp, blood pouring from the wounds he suffered. It stared at him curiously, twitching as it snarled, before twisting its body around and throwing him with great force. It roared as it did so, and he crashed through one of the pillars, and fell into the river.

His body was washed away, and Icarus' eyes widened, watching his quarry be stolen from him. He growled and pursued. The pain became so bad for Li that it went numb… and he just let the water take him, until he heard Icarus chasing after him. He reached out with the strength he had left and managed to grab onto a branch. He used it to get ashore, and hid underneath a large rock he managed to find, he had no idea if it was big enough, he could not see the world around him.

Icarus landed atop the cliff face and he looked around, metallic breath came from that mechanical jaw and he growled. "You will pay for what you did to me… I will find you." He snarled, before he followed the trail of blood in the river, assuming he was still being washed away.

Li remained there, dying from blood loss… until he heard someone find him.

"By the gods… you're still alive? Come… I will help you…"

_I should have died that day, but the Summit's Mentor that came before me… Ulysses Reiss found me before death could claim me. He managed to get me up the mountains with his carriage, he cauterised my wounds, bandaged me up… and he brought me here._

_To the Summit's Claim._

_It was not… always like this though._

When he arrived, he still could not see the place, but it was practically a ruin. Barely holding together, around twelve people were living here. Ulysses, an old lady with these cybernetic optics instead of eyes, and a few others, but nowhere near as many people as they were today.

Ulysses was an old man, at the very least in his seventies, yet he was one of the most peaceful men that had ever lived. He did not believe in violence or revenge, he just wanted there to be peace.

_I was in a dark place, for a quite a while._

_I thought I lost everything, for all I knew, up until today, I did. I lost my wife, who was pregnant with our second child, I thought you were gone, and my home was a ruin. I had nothing, and for a while I ate nothing, I was wasting myself away._

_But Ulysses wanted me to live…_

Li sat by the flames, he had a bandage wrapped around his blinded eyes and his arm had stopped bleeding at long last. But as he sat there. Ulysses approached him and he sat down at the other side of the fire. He exhaled, looking around at the ancient ruins. "This place really needs a refurbishing, don't you think?" Ulysses asked him curiously, but Li did not say a word. He said very little, pretty much nothing ever since Ulysses brought him to the Summit's Claim. The cries of Altum Eagles could be heard all around.

_Time was, the Altum Eagles were a Highly Endangered Species, they were ruthlessly hunted for how valuable their feathers were. The Summit's Claim was one of the only places on all of Remnant you could find them. But due to the altitude, few Poachers ever came up here for them._

_And if they did?_

_Well… they would have to get past Ulysses._

_He was old… but that man knew how to fight, he learned the old ways… and he taught me those same ways. Perhaps one day I can do the same for you, my son._

Ulysses looked at the silent Fallen Angel. He held his hand to his ear. "Sorry, did you speak? My old age it makes it hard… or did the Nuckelavee take your tongue as well as your eyes?" He asked him curiously, Ulysses had cheek that much was clear. Li just gave him a stare, even with no eyes it was clear he was glaring at him. "Yeah, that's the name of the monster that murdered your wife, and destroyed your home. I've heard tales of that thing… and I've heard stories about you."

Li looked away from him. "Fallen Angels… not many of them lived as long as you have, quite the accomplishment. And very few manage to move on."

"I didn't…" He growled, finally speaking.

"Ah, he speaks." Ulysses chuckled.

"Don't, old man… I lost everyone I ever loved." Li growled.

"You don't know that. Your son could have survived Kuroyuri, you gave him a knife. It's better than nothing at all. Live believing there is a chance he survived." Ulysses told him. "What does starving yourself solve?"

Li just sighed. "Punishment… for what I have done." Li softly answered, but Ulysses just chuckled at that.

"What? Some kind of divine punishment? Look buddy, I'll admit I am not much of a religious man. I try to be, but the Gods never really answered my prayers. I know next to nothing about the fellas, I don't even know their real names… but when I found you by that river? Half dead, survived what you suffered? I must admit it did feel like the Gods saved you for a reason." Ulysses explained as he crossed his arms, waiting for the pieces of venison to cook over the fire.

"A reason? The reason is that the Gods have a cruel sense of humour, letting a man suffer after losing everyone that mattered." Li sighed.

"No, I doubt that is their reason. If the gods are real? Then they're not done with you yet." Ulysses shrugged his shoulders, Li stared at the old man, able to tell where he was through hearing alone. He was struggling with the new reality of his blindness, he could barely walk without tripping on something.

"What do you know about judgement? I have only been here a week but I know who you are. You're a good man, a peaceful one… but me? I ended families and their happiness for money. This is what I deserve, I don't deserve a valiant end… a pitiful starvation seems like a fitting end to this blood soaked life." Li sounded like he was going to cry when he said that, he hated himself for the things he did.

"You make yourself out like you're a monster… but… would a monster really show so much regret for the things they did? I doubt it." Ulysses stated with the shrug of his shoulders. "And besides… I am not a good man either." He answered.

"You see, I fought in the Great War, long before your time… in the last days of the war… I killed more men and women than you could count. But not because I was following my orders, I did it because I had so much anger in me. There is a beast in us all, one that wakes up in the moment of battle. I burned houses, killed women and children, tortured Farmers simply because I could. Because they were on the other side… it felt like it was the right thing to do. The Vacuo Mongrels had died out, the War was nearly over. I wanted to get my fair share." He explained, and Li stared at the old man, listening to his voice.

"It was only after the war ended, did I realise how much of a monster I became. I was… lost.. much like you. Haunted by their faces, kept up at night by their screams of agony. All because _I_ deemed them evil." Ulysses explained, before he turned and looked at Li. "I came here, to the Summit's Claim when it was ruled by another Woman, she was very beautiful and she took me in. Helped me become a better man… she was the mother of my children."

"What became of them?" Li asked curiously.

"My daughter has three children now… living in Atlas… I heard though she drinks a lot. Married to a man who only wanted the name… and my company."

Li gasped when he realised who Ulysses was, and so did Ren and Nora in the present day.

"You're… Nicholas Schnee?" He gasped.

"I was… but when I could not bare it… I changed my name, based on my favourite character from the books I read as a child. Ulysses Vikander. I returned here, where I felt like I could help more people, and live far away from the corruption of Atlesian Politics." He explained to Li. Ulysses… or Nicholas… picked up a piece of cooked venison and he ate it. "Believe me, Li Ren… it is never too late to make things right. You just have to learn to forgive yourself. Self Pity and Loathing… it becomes a bottomless pit… you have to climb out of it before you fall too deep."

"And what if I can't?" Li asked.

"You have to… or it kills you." He answered, and Li felt the flames, and he felt the area to find the food, and he picked it up.

"Ow!" He inhaled with shock from how hot the meat was, dropping it onto his plate, which made Ulysses laugh. But Li started to eat it with the only arm he had left.

"I still have contacts… I managed to get Maria over there to get her eyes repaired… more of less… I can contact him to build you a new arm, maybe new eyes too." He suggested, but Li listened to the wind around him and he heard the eagles.

"I don't need to…" He said, clearly he agreed to the arm but not his eyes. "Altum Eagles are mystical and beautiful animals… I have heard stories about being able to bond with them, and being able to see through their eyes." He explained.

Ulysses watched the giant eagles circle the Summit's Claim. "They have lived here ever since the Great War. And this place stood throughout it all, a safe haven for all sides, to find peace in such a chaotic conflict."

He stared at the moon. "One that nearly destroyed us all."

Li exhaled. "I can sort out your arm for you… but if you want to find out how… I can find some books for you. Plenty of libraries for us, we can learn together." Ulysses suggested, extending his palm, but of course Li could not see him do this. "Oh, I'm offering my hand to you."

"Oh… okay…" Li agreed awkwardly, he waved his hand around as he tried to find Ulysses' hand, and eventually he did, shaking it.

"It's a deal. And I promise you… it will get easier. You will never forget them, you won't want to. They're a part of you. They always will be, you just… have to find space for it. And keep moving forward." Ulysses told him with a smile.

Li turned and he reached out, and found one of the rocks, and placed it on the wall. "Well… maybe it's time we start rebuilding this place." He said with a smile, and Ulysses smiled back.

_I learned how to see, without my eyes. Either through my other sense or with my bond to the Altum Eagles, he managed to raise me up, and build someone new. I never forgot my wife, I will always love your mother._

_When Ulysses died, I made sure his daughter knew about how he died, so she could mourn his passing in peace. He was a great man, and I was glad he could find peace. Now that you are here, Lie… maybe… maybe I can._

_For so long… I believed you were dead._

_And yet here you are…_

_… __and I am so proud of you._

* * *

**Author Note - Li Ren... man I love his character so much, and there is still some stuff we don't know yet, of course it raises the question - what did he do to Icarus that makes him hate him so much?**

**I loved this chapter, essentially building off one of my favourite RWBY episodes Kuroyuri and it worked so well, and revealing that Nicholas Schnee was the previous Summit's Mentor was really cool too. Ironic, how these peaceful people always started off being these dangerous and quite violent people, who found peace in the mountains with the Altum Eagles.**

**Li and Lie's relationship is another favourite part of this universe.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**\- Matt**


	28. The Summit's Claim

**Chapter 27 – The Summit's Claim**

* * *

**Icarus**

* * *

The snow was so cold, and it bit into his flesh.

He snarled as he trudged through the snow, stumbling and bumping against the trees that surrounded him. He coughed and spluttered, blood ran down his head from the open cuts, and the massive robotic wings attached to his jetpack bled electrical sparks. The flames were put out from the snow he fell into. He held his side with a snarl as he limped through the Mountainous Wilds.

He looked through the trees, breathing through the mechanical jaw that was attached to his face. He snarled as he stared through the flurries of snow, before he limped ahead. There was a wooden cabin hidden in the trees, the one he would always retreat to. He pushed the door open and he stumbled inside, falling onto the ground. He groaned in pain, and he pulled the empty canister of nutrients from his jaw and he replaced it with the last one that he had on him.

He unclipped the jetpack from his shoulders and he let the wings crash down onto the wooden floor with a thud. The sparks stopped when he pulled the damaged circuitry from the centre of the pack. He held them and the cables in his hand, at least the sparks would not set his whole house aflame. He limped over to his chair in the corner and grabbed his first aid kit and he stared at his broken leg.

He held the fire dust crystal in his hand, his aura would be able to repair the broken bone inside, but he needed to close the open wound there. He held the fire crystal close to the skin and he pressed it against his deep gash, caused when he crashed through the trees. The branches cut him to ribbons. To cauterise the wound, he crushed the crystal in his hand. It burned and he growled from the pain he felt, not just in his leg but also in the palm he held. He ran it under the cold tap, ice cold from the snow so then it could cool down. Whilst he clenched his hand into a tight fist from the agony he felt from the flesh and skin being melted down and welded together from the burning hot dust.

Fire Dust worked in a simple way, it was extremely reactive to oxygen but only in its dust form, which was why they were always condensed into crystals first. Whilst in crystal form they were safe to handle, but once broken and reduced back into their unprotected dust form, the oxygen would ignite them instantly. The dust crackled in his dark skin up his leg and the flesh fused together, charring and closing the blood together. He yelled through his mechanical jaw in agony, before he punched the wall with unending rage.

The wood snapped open as his fist went straight through it, he shook from the pain and the anger. He stared at the room, looking around as he kept on seeing the Summit's Mentor, Li Ren… he grabbed his Khopesh and he spun it through his fingers and he threw it straight at him. Only for the Khopesh to hit the wall, and Li to completely vanish into thin air.

He slid down the wall, panting as he calmed down, residual rage from his semblance was still there, an anger he could not control. He held his hand and pressed it to his head, it was beating with pain from his semblance. His eyes were burning, and his saliva tasted sour, all of these were side effects of when he gave in and used his Blind Rage Semblance. And the name did not lie, once this semblance was activated, he would lose all memory of what happened in that time, and would kill anything that stood in his way.

Icarus buried his head in his hands, his eyes were tearing up as he tried to cry… but he couldn't… no matter what he could never cry. He stared back at where Li Ren was stood and he saw him once again, not as an old man but the Li Ren he saw at Kuroyuri. He knew he was at the Summit's Claim, but he could not find the place, no matter how hard he searched…

… very few knew about the Summit's Claim, and there was a reason for that. It was a safe haven for those that were broken to get away from the corruption of the world, and peacefully live in the mountains with the Altum Eagles.

But that was not the only reason that Icarus could not get up there. He stared at his destroyed wings, his anger was fading but he knew he would have to rebuild that suit again. "Now I have to repair it… again… I'm running out of time, that old man cannot get away with this… he cannot die of old age before he paid for what he did to me." Icarus snarled, until he heard the sound of someone laugh.

He swiftly stood back up and picked up his other Khopesh on the ground, and he pointed it into the room that he just kicked the door open into with his other leg. He nearly fell to the ground as his weaker leg gave, but he pushed himself back up with Undying Hatred. "Come out!" He yelled with rage in his metallic voice.

Then he came out, and it surprised Icarus. "I see you still have not learned to temper that… well… temper of yours, Icarus." Arthur Watts greeted as he emerged from the shadows with his arms behind his back, a smirk hidden behind his thick black moustache. Icarus stared at him, and then he looked out the windows of his cabin, searching for any kind of airship. "Oh my allies are far away from here. Tyrian Callows, remember him?"

"I remember." Icarus growled as he lowered his Khopesh.

"Oh come on, Icarus… we're old friends you and me. If it weren't for me… well… you would be a dead little boy in a river twenty two years ago, wouldn't you?" He asked, and Icarus sighed.

"Yeah… when the world was tracking you down after what you did in Atlas." Icarus said, limping back over to his sofa in the living room and Watts followed him.

"Ah yes, the whole Grave Dust incident. Took the Black Gallows a while to find me, but eventually they did. Now? Now I am the man who makes their tech, funny how allegiances change, hmm?" He asked him and Icarus nodded his head as he sat in his chair, and Watts sat down in the other, crossing one leg over the other.

"What are you doing here, Watts?" Icarus questioned as his aura slowly returned to heal his wounds.

"Always liked that about you, Icarus. Straight to the point." Watts chuckled. "Our Grace has sent us on two missions, Tyrian is already following his orders right now. Tracking down an important target of ours with Emerald and Mercury."

"I don't remember them." Icarus commented.

"You wouldn't, they're a new addition. Don't really trust them to be honest, they were Cinder's lackeys." Watts shrugged.

"Ah, Cinder… I remember her. Pretty girl, if I wasn't messed up I would have asked her on a date." Icarus stated as he rolled his shoulder.

"Well, you spared yourself the heartbreak. She betrayed us and joined Raven Branwen… in fact, the very people you just had a fight with." Watts explained, and Icarus' eyes stared straight at Arthur with surprise in them.

"Eryka's gang? Small world… can't believe those little bastards managed to beat me." He growled as he felt the painful wounds start to heal up.

"You may be able to get to have a round to some day… because the one with the red hood?" He asked him, and Icarus gave him a look. "She is a Silver Eyed Girl, and Salem wants her dead."

"Hmph… if she wasn't alone and a pretty good warrior then that would have been lucky for her. Wait, how do you know I was attacked by them?" He questioned, and then he turned to see a small drone hover round with a camera. "Ah… I see you've made more toys recently." Icarus said.

"Indeed, but this one is my personal favourite." He said, he opened his palm and the Grave Dust emerged, swirling through his fingers and his palm, then it formed a blade into his hand, then it shattered back into the cloud form.

"You got it to work." Icarus noticed.

"Precisely, it was not easy… but anything can become a weapon if you are creative." He said as he let the dust fall back into his sleeve. He then looked at the broken wings on the ground. "Like those wings for instance, I built you those because you wanted to be stronger, to be able to kill the man who did this to you."

"And I appreciate it."

"But… they could use an upgrade, couldn't they? It seems that you need stronger metals so then that girl's axe can't bring you down… made from Non-Ferris materials too, so then Pyrrha Nikos cannot effect you with her polarity." Watts explained as he held his hands together above his lap.

Icarus was not stupid, he could tell that Watts was building up to something. "What are you getting at?"

"Ha! Was wondering when you would catch on." Watts laughed, he stood up and he walked up to the bookshelf, looking through his many novels he liked to read. He was well read, another trait he must have picked up from him. Watts turned and looked at the man once again.

"You're done with Mercenary and Assassin work, Queen Salem needs you back with us." Watts told her, and Icarus raised a brow.

"Queen? Last I checked the last king died in the Great War." Icarus commented, and he was not wrong. King Thaddeus Rex was the last King, the King of Vale and ever since there were no more Kings of Queens. Only a united council to prevent the war from continuing.

"Very true, she is not technically a Queen yet. But she will be… there is a storm coming, and the Huntsmen will be washed away. Killian is a fool, he believes he can sway the Huntsmen and Huntresses to agree to the Vytal Consensus and take control of the Academies for Salem. The idea makes sense, the Huntsmen serve her when she comes to power, no need for a slaughter. But there will be, those brats you fought are the reason why there will be a slaughter." Watts explained, and Icarus nodded his head in agreement.

"I remember Killian, that guy is still trying to play both sides?" Icarus asked.

"Yes, and it is infuriating. He wants Salem to be Queen but he does not want to spill any blood, because he claims he is a good man. None of us are good people, not really… we are the evil that this world needs for better progress. He needs to understand that… or we could just kill him and have him replaced. I have suggested that but Salem… as always has to remind me that – _We should never underestimate the usefulness of others_. I'd agree, if Killian was not a ticking time bomb. He will lose his mind, the moment he realises he has no real power over the people who signed that thing, he will go insane." Watts explained and Icarus nodded his head in agreement.

"So, what does Salem need me for? You've got your boy Tyrian doing all the hunting. You got Hazel who's the muscle and can get dirty jobs done. She has you, a damn mastermind. She has Killian, and the Black Gallows. Anyone else?" He asked out of curiosity.

"Well our newest addition is Adam Taurus." Watts announced, and Icarus' eyes widened.

"That lunatic? Last I heard he was rotting in a cell." Icarus presumed.

"He was, until Hazel and the Albains freed him and he killed Sienna… well he said he did, but she showed up before we extracted him." Watts furrowed his brow, still unaware of the fact that Sienna had Nine Lives. "Adam has the Feral Ones following him, and that will help us sway the Faunus when the White Fang is crippled. Humanity and Faunus both under our control, that will be where you come in."

"And how's that?" Icarus inquired.

"We still have our mission, to locate the Relics that Salem desires. The Relics of both Knowledge and Creation are both still unknowns and we need to find them. We need you to continue searching for them." Watts explained. "Until Salem is Queen, after that? Well… then we will see if we can help you annihilate the Summit's Claim once and for all."

Icarus stared at him, and Watts could tell even through that featureless mechanical jaw, he was grinning. "Well… I see your persuasive skills have not changed, Arthur." Icarus complimented as he stood up from his chair and extended his hand. "You can tell Salem she has a deal."

Watts smirked and he shook Icarus' hand. "You will not regret this."

"Where should I start my search? Any leads?" Icarus asked him, since he was ready to get started.

"Well, before you do…" He said, and he turned to hear the sound of an Airship approaching. He opened the doors and saw the Gyrfalcon, the massive Four-Winged Bullhead armed for war and able to take on countless Huntsmen. Black Gallows in origin and design, one specifically designed for the uses for the Children of Salem. "… I have a little gift for you."

As it approached, the cargo bay opened and a long cable slowly descended with a large crate attached, slowly set down before him. Icarus looked at Watts and the Doctor smirked. "After you…" He said.

Icarus approached the secured crate and he held his hand above the scanner which needed his biometric signature. So he placed his hand upon the screen and Watts spoke. The crate opened as the Doctor explained. "You see, those old wings of yours served you well but it was about time that you got yourself an upgrade." He revealed, and inside were the folded up wings and jetpack of his new Wingsuit.

Icarus' eyes widened as he slid his fingers across the clean stainless metal that made the feathers. "It's so much lighter."

"Indeed, after some good research, I managed to get my hands on some very effective alloys that will make flight faster and more agile for you. Not only that, this metal is much stronger as well, Miss Valkyrie's axe will not be able to take you down in one hit this time." He explained, he picked up the suit and he clipped it over his shoulders and chest. The wings opened up, all the razor sharp feathers splayed out as the advanced thrusters roared, these ones were just like the jetpack, all powered by dust instead of powerful turbines. "And even better, Mercury Black did his research on Pyrrha Nikos before the Battle of Beacon, and her semblance is polarity. She could take down all of us with that ability… until now, because this alloy is also Non-Ferris."

"Which means?" Icarus asked.

"It means her Polarity cannot effect you, or any of us." He assured and Icarus laughed sinisterly as his wings folded away swiftly, and he turned to Watts.

"Any other features you added?" He asked curiously.

"A few things, Fatal Feathers like a Nevermore… but the one you will be most interested in? I did some research on the Summit's Claim, and even if you did manage to get there, you wouldn't be able to use that Wingsuit anyway. But this one? It has Higher Altitude settings, meaning you can reach the top of the highest peak…" Watts explained, and Icarus looked at him.

"And when she allows it, you will be able to burn the Summit's Claim to the foundations, and get the revenge you desire… once and for all." Watts promised with a smirk.

Icarus laughed as he opened his palm and the gravity dust pulled his Khopesh through the open door and right into his hand.

"Finally." Icarus growled.

* * *

**Ren**

* * *

They had no idea that Salem now had a Sixth Member of the Children of Salem.

Arthur Watts, Nathaniel Killian, Tyrian Callows, Hazel Rainart, Adam Taurus… and now… Icarus.

But Ren did not care for such terrifying revelations, he was with his father inside of his Yurt, with Nora right next to him. It was surprising to them that he lived in such a modest abode, he was the Summit's Mentor… the one that everyone turned to. But he let the people live in the large Temples that they managed to rebuild as he learned how to see through the eyes of the eagles, and through his senses when they were not with him. His father had gotten old in his years here at the Summit's Claim… but he looked so much better, despite the scars on his face.

When he knew his father, he was a loving man but he always seemed stressed out, and he never realised it had something to do with Icarus. Deep down Ren wanted to know more, he needed to know more, but this was the first time he had ever seen his father… since he thought the Nuckelavee had killed him. And clearly, that was almost the case. Li looked over in the direction of Nora and he gently smiled. "And you are Nora Valkyrie… I do not even need the vision of an Eagle to see how beautiful you have grown."

Nora blushed shyly, she very rarely showed the softer side to herself, normally it was only around Ren. But after what Li did, he was the closest thing to family to her than her real one, which was ironic considering the fact that he only stood there and shooed the bullies away. But as always, Nora could not help herself but he humbly adorable as ever. "Oh stop it! You don't mean that!" She cooed, playfully slapping the air.

Li Ren chuckled a smile. "I'm glad to hear that you are happier than the day I first saw you, Miss Valkyrie. And especially after everything you have been through… I'm sorry." He sighed, Nora and Ren looked at each other and then she gently spoke.

"It… It wasn't your fault." She said, but Li sighed.

"Oh child… it was." He promised, staring down at the flames that warmed them inside the Yurt. It was beautiful inside of here, it was like the Bandit Tribe tents, but with stunning colours and old artefacts inside, his Bow was one of them. He held his dagger in his hands, and Ren held his. "It is a story for another time, one I will tell you, I promise. But first… I want to know how life has been for the two of you. Clearly… things formed for you both, like they did for me and An." He said with a smile.

Both Ren and Nora gasped and their blushed, and at the same time they adorably tried to dismiss it.

"Oh, we're… we're not… together… together…"

"Yeah, we're… we're just… close."

"I see your lying skills have not improved, Lie." Li commented, they both sighed and sat closer.

"Okay, yeah you got us." Nora admitted.

"Why act so afraid of this? It's a rare thing to find someone perfect for you, both of you. You should be happy." He said, and they both smiled lovingly at each other, holding each other's hands.

"We are." Ren promised, and Li smiled.

"Good." He said, standing up with a grunt, picking up his cane. "So what brings you up here to the Claim? Was it Eryka's idea?"

"Well… a lot has happened since Kuroyuri, father." Lie told him, and his father raised a brow.

"I heard about the Battle of Beacon, that news reached every single corner of Remnant, but I also heard that it was won." He said as they walked towards the exit of the Yurt.

"Yeah, that was a tense fight. But we managed to save the day!" Nora cheered, making Li laugh again.

"I'm proud of you, for going to Beacon Academy. You fight for honour and for the safety of those who cannot protect themselves. It was what I wanted… before I became a Fallen Angel." Li explained as he walked across the snow.

"It took us a while to get here now, but we managed to Graduate recently. We're now Official Hunters… but…" Li stopped and he turned to the couple.

"What is it?" He asked, he could sense their trepidation.

"There was a terrorist attack… from a man called Jack the Ripper, have you heard of him?" Ren asked him.

"By reputation." Li responded.

"Well, his real name is Jackdaw Branwen, my friend who is with us – Ruby Rose – he killed her mother a long time ago, and she wants him to be brought to justice. Her sister would go anywhere with her, and Eryka felt the same way." Ren explained.

"And you? Why have you joined her on this quest?" He asked, stopping again by the cliffs of the Claim that overlooked Anima.

"I thought about you… and Mom… and what I would do if I saw the Nuckelavee. I knew how she felt, to lose my parents, so did Nora. Our friends and their friends, they didn't… it kinda divided us." Ren explained, and Li could hear the uncertainty in his voice. He gently placed his hand on his son's shoulder, gently giving him a squeeze.

"You followed the path you believed was right, you took action. Just as I taught you… there is no crime in that." Li promised his son as they walked.

"I wish the Black Gallows and Killian saw it that way." Ren sighed.

"Oh those guys are back? I remember hearing stories about them back in the day, sounds like they are more than just the monsters in the dark us Huntsmen used to fear?" Li presumed.

"Killian – the Commander of the Black Gallows – has been building a strong case against the Academies, wanting to change them, have more Military Control over them. In some ways I agree with his logic but in others… no… it would create more problems than solutions." Ren explained.

"Sounds like a confused man." Li said.

"That's not what Eryka would say." Ren chuckled.

"Oh? And what did she say to him? I imagine it was something creative." Li chuckled.

Ren was going to try and make it sound sweeter and less brutal than what she actually said – but Nora?

Well… it's Nora.

"She said she wanted to shove his head up his own ass." Nora replied.

"Nora!" Ren gasped.

"What? It's what she said." Nora shrugged, but Li just chuckled.

"That sounds like Eryka Vasillias to me." Li stated, he had seen much worse things and heard some pretty nasty words, that was pretty tame in comparison.

"Anyway, the Black Gallows has marked us all as fugitives, but we need to find and stop Jackdaw Branwen before he hurts anyone else. Before anyone else dies, we have reason to believe he is headed for Atlas for some reason, searching for some kind of facility linked to the Black Gallows, again… for some reason. We don't really know what he's up to." Ren explained.

"But, one of the Branwen Tribe's people were kidnapped… we think by that Icarus guy. She's a little girl." Nora revealed finally and Li stopped, and he sighed.

"A child? Who steals a child…" He sighed as he lowered and shook his head. He then turned his head when he heard someone in the Branwen Tribe speaking.

"That's why the Tribe are here, we need to get across the mountains and to the Vasillias Cartel. Eryka told us the fastest route is through here…" Ren explained, and just like that he was up to date.

As they listened to the Tribesmen, one of the Bandits smacked one of the girls on the butt, she yelped as she walked by and he winked at her. "She's cute." The Bandit said, and Li slowly clenched his hand into a fist.

"The Vasillias Cartel? You do know how dangerous they are, right? How ruthless Lavinia Vasillias is?" Li asked him with concern in his voice.

"As you said about Jackdaw, we've heard stories." Ren said as he crossed his arms. But Li started to walk towards the Bandit who assaulted one of his people, he did not even need his eyes to know. He approached him and he stared down at the man, the Grunt looked up at the Old Huntsman and raised a brow.

"Can I help ya, grandpa?" He asked.

"Watch your tongue, Flynt." Raven commanded, people had a lot of respect for the Summit's Mentor, those who knew he even existed that is.

"So what? Just some old bum." Flynt scoffed.

"Do not lay a finger on my people." Li warned. Ren looked at his father who glared at him, and Flynt scoffed as he stood up, staring Li right in the face.

"Or what, old man? You gonna do something about it?" Before Flynt could even finish, Li knocked him on the ground with his stick and he crashed to the floor, before he stomped down on his throat with his boot. Flynt gasped and choked as he grabbed Li's boot, and he stared at him, pointing the rounded end of the cane to his face.

"Do not. Lay a finger. On my people." He repeated one more time with fury in his voice, he may have grown old with the years, but Li Ren was still the skilled warrior he always was. Perhaps even more of a skilled warrior now with his patience and blindness. Flynt tapped out, so Li removed his foot from his throat. "That goes for all of you, Branwen Tribe. If I find out any of my people have been hurt, robbed, sexually assaulted… or worse… you will be the food for my Altum Eagles." He promised.

Flynt gasped as Li's huge Altum Eagle landed right in front of him, it hissed as it stared at him, nearly as tall as Nora was, only an inch off, and it walked closer and closer, staring right into his eyes. Flynt nodded his head in agreement as it stopped. "Okay… I'm sorry." He apologised, Li set his cane down and he just nodded to his Old Eagle that took off, blocking out the sun in its wings.

"Thank you." Li replied, before he continued on with his son and his girlfriend. Nora giggled with awe as she followed Ren's dad.

"Wow! That was awesome! How old is that Eagle, he's so big!" Nora laughed.

"Her name is Harmony Gives Humble Mind. She was the Altum Eagle that was bonded to the Summit's Mentor who came before me, Nicholas Schnee. She is around sixty years old, very old for an Altum Eagle, normally they only live to sixty years old." Li Ren explained. "But it is not surprising for these creatures to reach her size, these animals are unfamiliar… and huge." He told them, and Nora gasped as she watched her glide overhead.

Harmony Gives Humble Mind soared over their heads, blocking the sun out with her gorgeous brown and gold feathers. Her wingspan was as wide as a Bullhead and her body was the size of Nora or Ruby. An impressive animal, the Rogues and the Bandits were awestruck by the animal as she landed down next to Eryka who was being tended to on a bed. "Hey you! Missed me?" She asked as she stroked her neck, playfully chirping to her.

"Yet they are always so loving to people… even after what our species did to them years ago." He sighed sadly.

"Still, the people here at the Summit's Claim saved them from Extinction." Ren said with a smile.

"Yes, you are right. It is just a shame that we drove them to that stage for their valuable feathers." Li explained as he walked over to Eryka who petted his Eagle.

"Mr Ren! He is so! WOW!" Ruby squeaked with awe, bouncing up and down.

"I see you are fond of these beautiful animals as well." Li chuckled as he approached.

"Oh, I always wanted to see one and when I first met Eryka and Dulcis… it was like a dream come true! These ones are so big, I remember seeing Dulcis for the first time and thinking he was the biggest Eagle ever!" Ruby squeaked with joy, which made Li smile, before he turned to Nora and Ren.

"And this is?" He asked.

"That is Ruby Rose – and yes, she has always been… exuberant." Ren assured with a proud smile, proud to he called her friend.

Li smiled too. "I like her." He admitted. "I've always had a soft spot for those who care for our natural world."

And none loved the world more than Ruby Rose.

Dulcis stood there, beside Sashaa's younger and smaller female Altum Eagle called Inbe. Her eagle was brightly coloured in comparison to Dulcis' regal gold and brown colours, and she pruned her feathers. Dulcis prided himself over how much bigger he was, looking smug as he held his head high… until Harmony Gives Humble Mind softly chirped at him. Dulcis turned and his eyes widened when he saw how much smaller he was, and he shrunk down.

Humbled by her size.

"Yeah, you're not the biggest boy in the world anymore, are ya?" Eryka cooed as she gently stroked under his neck, which made rub his head against her hand lovingly. "But you're my big fat baby aren't you? Yeah, you are…" She softly whispered as she gave her Eagle fuss.

"These Eagles are like puppies." Yang laughed as she gave Inbe a stroke, and she softly chirped.

"That was a nickname scientists used to give them, the Puppy Eagles. Normally an Eagle or Bird of Prey only cares about your food, but you need to earn their trust. Easiest method is through raising them from birth." He explained, then Ren raised a brow.

"But… didn't you say Harmony Gives Humble Mind was Nicholas Schnee's?" Ren asked, and Ruby raised a brow when she heard that name.

"Correct, earning an Altum Eagle's trust when it is already an adult is possible, just much harder. Took us a while to gain our trust… but she trusts me now." Li assured as he walked over to the huge creature, stroking her head.

Ruby decided not to quiz Ren's father on what he meant by Nicholas Schnee being Harmony's previous owner, that was a question for another time. It was a story Ren already knew from the story he told. "So, Mr Ren…"

"Li, please. We do not have titles here at the Claim, we are all equals. I am just someone the people here can come to for answers. We have no real leader." Li explained, Qrow looked surprised by that.

"Seriously? How do you manage to keep the peace with no leader?" Qrow asked.

"People who come here just want to escape the struggles of the world below, the corruption… or just want a new path. That is what I offer. We still uphold similar laws as down below – no killing or stealing or worse – we may have a currency, but it is a universal account. Money for the town, not for individuals. Everyone gets their equal share." He explained, and they all looked amazed.

"A world without currency? Sounds too good to be true." Vernal chuckled.

"Indeed, but I promise you it is as simple as that. The money we use is only for supplies for everyone, and everyone gets their fair share. Simple as that." Li explained with the shrug of his shoulders. "It has been this way before the Great War, during and will continue."

"What if people try and come to destroy all this? I mean that guy, Icarus? He was hellbent on coming here." Qrow asked as he walked over.

"That crazy psycho can try, we're so high up his wings won't work with the altitude problems. The amount of Grimm make it hard to get past… and in any case… we all know how to fight." Sashaa promised as she walked over on her prosthetic legs, which were like stilts.

"Places like these are treasures, hopefully nobody would be cruel enough to attack this place." Raven said, looking at all her men with daggers in her eyes. The Grunts nodded their heads and they agreed to never start trouble.

Li turned to all the Bandits, he was fine with the Rogues, but he wanted to make it clear for the Bandits. "I will offer you all asylum for the night, and you will be permitted to join the feast tonight." He promised, the Bandits looked very excited by that.

"Feast?" Ren asked.

"My son is alive… at the very least I wanted to make sure you are treated well. I have missed you, my son." He said with a smile.

Ren smiled with tears in his eyes, embracing his father.

"I've missed you too, dad." He softly said.

As they stood there, Ruby looked past them all… and a chill ran down her…

Because Valravn was the only one stood away from them all, and his eyes were set right on her.

His chimes echoed… and she could hear it constantly.

_What does he want with me?_

The whispering voices echoed in her mind, and it was unbearable.

"Valravn… Valravn… Valravn!"

Of all the people and monsters that have scared her… none have unnerved her like he did.

* * *

**Jaune**

* * *

It had been a few hours since they left the Black Gallows Wasp and decided to go on foot. Blake walked beside Jaune as they followed the trails to get to the nearest station from here. "Good idea, Blake. After what happened in Vacuo I don't think taking the sky is the best idea right now. Those Feral Guys could be anywhere, best to keep a low profile." Jaune said to her as they walked, Blake smiled and she looked ahead.

She was still shaken from seeing Adam again, that much was very clear. "I still can't believe… that he's back. I thought that nightmare was over when he was put in that cell, now he's out again. I've never seen him that bad before." Blake explained as they walked through the woodland together.

"Neither have I." Sienna admitted. Blake looked at Sienna as they walked.

"You're right. Adam was always… extreme… but he was completely crazy back there. Almost like a totally different person." Ilia said, but Blake sighed.

"No… that was the _real_ Adam. I think he was trying to hide what he was the whole time, he would always manipulate me. Make me hate myself, think I wasn't worth the air I was breathing unless I was with him. Unless I helped him kill humanity… I couldn't take it anymore." Blake sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose, but her senses were calmed when she felt the gentle hand of Weiss squeeze her shoulder.

"It's okay, Blake. We're here… and for the record I know how you feel." Weiss assured.

"You do?" Blake asked, then she remembered. "Your father…"

"Yup, he did the same kinda crap. Used my mom as a weapon against me, saw me as a pawn in his grand game to keep winning." Weiss explained, Jaune and Pyrrha looked at each other and they kindly smiled, holding hands as they walked. Winter walked beside her sister as they spoke of their cruel father.

"I'll never forget that day… your tenth birthday, and he… ruined that birthday when he told mother why he married her." Winter said with saddened eyes. "I wanted to kill him."

They looked at her and saw the hate in her blue eyes. Winter was one of those people that always surprised them when they saw her step out of her boundaries, and hate was something she rarely showed. Frustration? Yes. Eryka and Qrow were prime examples. Duty and Courage? Yes. Her love for her baby sister? Unmistakable.

But then there was her jokey side… or her hateful side.

Jacques Schnee was like the catalyst that sparked that hate in her heart, but she calmed herself down and she gently kissed her sister on the cheek. "I hated leaving you with him when I left for Atlas Academy."

"It's okay, Winter." Weiss promised.

"No… I should have taken you with me. Maybe Whitley too, perhaps he wouldn't have turned out the way he did if he was with us." Winter stated, and Weiss sighed as she stared at her feet.

"Doesn't matter now… we just need to keep moving forward." Weiss sighed and Winter nodded her head.

Sienna walked at the back of the crew with Ilia and they looked around, Ilia was staring at her hand and the engagement ring she had on. "Hey, you will see her again." Sienna assured, and Ilia's eyes widened.

"I know… well no I don't… just seeing the what Adam has become. Would it have been better if we had just killed him?" She asked with concern in her voice and Sienna sighed.

"Probably, I had hoped some time in a cell would have helped him come to terms with his mistakes… but I think it just made him become worse." Sienna said with disappointment in her voice.

Blake kept walking then she slowed down with Jaune next to her, they looked shocked from what was ahead of them.

It was a town, and it was decimated.

The Grimm hit this place, that much was certain, and it must have just happened right now. Their eyes were wide and they all ran forward towards the town. Ilia slowed down and she saw the splatter of blood across the name of the village here.

_Jvaani_

"Oh gods…" Blake gasped as she looked around, and Jaune drew Crocea Mors.

"Look around! There could still be survivors!" He ordered. "HELLO? ANYONE?" He called out desperately, but nobody responded. All that they could hear was the sound of flames crackling. Jaune walked with Pyrrha and she kicked one of the doors down, only to find a lone Beowulf inside. It was stood there, and it roared at them, until Pyrrha shot it through the head with her rifle. It was killed instantly from the shot, crumbling away into dust before their very eyes.

"Hello? Is there anyone still here?" Pyrrha called out, she was desperately hoping that someone would answer… but there was nothing.

Jaune looked at the place and he furrowed his brow with confusion. "Something's not right here…"

"What do you mean?" Pyrrha asked, Jaune held his hands out to the room.

"This building? It was a restaurant." He approached the tables and he touched the food… and it was still warm. No… not warm… it's still steaming. "This… this just happened."

"What? How could that even be possible? How could we have not heard the attack?" Pyrrha asked with confusion.

"And why have we not seen a single body? The only thing that makes sense so far… is the blood on the sign. But I haven't seen a single corpse, not one." Jaune explained and Pyrrha felt lost. They've seen fallen settlements before, but nothing quite like this.

"And there's barely even a struggle… it's like they all just got up and left." Pyrrha said, it sent chills down their spine. Like something was watching them.

But they left the building, not even remembering the entity that was lurking round the corner. They walked back outside and saw everyone else returning back. They looked at the burning buildings and Jaune narrowed his eyes.

_Something's off here, even the buildings don't look right. The fires are burning in specific places… like they were purposefully put there._

_Grimm don't do that, this place is way too clean…_

_… __the hell happened here?_

"Did you find anyone?" Pyrrha asked.

"Nothing, no sign of Grimm activity either. No blood but the one splatter on the sign." Ilia pointed out, Weiss looked utterly befuddled as she looked around.

"Guys?" Winter called as she approached them, she held what looked like a scroll that was left behind. They all walked over to her and she showed the name of the person.

But that was just it…

… there was no name. It just said – _REDACTED_

"Okay… that's a bit weird." Jaune stammered.

"Trust me, that's not the weird part." She then played the recording on the scroll, and they listened to what they could hear.

_"__So, how are you enjoying your first time here at Jvaani?"_

_"__I love it, such a sweet little spot. I can't wait to start working here at the Sea Monkey Diner, the people there are so… so…"_

_"__Sarah? Are you okay?"_

_"__AAARGGH!"_

_"__What the hell? Oh! OH GODS! RUN!"_

_"__Run? From what?"_

_"__I… I don't know…"_

There was silence for a moment… and then before it cut out, it gave them chills.

_"__OH GODS! HELP US! AAHH-"_

And that was how the recording ended, it sounded like it was an interview with a new employee at that diner, and then… whatever it was that happened here… happened. They were shaking, skin freckled with gooseflesh. "They… they forgot what was attacking them… as it happened?" Pyrrha stammered with shock.

"What Grimm is capable of making you forget it was ever there?" Jaune asked them all with fear in his voice, but none of them knew the answer.

Whatever did this?

It was another one of Salem's new creations.

But as they stood there, they had no time to investigate further, because Blake froze and her ears sensed something, and so did Sienna's. They both stared at each other with shocked eyes, they both knew someone was coming.

His fast running…

… his demented laugh.

They both turned and saw him leap off from the overarching cliff from the mountainous areas of this trail, and he flipped through the air before he landed across the road from them. He stared at them with insane golden eyes and he laughed, his pincer blades extended and his long scorpion tail arched over his head. "Found you!" Tyrian laughed.

He was not alone either, Emerald and Mercury both emerged from the damaged buildings, and they smirked at them sinisterly.

And then…

… he attacked.

* * *

**Author Note - Scorpion Boi has made his entrance!**

**Can't wait to write this battle, always loved to imagine seeing Pyrrha Vs Tyrian in Oniyuri, that's what sparked the idea of this team Vs Tyrian, Emerald and Mercury in this town. And man, the mystery of Jvaani is so unnerving. If you are an avid reader of my work and read Knights of Grimm then you know that I love writing my creepy stuff, the Hearthstone Chateau is another great example. Writing stuff that gets under my reader's skin is so much fun, because I can just go crazy with it XD**

**Icarus is confirmed to be one of the Children of Salem too, and that Watts was the man who not only made him his wings but also repaired his jaw. Meaning we will see him again later down the line :)**

**And the Summit's Claim is such a beautiful place, I adore the Altum Eagles and Li Ren in this story, the whole thing about those mountains that I love though is that it is such a great contrast to the Veterans Home that Killian funds. The people there are angry and want things improved, treated terribly by the Governments that they served. And then there are these people, not that different at all... and yet they are all so happy and at peace here.**

**Perspective is extremely important.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**\- Matt**


	29. Jvaani Ambush

**Chapter 28 – Jvaani Ambush**

* * *

**Jaune**

* * *

He was fast.

Faster than any of their foes in the past, Neo was fast but this was far worse. Neo at the very least was quick with her attacks and defences, but Tyrian. He was full on offensive, he went for the kill with every single attack he made. He lunged directly for Jaune with a mad look in his golden eyes, and he slashed his pincers straight at him, until Pyrrha stood in front of him. She blocked his attack with Akoúo, spinning round and slashing Milo across his purple aura, but it was stronger than they expected. Pyrrha gasped as he swung his pincer towards her, but her polarity did nothing to stop them.

The impact sent her tumbling backwards, staring right back at the madman who grinned sadistically at her. His pincer blades – named The Queen's Servants – opened and a pair of machine guns extended from the bracers. Jaune growled and he swung Crocea Mors downwards at Tyrian, but the Scorpion Faunus bounced backwards, avoiding the attack, before he slashed at him again, spinning through the air like a buzz saw. As he attacked Jaune, his long scorpion tail wrapped around his throat, and he restrained him, until Pyrrha threw her Discus Shield which bounced off the side of his head.

Nothing seemed to faze Tyrian Callows, he just giggled from ever single attack that they made. Pyrrha jumped up in the air and she called Milo and Akoúo back into her hands, and she kicked Tyrian in the chest. He grunted, and staggered back, then he held back, pacing back and forth like a mad dog.

Winter and Weiss battled against Mercury, whereas Blake, Ilia and Sienna fought against Emerald.

Mercury charged towards the Schnees, and normally he would be no match for them, but he and Emerald both had been given some extensive upgrades to their weapons and fighting styles. He jumped up and kicked extremely fast, and much harder than before. His cybernetic legs had been drastically improved from the last time they faced him, and it caused them to stagger back, and not only that, he had loaded new Fire Dust shells into them. The flames burned against their aura as they staggered back, but Weiss and Winter both cast a defensive barrier of energy from their glyphs to block the incoming shells.

Mercury twisted through the air, and slammed his boot downwards with great force, crashing it down into the ground so hard that it created a shockwave. The Schnees were pushed back by his attack, and he held his fists up with a smirk. That was when they saw what was on his fists… his fighting style may primarily rely on his kicks, but he had learned from Yang… and now had his own version of Ember Celica.

His boots – named Talaria – and his new Gauntlets – named Ash and Blood – loaded new shells as he stood there, and he smirked at the two Schnees who kept their swords on him. Then he rushed them a second time, he blasted up in the air, soaring over their heads, and he flipped backwards, firing a spray of missiles down towards them. Winter and Weiss both gasped, and they slid aside from the diving missiles, before he shot down towards Winter. Winter blocked his incoming punches and kicks, but he swung his body round and roundhouse kicked her across the face. Winter grunted, knocked to the ground by his attack, and he went for a second attack, only for Weiss to conjure a Black Glyph beneath him. His eyes widened, and he felt his body become thrown like a ragdoll away by Weiss.

The Schnee Heiress shot upwards towards him and she slashed across his powerful grey aura, cutting into his power over and over again. But he took both his legs and kicked her in the chest, and he stuck the landing, whilst Weiss used her Glyph to soften her fall. She spun her sword through her fingers, eyes narrowed on him as he stood before her. Winter stood back up and she drew the second, much smaller blade from her main one.

Blake on the other hand was not alone, and she had Sienna and Ilia to help her fight against Emerald, but she had improved on the usage of her Semblance. It was like trying to keep your eyes focused on someone in a dark room with a strobing light. She kept appearing and vanishing over and over again, before she leapt towards them. Emerald grit her teeth with anger, her long chained scythes – named Thief's Respite – extended from their chains and she slashed them towards Blake. The Belladonna vanished into her illusions, like a blur she disappeared and Emerald swung round and kicked Ilia across the jaw, which knocked the girl to the ground.

Ilia growled as she fell, turning red and yellow skinned as her Chameleon traits displayed her emotions perfectly. Lightning Lash – her Bladed Whip – extended with electricity coursing through the blade, and she rolled backwards, and she lassoed it towards Emerald, getting her around the neck. Emerald strained as the electricity burned against her body, and Ilia yanked her towards her. Ilia jumped towards the Green Haired Thief, and she kicked her in the chest with both feet, knocking her down against the ground. Emerald grunted, but she managed to get free from Ilia's grip with Lightning Lash, by firing both of her Thief's Respite into her chest. Ilia yelled in pain as the bullets collided against her aura, she still felt it as they hit, then she was thrown by the chains that wrapped around her neck. Emerald swung her round and launched her through one of the houses.

The wall collapsed and Emerald turned, anger in her eyes as Sienna sprinted at her, her Cerberus Whip still wrapped around her arm. She launched some of the explosive blades towards Emerald, but she spun Thief's Respite through her fingers, causing them to explode against her shield of spinning chains and blades. But Sienna refused to stop, she lunged towards her enemy and she slammed both her long chains down with great force at Emerald, but she vanished, using her Hallucination Semblance to her advantage. Sienna looked around in confusion, only for Emerald to swing round the town towards her, using the bell tower to her advantage, and kicking her in the face with both feet.

As Emerald swung, she released and landed next to Neptune, who stood beside Tyrian. The battle paused as Tyrian paced back and forth, still acting like the mad dog that he was. He grinned at Jaune as he stood there, Pyrrha still had that furor in her eyes, but she was so confused.

_How was I not able to use my semblance to move his blades?_

She had no idea until right now that Watts had improved the Children of Salem's weapons and armour with Non-Ferrous Metals, making them far more dangerous against Pyrrha than she was expecting. Her semblance was useless against them, meaning she could not rely on using that to gain the upper-hand against these guys.

This was not going to be an easy fight, yes they had them outnumbered by four extra allies… but even then, this fight was probably even against a warrior like Tyrian, an Assassin's Son like Mercury, and a skilled Illusionist like Emerald.

Together they formed one hell of an enemy.

Tyrian lunged towards the two of them once again, laughing as he spun through the air and slashed towards Jaune. He held his shield up to stop the incoming attacks, and he hit so fast, it felt like he was being shot at by a machine gun. The attacks pushed him back, but he swung down at his head, but Tyrian was already gone and behind him. He punched the Queen's Servants down into Jaune's back, which made him hunch forward, and give Tyrian the chance to kick him in the chest. Jaune grunted, and tumbled across the cobblestones before he stopped against the well in the centre of the town. He grunted, hearing the stones fall into the water beneath.

Tyrian sprinted towards Jaune, when Pyrrha threw herself towards him, knocking him away from his trajectory at Jaune. He staggered away from Jaune and she threw Akoúo over and over again into his face, trying to keep him distracted, but when she went to call it back, he caught onto it, and let his whole body get pulled with it. He tackled her to the ground and smashed her head into the stones, stabbing his huge scorpion stinger down at her head, over and over but she dodged ever single attack he made.

Jaune got back up and he growled with anger, pulling his sword up against Tyrian's neck, throwing him off his girlfriend, but Tyrian managed to land that one as well. He smirked and rushed Jaune once again, firing both of his machine guns repeatedly at him. He held his shield up, and that gave Tyrian the chance he needed. He jumped and landed onto Jaune's shield, and he leaned down, staring right into his blue eyes. "Ooh!" He giggled, it freaked Jaune out to see how curious this madman was in the Son of the Arc Family. Jaune launched Tyrian from his shield, but the Faunus blasted his guns behind him and rode the recoil, as he slashed down at him, but Jaune caught the pincer shaped blades on Crocea's blade. Sparks bled from the contact of the two blades, but Tyrian was simply to unpredictable for Jaune to fight against.

He dropped down to the ground, and his tail wrapped around his heel, and Tyrian swung round and slammed Jaune down into the ground, laughing manically as he beat him down. He would have continued if not for Pyrrha turning to a piece of metal.

_Well, if I can't use my polarity on him, then I'll throw something at him!_

Pyrrha ripped the rebar from the ground, still with concrete stuck to its bones and she launched it into Tyrian's chest. He grunted and was thrown up into one of the buildings. The wall shattered, and his two minions retreated back to the building where he was thrown. As the dust faded, they saw Tyrian managed to stick the landing even in there. He spread his legs and was stood inside of the building, still grinning.

"We don't want a fight!" Jaune shouted at Tyrian.

"Who are you?" Pyrrha shouted, and he laughed, before he let his body drop from the building, flipping through the air before landing on one knee. The ground blasted from his landing, and he stood tall, stood between Emerald and Mercury.

"Who I am doesn't matter to you, it does not matter to any of you… only… to you." Tyrian said, pointing at Jaune. His heart skipped a beat when Tyrian said that, this was the third time now that someone had come for him.

_First the Praetorian Knight._

_Then that guy, Hazel…_

_… __now this dude?_

"Me?" Jaune asked with worry.

Tyrian laughed with awe as he stood there, slapping his thig as he paced back and forth. "Y-You haven't the slightest clue, do you? Oh, how exciting this will be." Tyrian giggled with a smirk. "Well, Jaune Arc – my name is Tyrian Callows – and our Queen demands your presence."

"Uh… Queen?" Sienna asked.

"Salem…" Jaune growled, since none of them forgot what Ironwood told them at Beacon four years ago, or the Praetorian Knight. She had more minions than they realised, and none of them were simple to fight.

"Who?" Ilia also asked, still completely lost in this whole thing.

"Why am I so important? You're not the first to try and take me, so what does she want with me?" Jaune questioned, Tyrian smirked as he stood there.

"My, my… it seems the Arc Lineage still holds that defiance, doesn't it? Well, if you must know – our Grace knows your life plays a vital role in saving this world. Without you, our cause will be lost to us. And thus, that is what I am here to do, I shall never upset our perfect Queen." Tyrian promised, but Pyrrha, Weiss and Blake stood in front of Jaune with stern glares.

"And what if Jaune doesn't want to meet this _Salem_?" Pyrrha grilled, Tyrian rolled his eyes with a sigh.

"Well… then I'll take him." Tyrian answered with the shrug of his shoulders. Winter noticed that both Emerald and Mercury were taking their stances, because all three of them knew they were not about to give Jaune up.

"We're not gonna let you do that. If I were you, I'd leave, we have you outnumbered. This is a losing fight." Pyrrha warned.

Tyrian giggled. "Outnumbered? Please… that just makes this more enjoyable for me."

Suddenly he rushed towards them, with a speed they have never seen a man move, they all gasped as he suddenly went straight towards them and for Jaune. The three women who tried to block Jaune from Tyrian were instantly knocked to the ground by his speed, and he reached out towards Jaune, but Winter's eyes widened. "Jaune!" She yelled, before she cast another Glyph that pulled Jaune away from Tyrian's grasp.

Tyrian rolled across the ground and swiftly jumped towards Winter, and he locked blades with her, and he stared straight into her eyes. It frightened her, she had never seen such insanity in a single human being's eyes. She blasted him back and he attacked so fast, every single time they would ever push him back, or strike him, he would always counter their attacks with three more with his blades. He slashed across her light blue aura, causing her to stagger back, but she caught him by the throat and she launched herself high in the air with her catapulting glyphs. She and Tyrian battled in the sky as gravity released them for a moment, she took her sword and slashed it hard and fast against him, and he blocked half of her attacks with the pincers, until he wrapped his tail around her neck, and launched her down into the ground. The cobblestones shattered upon impact as she crashed against the ground, and Tyrian dove towards her, arching his arm back as he went for the kill.

But Winter narrowed her eyes and she pushed her sword up and formed a glyph barrier, one that stopped Tyrian before he could attack her. The move threw him back, and he tumbled across the ground. He stopped and turned, seeing Sienna sprinting straight at him, and she slashed her Cerberus Whip with great force at him, smashing the ground with every single strike that she made. Tyrian bounced back on his toes, giggling as he avoided her, before he opened fire on her. Sienna spun the whip with great speed like a fan blade, blocking the incoming bullets efficiently, before she launched one of her arrowheads filled with ice dust towards him.

It formed ice around his arm that was shooting at her and he grunted, punching the ice to break it apart. He snarled, and stared at the High Leader of the White Fang who smirked right back. He turned and saw that Winter was rushing him as well, and Sienna sprinted towards him. He grinned and he spun on the spot, with his long tail extended, he caught Winter's wrist, stopping her sword from getting close, and he held her off the ground with that move. Winter slashed at his tail repeatedly, not only was it covered with bony armour, but his aura was still protecting him as well. He grabbed Sienna by the throat as she jumped towards him, and he punched her in the face over and over again, slowly breaking the ice until the frozen water shattered. He took that as his opportunity, and he swung Sienna round and threw her across the road, she tumbled against the cobblestone, and then he slammed Winter down into the ground with his tail.

Winter groaned as she laid there, Tyrian jumped at her again, and she stopped both his pincers from reaching her throat with her sword, locking them in place. He smiled maddeningly down at her, he was one of the hardest warriors she had ever faced.

But they could beat him… if they act smart.

Jaune pushed his sword against the ground as he got back up, and he saw Winter needed help, but the moment he went to help her, Emerald threw Thief's Respite and the chain wrapped around his throat. He felt it choke him and she pulled him back, and she slammed both her knees into his chest. She stood knelt on his chest with both knees, and she pressed the other blade against his throat. "Don't make this complicated, Arc." Emerald growled.

"You don't… have to… do this." He strained.

"I don't have a choice!" She argued, Ilia yelled as she jumped at her from behind and managed to get her in a scissor hold. She slammed her, rather light, but weighted enough body down to the ground, which gave her the force to throw Emerald from Jaune. The Thief bounced across the ground, and she retracted her scythes back to where they belonged, but then she showed her new upgrade. She slammed both scythes together and they extended into a double ended scythe, and then the blades ignited with fire dust coating them.

She spun it through her fingers as she stood before them, and Blake landed next to Jaune, helping him back up. Ilia looked at Jaune with concern. "Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, we need to be careful with her. She can mess with our heads." Jaune warned.

"We remember." Blake assured, Beacon nearly fell because of her, and Penny died because of her. Emerald narrowed her red eyes, and she spun her double ended scythe with great speed, and she sprinted at the three Hunters who rushed her. Jaune took the first strike, using his shield to block Thief's Respite from hitting him. Emerald gritted her teeth together as she tried to force him to the ground. But Jaune was smart, and he took that as his opportunity to surprise her, he sheathed his sword into the sheathe, and the blade extended, and he swung it upwards with great force. Emerald grunted, thrown up into the air from Jaune's attack, bouncing across the ground. She got back up and stared at Jaune as he stood there, holding Crocea Mors in its Bastard Sword form.

"You're not the only one who upgraded, Emerald." Jaune told her, she noticed the revolving chamber with dust crystals select fire again. The huge blade ignited with flames and he held it with both hands, and Blake spun Gambol Shroud through her fingers with Ilia doing the same with Lightning Lash. Emerald growled before she charged directly at Jaune and his friends, and he swung Crocea Mors towards her head, but she dropped down and slid underneath his attack, and she spun Thief's Respite and stopped Ilia's whip, and she then deflected the attack from Blake. Sparks flew and she spun it around her body, the fire trailing behind the two curved blades over and over, and she cut through the aura of both Huntresses, dealing some hefty damage to their charge of aura.

Emerald ducked down and managed to nimbly avoid the extending blade of Lightning Lash once again, until Ilia vaulted over Blake's back and kicked Emerald in the face. The Thief staggered back and she detached her scythes once again, and then she fired the two revolvers at Ilia to hold her back. Ilia swung the whip over and over, catching and bouncing the bullets away from her, until Jaune grabbed Emerald and he threw her away from them, but that was a costly mistake. Emerald threw one of the chained sickles and it hooked onto one of the buildings, allowing her to swing around it and dive down towards Jaune. She yelled, and she swung both her sickles down at Jaune, an attack he stopped with his burning blade. She rebounded off him, and landed back in front of him.

She threw the scythes up in the air and caught the chains, and she swung them with great speed and force, cutting the rocks apart around them and nailing Jaune a couple of times. Until Blake formed one of her Fire Dust Shadow Clones that erupted in front of the thief. Emerald was thrown back by the blast of hot air and shrapnel, before she dashed forward and slashed her blades across Blake. The Huntress grunted in pain, and as she turned, she gasped, because Adam suddenly leapt at her. But he vanished as soon as his blade met hers, and Emerald was there instead, using her Semblance to her advantage to get them to lower their guard.

Blake held her back with the Scabbard of Gambol shroud, until she vanished again, using her Shadows to the best she could. She then appeared behind her and yelled with anger as she cut diagonally at Emerald. Emerald kicked at her, and she vanished again, giving Blake the opportunity to unleash her cat-reflex skills against the Thief. She slashed her green aura over and over again with Gambol Shroud and parried the incoming blows from Thief's Respite, jumping into a backflip that kicked up Emerald's jaw. She grunted as she staggered back, and Blake took the chance to jump at Emerald and wrap her legs around her neck just as Ilia did. Emerald strained, being punched by Blake in the face over and over again. Emerald growled, grabbing Blake by her hips and dropping her with great force.

Emerald aimed Thief's Respite at Blake's head and fired, sending a bullet through her skull… killing her… until she realised her shadow vanished. Emerald gasped, and Blake swung round the same building that she did, and slammed both her heels into the side of Emerald's head, knocking her into Jaune who slashed across her with Crocea Mors. Emerald grunted as she bounced off the walls, but then she disappeared, using her semblance once again. They all looked around, and they could hear her voice… and multiple clones of Emerald began to appear around them.

Five… ten… twenty…

"One way or another… you're coming with us, Jaune." Emerald growled, and Jaune narrowed his eyes with frustration.

"It's never easy, is it?" Jaune sighed as he stood back to back with Ilia and Blake.

"Never." Blake agreed with a scoff.

Mercury kicked Pyrrha in the chest, pushing her back and he laughed, pacing back and forth as he ejected the empty shells from both Talaria and from Ash and Blood, the cartridges bounced on the ground still steaming as he kept his eyes on Pyrrha. "Well ain't this familiar, huh old pal?" Mercury asked Pyrrha curiously, Pyrrha was in no mood for his games. "We had one hell of a fight didn't we? In front of Glynda… oh yeah… what happened to her again?" He asked with a smirk, and Pyrrha grit her teeth in anger.

"Watch your mouth, Mercury. We're not in the Training Hall anymore, don't think I won't hold back." Pyrrha snarled, but Mercury scoffed.

"You? Even if you could beat one of us, do you really have the stomach to take a life?" He asked her. "Oh wait… you already have." He remembered, that one cut deep. Her eyes widened and she stared straight at him. "Well… then again… is a machine really deemed a life?" He asked.

Weiss landed behind him and she pointed the tip of Myrtenaster at him. "I never did really like you." She snarled, and he chuckled.

"Well… guess I have my work cut out for me. How about this one, ladies? Why don't we just kiss and make up? Oh yeah you're both taken, what a shame. We could have made a fine couple, or trio." He shrugged.

Both of them had heard enough of his talk, and Pyrrha launched Akoúo at him, but he kicked it out of the air, but that did not stop Pyrrha, she used her Polarity like the planet's orbit, and slingshot it straight back when he was not looking. He grunted as it made him stagger and the trusted discus shield returned right back to her hand. Both her and Weiss rushed the Assassin's Son at the exact same time, but they had to be careful… he was still a force to be reckoned with.

He nearly beat Yang.

Weiss rode her Glyph across the ground and she twirled as she jumped, blasting a powerful pulse of energy from her semblance into her foe. Mercury crossed his arms over and he ducked down when he heard Pyrrha leaping for him. She threw her shield and Akoúo bounced back to her, and she pushed her feet against the surface of her shield which sent her flying back towards him. She took Milo and she extended it into her Spear form, and she threw it right at him. "Whoa!" Mercury exclaimed as it just missed his head, impaling itself into the ground behind him. But Pyrrha instead tackled him down to the ground. She slammed her boot down against his head and called her weapons back. But Mercury fired all his limbs at once and that sent him away from Pyrrha and her foot pushed down into the stones beneath her.

She turned and gasped as Mercury stood back up. "Y'know… I always did find you kinda cute. Too bad you liked pathetic blonde bastards." Mercury shrugged, before he suddenly sprinted towards Pyrrha and he leapt. She held her shield up and blocked the incoming kicks that bounced off its surface, metallic booms rang from every single kick made into it. Pyrrha rolled backwards and Milo transformed into its Rifle form, giving her a chance to fire a few rounds into Mercury. But he held his arms together crossways, blocking them with his aura, but that was the point. It gave Weiss the chance to blast towards him, and she pushed Myrtenaster forwards, unleashing a powerful thrust of energy that threw him back. He was blown backwards but he flipped and landed on both feet.

He raised his fists and he dodged the fast jabbing stab attacks that Weiss threw in, but a few of them landed a hit. But then he started to punch and blast rounds towards Weiss, the Schnee Heiress ducked and avoided the incoming firebolts, but he kicked down the top of her head before he kicked her three times in the chest. Weiss yelped as she was pushed back, but she arched herself back up and aimed Myrtenaster at him, before launching herself back into the fray. Mercury bounced on his toes and he prepared to kick Weiss in the head, but just as he went to attack her, she suddenly shot upwards and landed onto one of her airborne glyphs that she cast, and she launched down at him, stabbing her sword down into the ground behind him, just missing him.

She stood tall and she selected the fire dust shell inside of the chamber, she ran her finger across the pointed blade and the flames ignited across it. She pointed Myrtenaster and conjured more Glyphs, that blasted fireballs at Mercury repeatedly. The Assassin's son cartwheeled backwards to avoid the incoming flames. But Weiss rushed forward again, and she slashed across his grey aura, over and over again, dealing some impressive damage until he caught her arm and he punched her in the stomach so hard she was lifted off the ground. He then blasted the shells from his new bracers that threw her upwards, and he fired up into the air. As he floated with her, he twisted and brought his boot down into her belly, blasting her back down into the ground.

Weiss crashed into the cobblestone with great force, winded and in pain from that beating that she just suffered. Mercury landed in front of her and he pushed his boot against her throat. "Sorry, Princess… but this is the end of your little fairy tale. No more happy endings." He assured, until suddenly Pyrrha was launched towards him, thanks to a Glyph Weiss managed to form for her.

Mercury grunted as Pyrrha slammed right into him. They both crashed through one of the buildings, so hard that the roof caved in around them. Pyrrha dropped down to the ground, but then shot upwards and slammed both her boots up into Mercury's jaw, launching him back. Pyrrha stood back up and she held her arms out and she levitated the metal in the room, whether it be utensils, the pans hung up or the metal in the wall. She launched them straight at Mercury, some of it barely did a thing, but the slabs of concrete with pieces of rebar woven into it did some damage.

The Assassin's Son was thrown back by the impact of all that concrete and ferrous metal that collided into his body, and he slammed against the wall, but Pyrrha kept coming. Mercury charged forward and he jumped, firing multiple shots from Talaria at Pyrrha, but she held her shield up and slammed straight into his chest with great force. He crashed against the wall from the impact, and Pyrrha hooked Milo in sword form underneath his jaw. She launched him over her head and he crashed into the table that was left behind. It split in two and shattered.

But Mercury was not done, he blasted upwards and he shot himself towards Pyrrha once again, and punched her in the face extremely hard. She slammed into the sink and he grabbed her by the back of her head, slamming her face over and over again into the sink. She punched her repeatedly in her side as he held her head in the sink, then he leant down and whispered into her ear.

"You act all high and mighty… like you're a good person… but you butchered that robot, before you even knew she was one. You're a killer, just like us. Maybe worse… at least we accept it." Mercury whispered.

That was the final straw… something snapped in Pyrrha the moment he said that.

Mercury saw the metal tap of the sink slowly crush, black energy surrounded it and the water starting spouting from the tap. "The hell?" He gasped, Pyrrha glared at him with rage in her green eyes as all the metal in the room began to collapse from the sheer pressure she was creating with her Polarity.

"You… and Emerald… you made me KILL PENNY!" Pyrrha howled with rage, and she grabbed his eye and dug her nails in. Mercury screamed in pain as he felt this… unnatural… rage erupt from Pyrrha, and she swung her leg up in between his legs. He gasped from the shocking pain, but she immediately swung her leg round and kicked him in the mouth. That silenced him, and he was thrown across the room. He groaned from that pain, but he refused to stand down, despite that all this fighting has brought his aura close to breaking.

That was when Pyrrha slashed her weapons across his body over and over again, and then she extended the Xiphos into Spear form, and drove it straight through one of his cybernetic legs.

His aura turned fragile, nearly broken and Mercury howled in agony from that feeling, before Pyrrha ripped the spear from his metal leg and she spun the Spear through her fingers and landed it over her shoulders. She aimed the spearhead at him and fired both the barrels that protruded out either side of the spearhead. The two bullets fired and slammed into his chest, shattering his aura like glass and throwing him through the wall. The wall collapsed instantly as he tumbled across the ground, beaten and bruised from fighting Pyrrha.

"EMERALD!" Mercury screamed desperately as Pyrrha emerged from the building.

Everyone else was too occupied to notice that Pyrrha had snapped, her eye was twitching as she walked towards him, calling Akoúo back into her hand.

Sienna sprinted at Tyrian and she threw the Cerberus Whip which wrapped around one of the Queen's Servants. He grunted and watched as Sienna rolled over his back and she grabbed the chain with both hands, and threw him. Tyrian laughed as he soared overhead, landing on both feet still, slamming both of his pincers down into the ground. Sienna spun the Whip with great speed before she ran towards the deranged Scorpion Faunus once more, and she kicked him in the chest, knocking him back against the wall. They both stared at each other viciously, but Tyrian slammed his scorpion stinger into her chest, protected by aura luckily. He spun round and the tail slammed into her chest, launching her across the street again. But thanks to Winter's semblance a Glyph caught her and she was able to get back up extremely fast.

Winter sprinted towards him and she slammed her sword down into the ground, summoning a Creature of Grimm before him. The creature was a huge Beowulf that roared viciously at him and charged with great speed. Tyrian laughed as he walked towards the creature. He slid underneath its attack and he thrusted his pincer up the gut of the beast, disembowelling and killing it instantly. Winter sighed, disappointed that her Summon did not even get to last a second. Tyrian arched his tail over his head and he grinned, so Winter spun her sword round and she drew her second one, and ran towards him again. She shot up into the air, and blasted down with great speed at him. He rolled out of the way and he circled her, firing both his machine guns repeatedly at her, but she used her glyph to block all of his incoming bullets.

But he did not notice she used the second blade to activate the Time Dilation Glyph, and she suddenly shot forward. She slashed across his body as time slowed for her. She cut through his aura repeatedly, lowering his charge with every single attack. She fought like she was dancing, not a single foot out of place, she jumped and used another glyph to blast down at him again, stabbing into his aura again. He grit his teeth with both pain and anger, the Time Dilation was up but she did the damage that she wanted to. But Tyrian kicked her in the chest nonetheless, and as she was thrown from her advantage, he rolled backwards and got back up.

He turned and saw Weiss suddenly return to help her sister and Sienna battle against Tyrian Callows. He stopped Myrtenaster with his tail and he smirked. "Why hello, my dear." He greeted, before he dropped to the ground and he spun round, kicking all three of them away from himself. He bounced back up and he stayed low, like a predator that was testing its opponent, before striking once again. He spun and brought the Queen's Servants down over and over again against Myrtenaster, and Winter gasped, as she saw her blue aura crackle from the fast attacks by their enemy.

"Weiss!" Winter yelled, before she blasted herself back at Tyrian, she tackled him down to the ground and pinned him against the ground. She slammed his head against the cobbles and he snarled with anger, he hated when someone was able to force him down against the ground like this.

Emerald was on one knee, nearly defeated when she saw Pyrrha approaching Mercury, and Jaune had his sword on her. His eyes widened though when he saw Pyrrha grab Mercury by his hair and punch him straight in the face. Blood splattered into the cobbles from that punch, and he knew that his aura was down.

_Pyrrha what are you doing?_

She kept on punching him, over and over again, beating him near to a pulp from every single punch she made. Mercury swung up at her, and he tried to retreat from her. Pyrrha growled… and shockingly to Mercury… he felt the Polarity wrap around him… and it hurt, like no pain he had ever experienced before. Mercury screamed in agony as she lifted him off the ground, her teeth gritted together. Jaune gasped and he knew what this meant. He immediately left Emerald and ran to Pyrrha.

She was holding Mercury by the iron in his blood, and she was about to rip him apart. The humanity was gone in Pyrrha, like something had taken her over. "Pyrrha! Pyrrha stop!" He screamed.

Mercury's ears and nose started to bleed as the pressure, built, Winter turned and her eyes were wide from what she saw. None of this was like the lovely Pyrrha Nikos they had always known. But Jaune knew, and he ran as fast as he could to get to her. Jaune tackled Pyrrha to the ground, and she released Mercury and he hit the ground with a thud. He was shaking from the pain, and Emerald held onto him. Her eyes wide with disbelief of what just happened. Jaune held Pyrrha down, she was growling viciously as she tried to get to Mercury

"Pyrrha! It's me! Calm down!" He begged her, but nothing was getting through to her. So he held her close and he gently caressed the back of her head… and he just… hummed to her. Pyrrha's shaking rage seemed to calm down, Blake stared at Jaune with confusion, this was completely unlike anything they had witnessed before. And the fact Jaune had known the whole time… they needed some answers.

Emerald pulled Mercury away, he was covered in bruises from multiple burst blood vessels from what Pyrrha did to him. Winter stared at them, but Tyrian's tail rose up behind her and suddenly wrapped around her throat. He stood back up as she strained and he punched her in the face, so hard that she fell to the ground. Winter swiftly got back up and she slashed her sword across his chest. He grunted, the wound healed from what little aura he had left.

He rushed her again and they continued to fight, and Weiss still tried to help. "Your Aura is broken! Don't come closer!" Winter yelled, then Tyrian and Winter both were launched up into the rafters of one of the buildings. They could hear the fighting from inside, it was brutal but it ended when Winter was thrown straight through the wall of the building. Chunks of wood were thrown and she bounced across the path, she threw her sword and it stabbed into the ground. She landed onto the sword and they both slid through the soil. She stood elegantly atop her sword, and Weiss saw that even Winter's aura was flickering now.

And so was Tyrian's.

Yet they both were still fighting, Winter pulled her sword from the ground and she slammed it across the Queen's Servants, but Weiss also hit them, fighting beside her sister. "Weiss!" Blake yelled with fear.

"Do you wish to die like all the others?" Tyrian asked her with a laugh in his voice.

"No. But I will not stand by and watch my sister be hurt!" Weiss yelled, and they both rushed forward, but as they slammed their blades against each other, Winter kicked Weiss aside.

"I told you… to get back!" Winter yelled.

"Stop trying to handle everything by yourself!" Weiss yelled back as she slashed her blade at Tyrian again, but he blocked it with the armour plating on his tail.

"Weiss! Don't!" Winter yelled, but Weiss still tried to attack. Tyrian smirked and he went to attack anyway. Tyrian slammed both feet into Weiss' chest and she slammed against the wall. The wall began to crumble behind her and she gasped as a huge piece of wood fell towards her, but Winter saved her as he cut the piece of wood in half. She smiled at her sister… and then she gasped in pain, as Tyrian slashed his stinger across her side, cutting through her clothing.

All of their eyes widened and Tyrian giggled a smile, his eyes glowing purple.

But he was not smiling for long. Because Weiss took that opportunity to swing Myrtenaster upwards, and cut his barb clean off, slicing in between the plates of exoskeletal armour. Tyrian let out a bone chilling howl of agony as the steaming purple poison fell upon the cobbles, alongside his twitching barb. He staggered back, the tail lashed around as everyone kept Winter from collapsing from the sudden and shocking pain.

Tyrian growled in anger. "YOU BITCH!" Tyrian yelled, Emerald ran with Mercury on her shoulder, but the three of them were in no state to fight. Especially with the snowstorm that was incoming.

"We can't stay here, Tyrian… we're beat. We have to get out of here before that storm hits." Emerald told him, she held him back and he stared at her with furious eyes. It scared her, frightened her to the bone. But he then looked at everyone, they were still outnumbered… they were foolish to not bring Hazel with them.

He winced from the pain. "She'll forgive you…" He winced.

Mercury's arm was over Emerald's shoulder, and they both stared at Pyrrha, and Blake stood in front of them with her pistol aimed at them. "This… isn't over…" Mercury growled, and then the three of them retreated. They could have finished them off, but Weiss, Ilia and Blake helped Winter down whilst Sienna approached Jaune and Pyrrha. He held her and she looked like she was shivering… but not from the cold… but from fear.

"What the hell was that?" Sienna asked him.

"Winter? Are you okay?" Weiss asked with fear, and Winter coughed.

"I told you… stay back…" She told her, before she punched the floor, it seemed to help her get that winded pain out of her system.

"What the hell was that about? More people coming for Jaune?" Blake questioned.

"First that big guy and now him?" Ilia added.

"And there was the Praetorian Knight… what the hell does this Salem thing want with you, Jaune?" Weiss questioned.

"How the hell should I know that?" He questioned.

He then looked at Sienna again, her stare did not change. She knew he was protecting a secret of Pyrrha's, none of them have ever seen her snap like that before. "What was that?" She asked again. Jaune looked at Pyrrha who could not even look at her own reflection in the water, she just held Jaune.

"Let's… find some shelter first… that storm is coming. After that… we'll tell you." He explained.

Sienna knew he was right… but they needed to know if they could trust Pyrrha.

Especially if Pyrrha could trust her own emotions.

* * *

**Dutch**

* * *

Killian's Second-In-Command was still sat beside his Commanding Officer in the Vacuo Hospital, the situation was finally under control but the Feral Ones had retreated, meaning that they were still out there. Just like Adam, and just like the Children of Salem that were hunting Jaune.

Killian laid in the bed, still unconscious from the wound he suffered. Dutch stared at Killian and he looked like he had doubts with Killian, with his state of mind. Doubts that were not unfounded… Dutch was not a man who would hide how he felt about certain situations or people, and he always told Killian how he felt about the situation at Beacon Academy four years ago. The way in which he handled that was not just poor… but it was irrational at best. He knew that, quite a few people knew that, but people still believed in him.

The door opened and he turned to see Veronica walk in, her brown hair tied back into a pony tail. "Hey." She greeted with a soft voice. "I brought you a coffee, if you wanted it." Veronica said.

"Oh, thanks. Been a damn long day, sorting all this shit out." He said as he accepted the coffee, it was warm and nice to the touch. Veronica sat down with him and she looked at Killian as he laid there. She knew he was stable and probably gonna wake back up soon. "He's gonna be pissed when he wakes up." Dutch said.

"You've known him long?" She asked.

"I trained with him, back in the old days when we served in the Valerian Military. Would you believe me if I told you that he was not that great when it came to hand-to-hand? I mean I never saw the tough son of a bitch give up, but sadly I rarely saw him win either. He was always a skinny kid. Freckly too." Dutch remembered as he leant back.

"Him? That… surprises me." Veronica admitted as she looked at him. Killian was not the Model Man, he did not have a square jaw or a perfect face… but freckles? That was not something she ever pictured him having.

"He was always the best strategist though, if he was with us we would be able to get the job done. Wish the Colonel agreed, if he listened to Killian… well maybe all those soldiers wouldn't have died during that siege. Killian… he was never the same after that." Dutch explained as he looked at his old friend.

"How so?" Veronica inquired.

"I dunno… just something cracked in him. Before that, he knew he would have to get blood on his hands but he would always try and go for the least bloody option. But ever since? I dunno… it's like there's always been two versions of the man. The one you know, the good man… and a monster." Dutch explained.

"A monster?" She asked him.

"Yeah… some people have always said he had a Split Personality but the docs always said he seemed like he was fine. But I dunno… I've seen him switch from time to time. I've seen him be kept up at night when he killed a soldier, but when he killed someone else? Nothing… the man's a mystery to me, and honestly I think he is to himself." Dutch sighed as he looked at the coffee in his hands.

"Do you worry about him?" She asked him.

"All the time. He's trying to hold it together… but with two totally different ways of thinking? Pulling against each other? One of them is gonna win… I just hope the monster is the thing that dies." Dutch explained as he set the coffee down on the bedside table, listening to the Heart Rate Monitor beeping.

"Have you ever had that kind of moment? The moment you… crack, I guess?" Veronica asked him.

"No… I hate killing people. I do it, it's my job and you have to sometimes. But that doesn't mean I want to do it. I just want the world to be better, y'know? Killian wants more military in charge of the Huntsmen, but I just want both sides to be equal. Equal funding, ya know?" He asked her and she nodded her head in agreement.

"Yeah… I sometimes get these dark thoughts, thinking like him. I hate myself for it later, but in the end I always end on the same as you. We all protect the world, so why does only one get rewarded whilst the other gets left in the dirt? I'm not asking for parades every time we come home from a mission, just… things to help people like us when we come home. Our Veteran Homes are a start, I just hope it is the end." Veronica explained, and Dutch nodded his head in agreement, and he looked at Killian.

"I just hope this campaign doesn't destroy him. He's not a perfect man, but there is good in him. I've seen it plenty of times." Dutch said as he looked at him. "But I've seen plenty of bad too."

Flashing memories formed in his eyes… people screaming in agony and terror in the Black Cells…

They haunted him…

The Black Cells.

They were barbaric. "You should get some rest, you've been helping all day. You must be exhausted." Dutch said to her, and she sighed. She gently squeezed his shoulder as he stood up and she walked away.

"Call me when he wakes up, will ya?" She asked and he nodded his head.

Veronica left and it was just him with Killian in the end, sat there in silence.

It was like that for a few hours.

Until Killian suddenly woke up, and grabbed him by the throat, hard and violently. Dutch gasped for air as he grabbed Killian's wrist, and Killian stared right into his eyes with those cold onyx ones. Dutch saw that look… this was not the Good Man he was telling Veronica about… this was the Commander of the Black Gallows.

It was the monster in him.

He growled as he spoke, teeth gritted, fury in his eyes. "Where… are they?" He snarled.

The Rogues… he was coming for them.

And from the look in his eyes, he was done with the peace offerings. If he finds them… he will take them alive… but not in one piece. This was the monster Salem wanted, not the man who wanted to try and be good. Just the monster.

The question was simple – what will he be when his story ends?

The Human Being? Or the Monster?

* * *

**Author Note - Shit, he's back up.**

**I know not a lot of people like his character but I am still writing the Killian I want to write, and this is why I love his character. The two people inside of him, there was one that had good in him, and another that was evil to the bone.**

**This was a great chapter to write, really interesting fights with characters I have never written fighting each other before. And man, Pyrrha showed a side to her we have never seen before, but something we have had planned for a while. She is very different to how she is in the Knights of Grimm, as you saw what she did to Mercury - her semblance is not as simple as just Polarity.**

**It was fun because it was a new version of Oniyuri with different characters in play, the question is... where will they go south of Argus to shelter from the coming storm?**

**I guess we will see.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**\- Matt**


	30. Snowstorm

**Chapter 29 – Snowstorm**

* * *

**Tyrian**

* * *

It was like he lost a hand, the agony of which that burned through his long armoured tail was so severe that he was essentially foaming at the mouth. Mercury noticed that Tyrian kept turning, as if he was going to go back for Jaune, so he kept pulling the Maniac away from Jvaani. "Enough, Tyrian!" Mercury yelled, but Tyrian slammed him up against one of the trees as the snow blew past them, the blizzard was here and was bitingly cold.

Mercury froze as Tyrian slammed his blades against his throat, if it were not for his weakly regenerating aura that would have killed him. The blades choked him as he held him there, Tyrian's eyes were still glowing a bright purple. "You dare… stand between me… and our Queen's desires?" He snarled viciously. "I have never failed her! NEVER!"

"So what?" Emerald questioned. She herself knew how Salem never brokered failure, but she did not want Tyrian to murder her friend. Mercury was the only friend she had left, sure Hazel was nice enough to the two of them when they were there… but Cinder was the only person they felt like they could trust. Tyrian though? Not at all, Tyrian Callows was a wildcard through and through.

"So what?" Tyrian repeated her question with a pained scoff.

"Would you rather die? Never be able to serve her victoriously ever again?" She asked him with her arms crossed, Thief's Respite holstered onto her belt. "She won't kill you for this, you're one of her _Children_." She assured, and Tyrian giggled maniacally as he approached her. He towered above Emerald as he stood there, his shadow cast over her smaller frame, but she stared right back at him. Admittedly she was terrified of his madman, but she also knew he would never kill an ally… unless Salem commanded it.

"Well aren't you precious?" He asked her. "You think our Queen will just brush this off? You think I am afraid of her judgement? Of course… but it is not I who will be hurt for this… you were the one that dragged me away." Tyrian reminded, and that made her feel sick… as if Tyrian would protect her. Hazel would, Cinder would… but not Tyrian Callows, and definitely not Arthur Watts.

Watts served only one thing – and that was Knowledge, not Salem, not the cause – but his pursuit for knowledge at all costs.

Emerald was afraid… she saw the madness in his eyes, a tortured child who became a monster thanks to the whispers of Salem. Mercury leant against the tree and he aimed Ash and Blood at him, loading a fresh mag into the weapon, ready to fire. "Leave… her alone." He winced, still in pain from when Pyrrha lifted him up by using the iron in his blood cells. Tyrian turned and stared at him, it was as if he could not feel the pain in his tail anymore, but he was still bleeding out.

Tyrian grunted and he fell to one knee, he punched the soil that the snow slowly began to claim. He looked up at Mercury and he kept trying to get up, and Emerald ignited the blade of Thief's Respite. "We need to cauterise the wound." Emerald told Tyrian as he stared at Mercury with gritted teeth. His eyes widened with fear and he turned.

"No! No fire!" He yelled, legitimate fear in his voice.

"You're bleeding out, and if we don't close it up it will be infected. It will just take a second." Emerald explained as she walked towards his tail. He swung his tail round with a bone chilling scream, slamming his tail across Emerald's cheek, so hard it nearly knocked her unconscious.

"NO FIRE!" He yelled, seeing flashes of his childhood… the stench of burning flesh, his mother howling in agony in their burning home. The laughs of Faunus who burned his people… like dogs. He was shaking but not from the cold… it was fear and rage… a hate that they saw before.

"You're… gonna die if we don't close that wound, Tyrian." Mercury warned, but as the Trio stood there, they all heard the sound of their Gyrfalcon approaching. The four huge thrusters blasted the water from the trees that surrounded them, and it slowly descended into the woodland of Northern Anima. The landing gear folded out and so did the rear door, where Watts was stood with his hands behind his back as always.

"I see your mission did not go as planned, Tyrian." Watts greeted as he emerged from the Gyrfalcon, looking at his tail and immediately noticing the Barb had been cut off. "What the bloody hell happened to your old one?"

"The Schnee… Heiress." He snarled, and Arthur's eyes widened when he heard that surname.

"Schnee… well, well… I guess Weiss Schnee continues to defy her father. I admire that, at least she does not let him steal her future from her." He said with a snarl, before turning back to the three of them. "Come on, get in. I'll patch up your tail and work on a Cybernetic Replacement for it." Watts assured as they walked into the vehicle. It was clearly Black Gallows property, or at least that was where it originated, but from the Salem's Eye symbol that was tattooed on it, this one clearly belonged to Watts.

Tyrian sat down in the chair, whilst Watts activated some of the Grave Dust that he had on hand. "Whoa, what are you doing? You've shown us what that stuff can do to people…" Mercury groaned as he sat down, all he needed was some rest so then his bruises could heal.

"When modified, but deep down this is still designed for medical purposes. You see this is a far less painful procedure that cauterising the wound, and I know our Scorpion Boy here does not overly… approve of the flames." He said as he looked at Tyrian who wrung his hands together. Emerald furrowed her brow as she watched Tyrian ponder over his past, about what caused him to have such a strong reaction against fire.

"What's it doing?" Mercury asked as he watched the grave dust travel down to the stump that Tyrian had rested on his table. Tyrian grunted and he punched the table, it still hurt but it was nowhere near as bad as burns. The dust entered the flesh, and it hardened like it does when forming blades, covering up the bleed and closing the wound completely.

"Think of it as a less painful Cauterisation." Watts explained. "But modify it? It can rip a body apart, of simply crumble it into ashes…"

It was called Grave Dust for a reason.

Tyrian panted and he looked at Arthur. "Thank you, Doctor." He said to him, and Watts patted his shoulder. Just from how the two of them spoke, it was very clear to both of Mercury and Emerald that these two had some history. They knew they were first two to join Salem… but Tyrian was so much younger than Arthur was. Their friendship was very surprising, because they actually trusted each other.

"So, what now? Jaune Arc got away, there were more with him than we expected. Sienna Khan and that Chameleon chick were with them." Mercury asked as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Ilia Amitola. I read Sienna's file, she is not important to Salem. If she gets in our way she dies, simple as that. Same goes for Sienna now, we cannot risk the White Fang from being strong. The Feral Ones cannot have any opposition in the world to come." Watts explained as he walked around the Gyrfalcon. He approached the cockpit and prepared it for take-off. "And besides, I have received new orders. Now that Icarus is onboard with the plan, we are not going to trail Jaune Arc. Salem wants us to prepare – I am heading for Atlas. Tyrian you will accompany me, I have a plan. The two of you will join Icarus in your search for the Relics of Knowledge and Creation." Watts explained as he walked to his coat that was hung up, putting it on.

"Wait, why is Jaune not a concern? We nearly got ourselves killed trying to capture him, I thought he was priority one?" Emerald question.

"He was, but he can wait." Watts assured, Emerald rolled her eyes.

"And why is that?" Emerald asked.

"Do you not trust our divine saviour?" Tyrian snarled viciously.

"After she had us tortured by that… thing… that took us? No not really, if I am gonna be risking my life for her, then I would like to know why." Emerald stated, Mercury was nervous by how Emerald had the courage to question Salem's two most loyal subjects like that. But then again, Watts was not one to bullshit.

"Well, since you put it that way. The reason why Jaune Arc is not a target for now, is because Jackdaw's plan is going as well as we hoped. Trying to nab Jaune Arc along the way was uncertain, admittedly, but we gave it our best shot. Salem never really would blame you if you failed to bring him, since we already have a back-up." Watts explained.

"And that back up is?" Emerald inquired.

"It is that the Rogues are heading head-first into a slaughter. When they get to Lake Matsu as our informant assures us will happen – the Black Gallows will attack and slaughter them all. Far away from any civilian areas, can easily be mistaken for either the Vasillias Cartel wiping them out or the Grimm that lurk in there. Easy cover story, no-one the wiser." Watts explained. "When that happens? Well we will all ambush Jaune Arc, kill his friends and the Nikos Girl at once and take him to Salem."

"And what if that doesn't work?" Emerald asked.

"Have some faith." Tyrian commanded.

"You just saw how well they can fight, Ruby and the others are no worse. What if Ruby and her buddies survive Lake Matsu?" Emerald asked, but Watts had even planned on that as well.

"Then we let Jackdaw continue on his mission. End of the day the deal was to follow his trail just as they are. There is a reason he is taking the path he has done – lots of wilderness, and places where people can simply… disappear." Watts explained with a smirk. "One way or another, those brats will be dead, and Killian's plan with the Vytal Consensus will work without a hitch. If we can do this without bloodshed then hooray! But you all know where I stand on this… Killian is preaching to the choir… there will always be those who stand against him. There is _always_ conflict." Watts explained as he looked out the window.

He turned to them. "Any further questions?" Watts asked the two of them. Emerald and Mercury looked at each other and they sighed.

"No." They both agreed.

"Good… because I am going to take the two of you to Icarus, and then Tyrian and I are headed to Atlas." He told them.

"What about Hazel and Adam?" Mercury asked curiously.

"Headed to Atlas as well. The Dust Mines harbour countless Faunus, Faunus who would happily rise up against Jacques Schnee. Which will help with the next part of the plan." Watts assured.

"And that is?" Emerald asked, but Watts grinned and he tapped his nose.

"Spoilers." He told her.

The two of them sat down and strapped in as Watts started up the Gyrfalcon, and the huge Four Winged Bullhead took off, and it flew away from Jvaani… and the mystery of what happened there.

* * *

**Pyrrha**

* * *

The storm obscured the retreat of the Gyrfalcon, they had no idea how close the Children of Salem truly were to their location.

The blizzard was picking up in ferocity. Her nose was running, her skin numb from the cold and the ends of her red hair were growing frost. Pyrrha hated this, to say the least.

"Urgh. It barely ever snows where I come from." Pyrrha swiped her wrist under nose, grimacing at the slime. "Eww." Looking behind at the almost opaque white storm, she could see the falling snow fill their deep boot prints. Sniffling, she jumped when Jaune touched her shoulder, a soft smile on his cold reddened face.

"We'll find some shelter soon. Promise."

"You made good on that promise, Mr Arc." Winter winced from the pain in her side, still bleeding from the wound she suffered – they managed to make a bandage from some materials that they had, but they needed to make something stronger. Winter was still able to walk on her own though, holding her palm up against the horizontal snowfall. She pointed ahead, at the silhouette of a house in the distance. "We can take shelter there!"

"And lose those three! They could still be nearby!" Blake yelled over the howling winds, pointing at their disappearing tracks. "This storm's covering our trails!"

Ilia thumped into a stone wall. "Oof!" She held her gut with one hand, rubbing her knee with the other.

"Ow. And it's hiding the house." Blake winced for her, rubbing her back affectionately.

Winter stared down at the bouncing metal gate before them, clattering on the latch. Seemingly out of nowhere, the border walls to the farmhouse sprung into view - and knees - through the whiteout. Weiss stepped up beside her sister, rubbing her upper arms. Flakes of snow littered her blanc hair.

"What's wrong, Winter?"

Winter looked over her shoulder at the others. Sienna was hugging her upper arms to stay warm, Pyrrha and Jaune were damn near huddled together, and Blake was rubbing Ilia's shoulders to keep at a survivable temperature.

"We have no choice but to stay. Push on when the storm's passed. And when those hunters have lost us." She looked to the loud clattering gate, unlatching it. "And make this place silent. Anything flapping around must be tethered or ripped down. Silence in the blindness, or they'll find us."

"Understood." Weiss nodded, nodding to the others. "We're staying. Wait for this all to pass."

"Good call. I made sure we circled back round when we left Jvaani, so they shouldn't double back. We're way off from the roads." Jaune's teeth chattered. Winter smiled.

"Expertly led, Mr Arc. I see that passing with flying colours was no fluke." Winter congratulated. Jaune gave a trembling thumbs up, before ushering everyone through the gateway. When they were through, Ilia and Blake lifted the heavy gate off of it's hinges and lay it down in the snow covered hay bales. Once through, Weiss clicked the revolving chamber of Myrtenaster round, swiping the air and forming a waist high wall of ice over the entrance.

"Couldn't have just frozen the gate?" Ilia asked with a smug smile, Blake giggling. Weiss rolled her eyes.

"Well... yes, I suppose. I hadn't thought about that. Besides, it could thaw!"

Blake looked up at the unending storm rolling over them, painting the side of her head white with snow. Weiss rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, g-go inside!" Weiss grumbled as Blake and Ilia chuckled, tugging the Schnee with them.

They walked past the frost covered sign of the settlement, they did not even notice it.

_Brunswick Farms…_

Meanwhile, Jaune and Pyrrha walked through the deceptive whiteout. No depth perception, no way to know if-

"Ah!" Pyrrha groaned, rubbing her hip. "Ouch!" She frowned, staring down at the cobble stone well in the centre of the farmyard. Jaune, cringing for her, walked over and unwrapped his tattered sash from around his waist, gently looping it around Pyrrha's neck as a makeshift scarf. She smiled at him as he wound it lovingly, even as the winds tried to undo his gentle loops.

"There." He smiled, teeth chattering. Pyrrha hummed.

"We should get inside. This isn't letting up." She rubbed her shoulders. Sienna and Winter were busy though, gently taking the other gates off and laying them in the snow or against the walls, using ice dust to freeze the gateways shut. Ilia looked up at the house and the flapping sign jutting from the fascia. With a frown she reeled her whip back and slashed it up, coiling around the wooden "Inn" sign. She tugged but no give in the strong metal brackets.

"Having trouble?" Blake asked, spinning Gambol shroud by it's ribbon. Ilia groaned as she tugged.

"It's maybe a bit too loud. Should take it down, just in case."

"Agreed." Blake threw Gambol Shroud up, but the wind blew the pistol the opposite way, landing in the thick snow. Blake stared at Ilia and cringed. "Not my best throw."

"Worst throw ever. Of all time."

"Eh, seen worse." Blake shrugged, throwing Gambol up again - successfully. The two tugged on their weapons and the sign snapped, crashing down into the soft snow, soundlessly.

"No shutters on the windows." Sienna noted to Winter. "This place isn't used to these sort of storms." She then tripped, looking down at the snow. Swiping the thick snow aside, she yelped at the rotten and frozen cattle.

"What happened here?" Weiss asked. "There's dead cattle everywhere. And pigs were left in their pens. Dead." She spoke glumly. Pyrrha trotted over.

"There's other houses on this estate. There's a converted Barn by the trees over there." she thumbed over her shoulder. Winter nodded, looking at her palm. Hopefully this place had some good medical supplies they could use to patch up her injury.

"Big estate. Any noisy items?"

Jaune shook his head. "No. No shutters, barn door is still sealed. I think we got everything."

"Then we should get inside. Or, more importantly..." Sienna drew her Cerberus Whip. "Check no ones home." They all nodded in agreement, taking their weapons off their backs. Pyrrha tried to transform Milo into spear form but the gears had frozen together.

Xiphos form it is then.

Sienna trotted up the porch steps, boards creaking beneath her weight, staring at the chipped blue paint on the door. Flanked by Weiss and Blake, she looked to her sister and Faunus.

"Be ready. If anyone is in here, they won't appreciate intruders, and farmers are renowned for holding firearm licenses."

* * *

**Jaune**

* * *

The White Fang High Leader kicked the front door in with a loud bang, splitting the soft wood around the lock. The door swung in and clattered against the wall, wind blew snow across the darkened floorboards. Weapons drawn, the team filed in, Pyrrha flanking Sienna, Jaune's sword held aloft his head behind Ilia. Blake and Weiss checkmated their way into the hall, pistol and rapier raised. Winter filed in last of all, shutting the door behind as hard as she could against the elements. With no lock anymore, and wind howling through the split door, the door would blow open if she released it.

"Had to kick it, huh?"

"Had to get in." Sienna shrugged, lowering her Cerberus Whip. "The place is deserted."

"And cold." Weiss added, swiping some dust off the mantle piece. "This place hasn't had people in it for a while."

Jaune and Pyrrha found a wardrobe, pushing it from the living room over to the front door, where Sienna helped barricade it shut. Panting, Arkos looked at the tigress, who chuckled. She thumbed the oak wardrobe.

"Eh, stops them getting in if they do find us, huh?" She grinned. Jaune let out a breathy chuckle, Pyrrha patting his back. Ilia however was staring at a picture on the wall, by the staircase. She traced her gloved finger over the family photo.

"Brunswick Farms."

"What's that?" Blake asked, standing beside her. Ilia shrugged.

"Maybe, the people who lived here before? Question on my mind though... is how long ago?" She looked at the smiling people in the frame, while Winter went around using her fire dust to illuminate a few cold candles. She frowned at the candles. They weren't new, they were half burnt, wax that hadn't melted in years starting to trickle once more.

"Weiss." She said, curtly. Her sister trotted over.

"Yes, sister?"

"Head upstairs. And take Pyrrha with you. Check the rooms, people could still be here. Be careful." She touched her sister's arm, Weiss smiling. Weiss was worried for her sister, that would needed some proper work, a torn sock and some tape was not the best bandage. Hopefully there was a First Aid Kit around here somewhere.

But Winter was tough, and a little cut was not about to bring her down.

"Of course. Pyrrha, come with me!"

"Coming!"

Winter frowned as she moved through the house, to the pantry, to the kitchen. The house was so dark. But the world outside was so bright and white.

"They boarded it up, from the inside." Jaune said, startling Winter. He knocked against the wooden blanks over the windows. "No shutters outside, but boarded inside?"

"Maybe the storm was freak, forecast gave them time to prepare?"

"Don't you normally board from outside?" Jaune asked, moving around the kitchen island. He lifted sheathed Crocea and ran his hand up it, igniting the fire dust in a long pillar of bright amber light. Crackling flames were all that could be heard as he lit the dark, much to Winter's appreciation.

"That upgrade seems to have been worth the effort." She commented, lifting a sheet off the floor with her long blade. Jaune chuckled.

"Yeah. Eh, mentioned to Weiss a while back how cool the Schnee stuff was. She surprised me with that sheath enhancement that Dustmas."

"She's very fond of you. All of you." Winter said, smiling. "I believe you had a romantic feeling for her long ago?"

Jaune chuckled nasally. "W-Well, yeah, but. I don't anymore. I umm... " He lowered his sword. "I was a dumb kid, you know? I used to think pick up lines work and being a ladies man was cool."

"And now?"

He smiled, thinking on Pyrrha. "I'm a one lady type man, now."

"Good answer." Winter smirked, before they heard Weiss' blood curdling scream from upstairs. They all rushed up the creaking steps until finding her, hyperventilating in the doorway to a bedroom, Pyrrha comforting her. Winter looked inside, raising a brow at the frozen frostbitten bodies in the bed.

* * *

Sometime had passed, spent fortifying the house through the harsh weather. The house creaked and wind howled through small holes and cracks.

The warmth was up, with the fireplace lit and crackling in the front room. The dark lounge was softly flickering warm colours, those popping logs crackling within the flames.

Weiss was trembling, hugging her knees and staring at the fire, gasping when Blake gently draped a blanket over her shoulders. "Oh. Thank you." She hoarsely spoke. Blake squeezed her shoulder, before sitting on the couch besides Ilia and Sienna.

None of them noticed the eyes that were watching them in the dark corners of the house, not once.

"Can I sit on there?" Weiss asked from her blanket burrito. Sienna scoffed, holding her arms out.

"We called shotgun on the Faunus fun couch." Ilia and Blake giggling. Weiss whined.

"Hey! That's discriminatory!"

"I kid, I kid." Sienna shuffled, patting the spot between herself and Ilia. Weiss smiled, getting up and sitting between, sighing contently at the shared warmth. Pyrrha and Jaune were in the kitchen, Jaune's head buried deep in a cupboard. He whistled and pulled out a can of coffee, rattling it.

"Should get a couple of cups out of this, huh?" He smiled, but Pyrrha was distant, staring at the table top mindlessly. He bit his lip, before reaching back in the cupboard. "Oooh! Check this!" He pulled out the tall box, chuckling. "Pumpkin Pete's! Man, this is old, it's got your Sanctum graduate picture on it... still."

Pyrrha was still staring at the table. Jaune set the box down with a sigh. "Pyr. Pyr. Pyrrha!" He clapped, startling her.

"Buh! Buh?" She tilted her head. He smiled softly.

"Where are you?"

"Oh um... just..." She yawned into her palm tiredly. "Just tired." Jaune nodded, pacing over to her, softly gripping the edges of the blanket wrapped around her. Then he gently pressed a kiss to her forehead, Pyrrha sighing contently.

"Help me find a kettle?" He asked, Pyrrha chuckling.

"I thought you were going to say something more... romantic?"

"What's more romantic than a working kettle?" He grinned, giving her a chaste kiss on the lips. "C'mon."

The two went about checking the cupboards, turning over boxes until Pyrrha gasped. "Found it!" She pulled the metal kettle from the corner, holding it up like a lantern. Jaune grinned, fist pumping.

"Yes! Hot coffee's gonna happen guys!"

"Hot coffee!" The others cheered from the other room, Pyrrha giggling as Jaune filled the kettle.

"I can't stop thinking about Vacuo… well and… Jvaani…"

"A lot has happened recently." Pyrrha sighed as she stood with him.

"It's funny, you'd think it would be Jvaani that would be freshest… but… I don't know why but I just can't stop thinking about Vacuo." He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Jaune set the kettle on the cooker, managing to light the flame with a sprinkle of his fire dust. Patting his pants clear, he looked at her with solemn eyes.

"Me too." He huffed, hands on his hips. They stared at each other across the table. "I mean... All this? Everything that's happened just gets more and more confusing. They run from us. Okay, they thought the Gallows were coming, I get that. And I get the reason they wanna do all this..."

"Why couldn't we have talked about it more?" Pyrrha pulled up a chair, sitting and wrapping the blanket tighter. "If we'd have had a few more days of talking, I think we could have reached an agreement." She frowned. "And now they're making me reconsider my choice."

"Mmm." Jaune worried his lip. "I just... They're thinking with their hearts, you know? And... I guess we thought about the future. So many conflicting things, makes me think the damn Consensus was written to divide us."

"I wouldn't be surprised." Pyrrha huffed. "This is Killian we're talking about." Jaune looked at her, cracking the cold aches out of his knuckles.

"Thanks, by the way."

"What for?" She looked up. He shrugged.

"You have always had my back. A-And I know that it just so happens you felt the same as me, you have your own opinions and you wouldn't just side with me cos we're a couple but... Yeah. Thanks. To have you be in my corner means the world." He smiled at her lovingly. "Dunno what I'd do if my whole team abandoned me."

Pyrrha got up, pacing around the table. "I must admit, I am angry, and upset. Ren and Nora leaving and acting as they have, it's... shaken me."

"They're very family fuelled, you know? If we said that the man who killed out parents was out there, and we had the ability to go after him? You know they'd be at our backs all the way."

"I know. I just wish they would've thought about the fallout of this more, all of them!" She frowned. "And I am especially angry with Qrow. He's fed into all this, his lust to kill Jackdaw, he saying whatever he has to get Ruby and Yang to stay with them."

"Mmm." Jaune sighed, rubbing his jaw. "And the manor."

"The manor." Pyrrha breathed, shuddering as if cold hands grabbed at her from the darkness. "Finding those burnt out ruins. The bodies? All this in the wake of them being there? What have they gotten involved in?"

"I dunno. And if we know them half as well as I think - no, hope we do. Well, hopefully they're just as shocked. Gods, being two steps behind all the time, finding what's left of where they've been, it's really starting to grate on me." Jaune scoffed.

"Me too." she huffed. "I want them to stop this and come home." Pyrrha sighed.

"You and me both." he nodded, holding his arms out. Pyrrha smiled and slotted against his chest, wrapping her blanket around his shoulders. His arms cinched around her waist, hugging her tight. "I love you."

"I love you too." She breathed, kissing his stubbly chin. He buried his nose in her hair, just as the kettle began to whistle. The bony hands reaching for him behind closed eyelids were concerning though. Opening his eyes, he sighed at the shadow of a skeletal tree on the wall, moving in the breeze. He rolled his eyes at himself, shaking his head, feeling silly for reverting to fears he had as a child, even as the skeletal shadow lumbered off down the hall.

The back porch's door opened with a wail of wind and snow, Winter stepping in and slamming the door shut, locking it with a click. Even with her wound, she still made sure that she was the one doing the rounds.

And they did try to convince her… but Winter Schnee… is a hard woman to persuade.

Weiss immediately looked at her wound, the blood was still seeping through the sock of Jaune's. They needed to tend to it. Pyrrha lifted her head from Jaune's chest, staring at her. Winter shuddered, patting the snow off of her sleeves.

The other's soon appeared in the doorway. "And?"

"It's the same in every house." She said, dusting herself off. "Everyone dead in their beds. No sign of struggle." Everyone took in her words in there own way. Weiss tugged at her blanket, Sienna raised a brow, Ilia held a hand over her mouth, while Blake's ears drooped.

"How the hell is that possible? They just… went to sleep and never woke up?" Sienna questioned.

"It's – argh – what it looks like." She sighed.

Jaune and Pyrrha shared a stare, before separating their hug. Winter sighed, stepping by them to be nearer the fireplace, warming up her hands.

"Anyway. It doesn't change anything." Winter sighed. "This place will do as cover till the storm passes. Then we can be on our way." She yawned tiredly. "You should all look at getting some sleep."

"But I just made coffee." Jaune shrugged, Pyrrha rolling her eyes fondly. Winter paused, looking over her shoulder.

"Coffee works." She shrugged.

Weiss giggled into her palm, matching Pyrrha's polite chuckle. Sienna rolled her eyes with a soft smirk while Ilia

* * *

**Blake**

* * *

Winter was being tended to by Weiss – finally – they managed to find an old First Aid kit. The strangest thing about this place was the date of all the things here. Everything seemed so old, of course people out here wouldn't have the newest stuff but… the bodies looked like they had been here for at the very most a few weeks. So it is not like this happened a few years back… no… something was off about this place. Blake could sense it as she looked around.

"Hey, Blake." Ilia said, she turned and saw her old friend walk over to her.

"Ilia, what's up?" She asked her.

"I was gonna go scout the Farm, make sure nothing is out there. Wanna help out? Was gonna check out that Barn, see if anything interesting is there." Ilia shrugged her shoulders with a bright smile. Her smile always made Blake smile back, so she nodded her head. They walked out into the snowy storm and they walked around. Blake shielded her eyes from the snow as it flew in, she almost saw something… like a person out there. But then it was gone.

She didn't even remember the thing that was following them.

"This isn't right. I know that Blizzards are common in Northern Anima… but this one came out of nowhere." Ilia explained as she held her arms up to block the snow.

"I know what you mean, normally there's a telling sign in the air. That one just appeared." Blake said as they approached the abandoned Barn, which was connected to another house. They pushed it open and closed it behind them. Luckily for them the Guest Cabin was connected through a door that was open. It swung back and forth ever so gently, and Ilia immediately started to look around. Blake was silent as she walked with her, and Ilia looked at the poorly maintained Tractor left behind by these people.

"Something tells me that's not street legal." Ilia chuckled, before she turned and saw that Blake found something. Blake gasped, covering her mouth with a pair of widened eyes. "Oh gods…"

It was a dog… just… dead. A pet dog that was left there, starved to death. Just like the rest of the people here, not one of them had any claw marks of wounds. They just died… most likely starved to death. "What the hell happened here?"

"Famine? I mean storms like these can cause trouble." Ilia shrugged.

"I'd agree… if it weren't for the dead cattle, dead horses and dead crops. They had enough going here for the rest of the year, especially for the Winter." Blake explained as she looked at the dog's collar. It stunk of rot, which meant the dog died before the people did.

"I don't like this." Ilia said.

"Me neither." Blake agreed, they both walked into the attached Guest Cabin and they found what was inside. It was exactly like Jvaani here as well, the tables were just left there. As if the people just up and left, except there was a body in the rocking chair. Their skin had blackened from decomposition, as Ilia looked around she picked up a note.

"Hey, Blake?" Ilia said, Blake turned and saw what she was holding. "Check it out."

"What is it?" Blake inquired.

"Some kind of goodbye note."

_I'm sorry…_

_We were fools to follow him out here. What were we thinking? We all heard the reports of what happened to Kuroyuri and Oniyuri, towns that try and survive without the aid of the Mistraalian Council are doomed to be destroyed by the Grimm. But oh no, Bartleby is so certain that he can fix this mess._

_I've never seen a debt this bad before, I told him not to mess with the Vasillias Cartel. They are bad news, always have been. Once you make a deal with them for money, they are not about to forget it._

_We should leave… but… the children… I cannot leave them to those savages. Let them have Bartleby, he made his bed now he should lie in it._

_But I do not want my family to die too…_

_… __this place… the stress… I'm so tired._

"Gods… trouble in paradise." Ilia said as she set the note back down on the table where she found it. The old man was very clearly the person who wrote this. Blake walked over to his body and she touched his skin, it was icy cold… but unnaturally so. Like he had been drained… that was the feeling that filled this place.

Blake walked and she entered one of the bedrooms, she gasped and her eyes widened. She immediately closed the door from what she saw. Ilia turned and looked at her. "What is it?" She asked.

_I… why can't I remember?_

_I remember… the beds… and the… what else was in there?_

"It was a cat…" She lied, an Ilia knew it.

"It's the kids… isn't it?" Ilia asked, and she could see it in her sad eyes. Ilia just walked past her and she continued to search. Blake opened the door, and there they were. But from how her heart nearly stopped… something else was in there. She knew it in her bones… but she could not remember it for the life of her.

She closed the door behind her, just avoiding the cold black hand that reached out for her main of black hair.

* * *

**Sienna**

* * *

She was exploring the Brunswick House, checking the many books that were left behind. Frost was forming from the blizzard, on the inside of the windows that were covered with wooden planks. Sienna peered through and noticed what also looked like people wandering through the snow, past the dead cattle, but as she blinked they vanished. Sienna narrowed her feline eyes and she stepped back.

"Hey, Sienna?" Weiss greeted.

"Oh!" Sienna jolted with shock, not expecting to see Weiss Schnee stood next to her out of nowhere.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." She apologised.

"No, it's alright… what's up?" Sienna asked her curiously. "How's Winter?"

"She's fine, gave her a proper bandage. Her aura is still down, not sure why. I'm sure it will fix itself soon." Weiss said and Sienna nodded her head as she returned back to the books. Weiss raised a brow as she picked up a Journal. "What are you doing?" She asked.

"Curiosity… it was always my biggest failing." Sienna stated as she looked at the pretty Heiress. She opened the book and walked with her, returning back into the main room where everyone else had brought their blankets down to rest for the night. Jaune and Pyrrha were sharing one together, Pyrrha was laid atop Jaune who was stroking her soft red hair lovingly. Winter was on one of the sofas whilst Ilia had claimed the rocking chair with a smug smile. Blake was getting comfortable with her blanket whilst Sienna found another chair to sit in, turning on one of the lights.

Weiss looked at Sienna as she got comfortable. "What's that book about?" She asked.

"It's a Journal, by the man who owned this place. He wrote everything – his name was Bartleby Brunswick. Seems like he was quite the ambitious fella." Sienna admitted as she shrugged her shoulders, flicking through all the pages. "Always coming up with new schemes to overcome the odds."

"Did they always work?" Jaune asked.

"Not… all of them, as you can see. He became desperate, losing Huntsmen he hired from Haven constantly from the Grimm. But… the Vasillias Cartel were the ones he was scared of." She explained, Winter looked at her when she heard the surname. Eryka told her a lot about her mother, and the Vasillias Cartel.

Lavinia is a very dangerous woman.

"What did he do?" She asked.

"Bartleby was like most of the people who left Mistral – he was tired of how the Council were running things. So he wanted to try it out there on his own. It worked for a while, he had good land, made plenty of money and kept his people fed…"

"Until?" Ilia asked as she snuggled into her blanket.

"Until he needed more money. Like I said, the Huntsmen and Huntresses he hired did what they could – but eventually a new Grimm would pop up. Sometimes they just vanished without a trace." Sienna explained, that was something that reminded Jaune of Jvaani. That ghost town was one of the most unnerving things they had ever seen, due to how people just… literally vanished minutes before they got there. "He needed more money to pay for the Huntsman Fees – so he asked for a loan from none other than Lavinia Vasillias."

"Oh gods…" Winter gasped. They all were filled in on the things they did to the Vacuo Mafia, and the Spiders.

"Still nothing on what happened here though. This does not strike me as a Cartel act… the place would have been destroyed and looted otherwise." Sienna pointed out and Jaune nodded his head.

"Not the first we've seen of this, is it?" He stated, and Sienna nodded.

"Jvaani…"

"Yeah… that place gave me the creeps." Weiss shuddered as she wrapped herself in her little burrito of softness.

Jaune could not stop thinking about it now, about the people that have been hunting him. "First the Praetorian Knight four years ago, then that guy – Hazel – and now this Tyrian dude with Emerald and Mercury. All of them keep trying to capture me… for this… Salem person." Jaune said as he scratched his head. He felt Pyrrha's hand grip his ever so gently.

"They won't." Pyrrha promised.

"Salem… she's powerful and has a lot of followers. What the hell could a guy like me possibly mean to them?" And that was a question none of them could answer. And it was not even in an insulting way, because he had a point. His semblance was the ability to boost someone's aura, yes – but other than that there was not much else to say about Jaune. He came from a family of warriors, he fell in love with a Nikos – an Ancient Family name – and he has an old sword from the Great War.

Other than that? Not much to say.

"So many questions…" Blake sighed.

"Seems to be the theme, huh?" Jaune chuckled as he laid down, kissing Pyrrha affectionately.

They all decided to get some rest, and Sienna was the last to fall asleep. But as they drifted, the dark shadows loomed over them. Silently walking around them.

Staring at them…

They were not alone here.

* * *

**Author Note - Brunswick Farms... nothing good comes from that place.**

**Shout out to David for helping out with this chapter, as you can imagine most of the Arkos stuff was him XD. It is his speciality though, Romance is not my forte.**

**This was a cool chapter to write, unique characters in places I haven't written before. It's what I love about these teams. The different conversations and interactions between characters as they explore the world. And what is this thing that is wiping their memories the moment they don't see it (and no, not the Silence from Doctor Who XD). I guess we will have to find out.**

**And that start at the stuff with Tyrian was cool to write. I am excited to write these new Children of Salem, for those who read Knights of Grimm, they are all very different to how they are in that. And I love it, getting to write new versions of them. Especially Watts.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**\- Matt**


	31. Burnt Wings

**Chapter 30 – Burnt Wings**

* * *

**Ruby**

* * *

Night fell upon the Summit's Claim…

… and by the Gods was it beautiful. The moonlight glowed upon Ruby's face as she stared at the endless expanse of stars, freed from the pollution of all the cities that they had been to. Vacuo was not as bad as Mistral or Vale when it came down to the pollution issues of all those cars and factories pumping toxic fumes into Vale's atmosphere… but up here? The sky was alive, millions of stars rolled over their heads, and the Shattered Moon watched over them nonetheless.

That story… that the Moon was the eye of a god? And when it was blinded the world descended into chaos? Ruby knew it was not true, but even then it still fascinated her. She never knew why the moon was this way, if not for the astronomers and all their books, she'd simply believe that it was how all the moons of the planet looked. Like they were all partially annihilated by something extremely powerful – but the question was always the same.

_Why? What happened to the Moon?_

_What could have possibly hit it so hard that it blew it to pieces?_

Ruby listened to the songs that were sung by the blissful citizens of the Summit's Claim, singing to each other as they celebrate the return of Li Ren's son. It amazed Ruby to see how happy all these people were, even though in comparison to the world she came from… they would be considered homeless. Living it rough, having to put up with the dangerous Grimm and Climate up here – having to rebuild destroyed ruins from the Great War.

That War… it still shocked her when she read the stories about it, how many people died and how long it lasted. One thousand years of conflict, conflict that nearly destroyed the world. She did honestly wonder if the destruction of the moon was caused by the Great War somehow, all the books described the era of blood as being world ending. The scars of their past were visible all around them – the only one that was pretty and not a dark side of the world had to be the Summit's Claim.

The one place the War never reached, because people came here – no matter which Kingdom they hailed from, or even fought with – and they were accepted no matter what, so then they could have a fresh start. And even now, the same thing was happening. There was no war, it was still a time of peace… yet things never changed here.

The villagers' song was not all she could hear, but it was also the beautiful singing voices of the Altum Eagles that circled the Summit. Their huge feathered wings cut through the darkness, and landed upon the buildings, or with their masters.

Ruby looked out at the mesmerizing view, from up here the city of Mistral looked so small. Tiny in comparison to the huge mountains that Haven Academy and all those buildings were built. And all the many settlements were like dots across the area. That was the other side of the Summit's Claim that explained how it was still here, and untouched by the unstoppable force of society. They could see anything and everything from up here, any armies that marched their way up here to claim the land?

Well… if they didn't get stopped by the storms or the dangerous Grimm first? The Summit's Claim were hardly defenceless. They were some of the most skilled warriors, who learned how to use Aura in ways very few had learned. Ancient knowledge from an ancient past, just as Li Ren used his aura and bonded with Nicholas' Eagle – Harmony Gives Humble Mind. And so did Eryka with Dulcis, and Sashaa with Inbe. But that was not all they learned how to use.

Enhancing their senses so then they could move faster, have improved reaction times and aiming. And the biggest advantage of all? This was their home, and attacking a settlement on their own turf? The odds would always be against you, especially when they have the powerful Altum Eagles on their side, one of the few animals that could generate their own aura.

This place… it was perfect… beautiful. Ruby loved it here, with all her heart.

"Hey, Rubes." Yang softly said to her sister, Ruby looked up and saw Yang with her hands held on her hips with a bright smile. Her long golden hair dropped down towards her face, Ruby smiled at her.

"Hey, sis." She greeted.

"Boop." Yang cooed as she playfully dangled her hair into Ruby's face, tickling her. Ruby giggled as her soft hairs stroked against her nose and cheeks. Ruby sat forward as Yang walked next to her and she sat down, crossing her legs. "You okay? Been sat here for a while."

"Yeah… just wanted to… have a moment, y'know? Past few weeks have been pretty hectic… pretty rough. Just wanted to take it all in." Ruby said, looking back at the distance with a happy smile. "Where else am I gonna get a view like this?"

Yang chuckled. "I'm with you on that." Yang agreed, still holding her wooden cup of coffee. Steam trailed from the rim of her cup, the warmth generated from it was of great comfort in combatting the cold climate of the Mountain Summit. Yang and Ruby both stared at the horizon of Anima. In the distant mountains… they could see the very faint silhouettes of Nevermores flying through them and around the peaks. They were much lower down than the rest of the mountain peaks, it was clear that most of the larger Grimm could not survive this high up. The ones they saw when following the Claim's Path? That was still much lower down than the peak was here.

Perhaps it had something to do with the oxygen levels being lower due to the altitude or maybe the cold – hell maybe it was just because Grimm could not survive at this height. Which meant that was yet another reason behind why the Summit's Claim was one of the safest places to be, since the Grimm could not reach it. It was clear that the hardest thing to survive with all the way up here – was the climate and the altitude sickness.

Ruby would be lying if she claimed it was not affecting her, she had a splitting headache and sometimes felt quite sick. She looked at all these people who lived here, and it shocked her to see how well they had accustomed to this environment.

Guess it was time, adapting to it.

Yang looked at Ruby and she gently bumped her shoulder. "You remember that holiday we had? When we went with dad and Uncle Qrow to see the Cresta's Canyon?" Yang asked her curiously, Ruby raised a brow with curiosity.

"Yeah. Uncle Qrow's semblance made dad get sick from the altitude, didn't it?" Ruby asked, after knowing what his semblance was – well all they had to do was think back and do the math.

"Gods… never thought I could see dad throw up that much stuff." Yang laughed, and the memory made the two of them laugh.

"Uncle Qrow whispered in my ear – _that was how I met your dad. It was raining oatmeal and he crashed into the floor right in front of me._" Ruby recalled, they both giggled some more, imagining how disgusting that must have been.

"Well, I guess that's what Dad gets for eating Oats before Initiation." Yang agreed with a laugh, holding her cup of coffee close to her chest. Ruby groaned and she massaged the side of her head.

"You can tell, huh? How pale am I?" She asked.

"White as a sheet, sis." Yang answered with a grin, sliding over a bucket she found next to them. Ruby grabbed it and she final hurled, vomiting up her dinner into the bucket from her Altitude Sickness that she was suffering from. It felt like someone had pressed their hands against either side of her head and just squeezed, it pounded… but it was hardly unbearable for her.

"Ugh… aaaaaand, there goes my dinner." She groaned, and Yang giggled.

"Feast is still going, sis. C'mon, let's go back to the others. Before Nora eats everything, as Pyrrha said – _wouldn't be the first time_." Yang said, standing back up but she staggered a bit. Ruby looked up at Yang and she gasped.

"How much have you had?" She asked.

"Um… not enough? I'm still standing, aaaaaand I haven't started dancing in front of a bunch of people I don't know yet, singing dumb songs. I guess that's a good sign." Yang slurred with a grin, her eyes were glassy, at best she was tipsy, not drunk.

Ruby never agreed with the idea of alcohol, and neither did Yang really. She was not one for drinking a lot of the stuff, due to their Uncle's condition – however she was not one to be completely immune to its… charms. Ruby simply hated the taste of the stuff – Yang only drank on occasions like this. When there was a reason to, and having Ren back with his father? Seeing him so happy with Nora?

Well that was worth raising a glass to.

Yang held her hand out to Ruby with a smile. She would never ask her baby sister to drink if she didn't want to – she knew her sister well. Ruby took Yang's hand and the Blonde Brawler pulled her back up to her feet. They both walked back to the large table that was set up before the High Temple.

The Temple was stunning to behold, where the ancient Mistraalian Princes used to come to pray and guide people, long before the Great War. This place was one of the oldest locations left on Remnant, in fact. As they approached the dancing flames, they could smell the alluring scent of meat being cooked over fire. Meat from Mountain Ox that they farm in a small area they managed to build. They used everything from the Ox, their hide and fur was used in clothing and making their soft beds. The horns were used for their armour, the milk for food and nursing children if the mothers did not want to breast feed.

All the bones were used for armour against any attacks that could happen, even though they were rare – but it was always a precaution – just in case. The two sisters returned back to the feast, where everyone was at. Cinder was sat at the very end of the table, alone and drinking with Vernal. Looked like they had a challenge on their hands, seeing who would be left standing at the end of their contest.

Whereas Oscar was with some of the other young fellas, making sure that they were happy. It was surprising to see Oscar in such a different light, he was normally quite cold and they only saw what he was like with the Tribe. But here? He was so personable, playing tag with the kids, racing them around the place. Their laughter made Ruby smile as Oscar shot past the two of them, and they both approached the table. Nora turned and she grinned, holding a tankard of ale.

Nora and Yang by far had the strongest tolerance for Alcohol, must have been Nora's Norse Blood in her veins. "He-HEY!" Nora cheered with glee as she held her tankard over her head.

"Oh gods… not again. Nora nearly destroyed our house the last time she drank." Ruby groaned.

"Good thing she's outside then, huh?" Yang burped, ruffling her sister's head.

"Hey." Ruby groaned as she playfully pushed her hand from her head of hair. Ruby watched Yang return back to the feast, and there were people happily dancing round the fire. Arms interlinked together as they enjoyed themselves, whilst Qrow was stood off to the side by himself with his arms crossed. Valravn was the only individual that was not with them, and Ruby saw Li Ren approach him.

That was something to see… two very wise old men… staring off into the distance.

Li walked over to the much larger man, shrouded in armour, feathers and chimes. The musical pieces of metal gently clinked together as they stared out at the horizon. Li could hear him… the soft and rather unnerving song that he softly spoke. Words that he could not decipher, from a language long dead.

_"__Angeli ceciderunt maledictus_

_Arcum argenteum_

_Ignem extinctum._

_Hoc propositum meum._

_Mundus non valet salutaris,_

_Regni non patiatur,_

_Ut arbitror disputatum est."_

"I have never heard this tongue before." Li Ren greeted as he approached, drawn by his deep voice. Valravn paused and he glanced over his shoulder at the approaching Summit's Mentor. He then looked back out at the vast landscape.

"It's a long forgotten one… from a time long past." Valravn answered, his voice was so harsh and deep, sounded as if it hurt to speak a single word. Li Ren held his hands upon his cane as he stood with him.

"You're a Branwen… yet you do not strike me to be related to Qrow or Raven Branwen in any way. The two of them… I do not agree with your ideologies but they have a code. Do you?" Li asked him curiously, and Valravn just stared at him. Li Ren may have been blind but he could read people like a book just by sensing their aura, he did not need to see his face to know that Valravn Branwen was a dangerous man… with a dangerous past.

And he knew – that just like him – his age did not weaken him either.

Valravn's eyes were… scarily like Jackdaw's… they were the only part of his face that could be seen. Just a pair of glowing red eyes, that were like burning coals behind the Raven Skull-Shaped Mask he had over his face, and the back of his head shrouded by a hood adorned with long black feathers. He seemed to mick each of the Branwen Children. He had the clothing similarity of Raven, with reds and blacks. Like Qrow he was wise, and had learned a lot from the perils of this world. And Jackdaw? The feathers on his sleeves, and the stilts his weak legs were stood upon, they were just like Jack's cybernetic arms.

And yet…

… something was so unnerving about their uncle. His semblance for starters… it was the only one that affected other people instead of just himself. Li could hear them, the many whispering voices that came from the Ravens and Crows that stayed with him every step of the way. Whispering his name endlessly.

"Valravn, Valravn, Valravn, Valravn."

It must drive him insane… but Li was so calm, even in the presence of him.

"I am but a shadow – formed from burning silver flames – flames of which must be extinguished." He softly spoke, and Li raised a brow.

"What do you intend, Valravn?" Li questioned, and he glanced at Ruby Rose who spoke with her friends. "You do not intend to murder her, do you?"

"Blood will flow, but this is not my wish. If not death, knowledge. The most powerful gift of them all, to learn from the past." Valravn spoke with words that normally would confuse people, wisely so too. That way he could commune with people he trusted in ways that anybody else would not understand – unless they were wordsmiths themselves – like Li Ren.

"You intend to convert her… don't you?" He questioned. _Nicholas told me about the Silver Eyed Clan, a very long time ago. They were not evil but were not perfect and made mistakes… does he want Ruby to learn about the past of the Silver Eyed Warriors? So then he could use her?_

_I don't know what would be worse…_

Li exhaled, he did not agree with Valravn at all.

"Tell me… do you know of the Fabled Valravn? The Oldest Creature of Grimm ever recorded?" Li inquired curiously, and Valravn glanced at him.

"I may have heard the tale." Valravn admitted, but Li Ren could not help but recount the story anyway.

"There have been different accounts behind it's origin… but all of them stemmed here in Anima. According to Ancient Mistraalian folklore recorded during the early years of the Great War, when a king or chieftain was killed in battle and not found and buried, ravens came and ate him. The ravens became Valravn. The Valravn that ate the king's heart gained human knowledge and could perform great malicious acts, could lead people astray, had superhuman powers, and were "terrible animals"."

"In another account, a Valravn is described as a peaceless soul in search of redemption that flies by night – but never by day – and can only free itself from its animal countenance by consuming the blood of a child. Other accounts describe Valravn as monsters that are half-wolf and half-raven. All of them are false though, more stories exaggerated by people to scare their children at night." Li scoffed.

"No… Valravn was simply a Grimm, but one we had never seen since. A Humanoid Grimm, one that had the wings of a Raven on its arms and long scythe shaped arms. It was always seen, wandering the battlefields during the Great War. Feasting on the corpses of countless men and women… and slowly bringing agony to the still living. Feasting on them slowly, so they would scream in pain." Li described and Valravn stared off into the distance. "The face of a Nevermore… and the legs of one. I remember seeing drawings of it… I was amazed when I heard that a Warrior managed to finally kill it." He said, looking at Valravn.

The mysterious man stared back at him and he just spoke these simple words. "Indeed." He said, before walking away from Li Ren. The Summit's Mentor watched Valravn walk away, he could not see his face… but he knew.

That man… there was more to him than met the eye.

Valravn walked past the table and his eyes glowed fiercely as he stared at Ruby, Yang watched Valravn was he walked past them, before he disappeared round the corner once again. He gave her the chills, but she shook it off and returned back to the festivities, seeing Li return back to the tables. Yang was sat with Ruby who spoke with Sashaa. She immediately clicked with the young woman, her hair was the first thing that drew Ruby to her. White and purple hair, and her beautiful Altum Eagle.

Inbe stood on the table and he was dancing, and by dancing he was simply swinging his head back and forth, bouncing up and down as he enjoyed the festival music around him. The much older, and bigger Altum Eagle – Harmony Brings Humble Mind – was still laid down on the snow, resting her head down, whilst Dulcis stood next to her, softly chirping at her. Amazed by her size, but also jealous since he was always so used to being bigger than every other eagle he had ever seen.

Eryka was here as well, with some bandages applied over her two lacerations underneath her shirt. She was healing well, and quite fast thanks to her aura. Yes it was thin but thanks to Winter's teachings, she had learned how to use her aura to heal wounds faster than before. And of course… because it was Eryka Vasillias, she could not resist but try some of their stronger stuff. She held two tankards of ale and she drank them over and over again, slumping down on the seat. "You already looking for an Apprentice, Sashaa?" Eryka slurred curiously.

"She loves Altum Eagles, I don't see why not." Sashaa shrugged her shoulders, and Eryka raised a brow.

"Is that all you want, honey?" She asked her curiously.

"Shut up, Eryka. You know I ain't interested in that kinda stuff." Sashaa scoffed as she blushed, crossing her arms, touching the faint burn scars across her cheek and neck.

"Yeah… not enough time for that, if you ask me." Ruby shrugged her shoulders, Yang grinned.

"That's my girl." Yang playfully giggled as she wrapped her arm around her sister and kissed the top of her head.

"YANG! STOP EMBARRASSING ME!" Ruby whinged, they both acted like a pair of cats, playfully fighting each other in front of the laughing crowd. Eryka shook her head, wincing as she rolled her shoulder. The injury she suffered from Icarus' attack still throbbed quite bad, just because it was healing that did not suddenly mean she was fine. Sashaa reached over and grabbed some of the meat and vegetables fro the feast, adding them to her plate whilst the sisters fought behind them, slapping each other's hands.

"So… I'm surprised to see you back here, Eryka." Sashaa admitted as she cut up some of the roasted Ox.

"Eh, couldn't keep me away forever." Eryka shrugged her shoulders with a smile. "What about you? Plan on moving on sometime? I see you have gotten used to your legs." Eryka said as she filled her plate up as well. She had one hell of an appetite.

Sashaa looked at the carbon fibre prosthetics, they were not shaped like human legs – they were designed for athletes, a simple curved flat footed peg that helped people sprint or simply stand. It gave her great speed in these environments – surprisingly. "Yeah… it took me a while though. Hell, you remember what I was like when you first saw me? Just this kid who lost her legs because of an old Great War Mine buried under the soil for years. Happened to get set off… nearly killed me." Sashaa sighed.

"Yep… one more thing the Government doesn't seem to give a damn about. They have the tech to search them out and destroy them. But no… _that would be a waste of resources_." Eryka put on a funny voice as she made fun of the Government for that. "I swear, if Killian was not such an asshole and a traitorous piece of crap? I'd probably side with him if his goal was to change the Government. But no… it's never that simple, is it?" She sighed.

"So that's why you're with them?" Sashaa inquired.

"Yup. That and Ruby and Yang have some pretty personal reasons behind it, the guy we're after? Jack the Ripper?" Sashaa nearly spat her drink out.

"Holy hell, that psycho is still alive?" She questioned.

"Uh-huh – he killed Ruby's Mom." Eryka told her, and Sashaa sighed, shaking her head as she looked back at the playful sisters who were wrestling each other – which ended in a sweet and loving hug in the snow as Yang started to tickle her.

"At least they got each other." Sashaa said, and Eryka smiled.

"Yeah… I just wish this whole thing didn't split their teams apart. Before we left, Killian showed up with that damn Vytal Consensus thing. Don't get me wrong, it's not the worst deal in the world… but I could never sign it. Not after what he did." Eryka stated with a sigh as she rubbed her gloved knuckles, still self-conscious over the scars.

"What did he do?" Sashaa asked.

"Used a kid with Paranoid Schizophrenia like a damn bomb, drew the Grimm to Beacon Academy so they could wipe them out. He then used our near-victory to his advantage and decided to save Vale… got the people on his side and against us because we were defending the school. Of all the things he is? That bastard is nothing if not a genius, he knows how to play people." Eryka explained, drinking more of the ale. "Just waiting on the moment he cracks though – he really tries to convince us into believing he is a good man… I actually think he believes it. And that's not good."

"How so?" Sashaa asked curiously.

"He makes himself out as the good guy… then does terrible things. How long do you think he'll be able to keep that up until he goes crazy?" Eryka asks out of curiosity. "I hate the bastard… but I'd rather him like this than a maniac. He has the Black Gallows, we were lucky in Vacuo, they weren't allowed to use their real weapons on us or their advanced skills because they had to take us alive. But I have heard stories of what they are capable of…" Eryka explained.

Sashaa's eyes widened as she decided to drink some more of her ale. "Damn… sounds like it's been quite exciting for you then, huh?"

"Just a bit." Eryka replied with a laugh.

"I still remember when you came here. It was after you left the Branwen Tribe." She said with a smile, sitting forward and crossing her arms.

"Yep… you were still recovering then." Eryka remembered. Sashaa was the same age as Ruby, nineteen years old – she was only fifteen when she lost her legs because of that Anti-Tank mine. The same age Ruby was when she first started this journey at Beacon Academy. "There I was… scarred and beaten, broken and angry." She touched the side of her neck where she had the Branwen Tribe tattoo, where the Raven and the Crow were both flying. "And Li still took me in."

"How long was it until you knew that boy was his son?" Sashaa asked curiously.

"I thought he looked familiar – but it was when I saw his knife on our way here, actually. Never really knew for sure if they were related, yeah they had similar stories, both came from Kuroyuri… but that was what sold it for me." She admitted and Sashaa smiled as she saw Ren and Nora together, whilst Raven was sharpening Omen on a bench with her Whetstone.

"You've come a long way. You and Dulcis, he wasn't an easy baby, was he?" She asked.

"Gods no. Fattest eagle I've ever seen." She said, and Dulcis landed in between them, squeaking softly as he nuzzled his head against her cheek. "Hey there, yeah I'm talking about you. Always making me feed you aren't ya?" She stroked his neck affectionately as he sat on her lap. Inbe walked back to Sashaa and did the same, falling asleep in her arms. It was incredible, nearly every Bird of Prey never showed affection to their owners. It was more of a deal for them, they were loyal because they knew they would be fed if they helped them. But Altum Eagles? They show genuine love for the people that raise them.

Which also shows how much trust must have been forged between Li and Harmony Gives Humble Mind, considering the fact that he did not raise her. Yet they were still inseparable. "I think he was the reason I managed to calm down though… the fights, the Tribe? None of it helped my anger… I didn't wanna be around Neptune because of it. Hated the idea of becoming like Mom." She said, shuddering as she even pictured Lavinia's face.

"Having an animal like this? It's like having a kid… I dunno if I would ever be a mom, but… I love Inbe." She said as she gently kissed the top of her feathery head. "I was depressed… in a dark place for a while before Li gave me her egg. I tended to her, wanted to make sure she came out, and when she did… I never wanted anything to happen to her. That was when Li asked me if I wanted to be a cripple for the rest of my life. So… I accepted his offer, and I took these legs… and vowed to train her. She's a good girl, aren't you little Inbe?" She asked as she tickled under her neck.

Dulcis looked at Inbe and she looked at him curiously. "Ooh… got a crush there, Dulcis?" She asked him, and he nervously hid behind his wings, and Inbe tilted her head curiously.

"Aw he's shy." She giggled, but as they both spoke, they heard the all too familiar voice of Shay, yelling at someone. Ruby and Yang stopped playing and they turned, seeing Shay pointing a knife at one of the Grunts.

"You think you can steal my stuff? Huh?" He growled as he walked towards the Bandit – named Traynor, the one that he and the other Grunt called Flynt carved the face of.

"I-I swear, I didn't take anything!" Traynor begged as he backed up, and Eryka stood back up, her hand close to Constantine Damascus on her back.

"Oh yeah? Then what the hell happened to the three bullets that have gone missing?" He asked him curiously as he pressed the knife up to his eye. "Maybe I didn't teach you enough, huh? How about I carve up the other side of your face? At least then you won't be a two faced liar!" Shay barked with anger, until he heard the sound of electricity course through a weapon behind Traynor.

Nora glared at him with crackling pink energy around her body, then he felt the green pistol push against the back of his head, belonging to Ren. "You need to calm down." Ren commanded, and Shay chuckled, turning to face the young man.

"Oh yeah? What are you gonna do, boy? Gonna shoot me?" He asked him, placing the tip of his blade against Ren's chest, slowly pushing him back. But Ren's stare did not change, he just stared into his eyes. He smelt him, and he reeked of booze, he was drunk as a skunk.

"You've had enough to drink, sit down." Ren ordered.

"Or what, kid? You gonna shoot me?" He yelled at him with rage. "That piece of crap stole my ammo from me! If he doesn't give it back, then I will have my fun with him." He stared at Raven. "Ain't that how it works, boss?"

Raven glared at him and then Shay scoffed, the feast fell silent as everyone stared at him. Ruby and Yang were both stood tall, ready to intervene if he tried anything. "I'm going to ask you one more time – sit down." Ren ordered, and Shay stared at the barrel of Stormflower, then back at Ren.

"You think you're some kinda special, huh?" Shay asked him. "This whole party, thrown for you. How long do you think it will take them to save you if I decide to just cut your throat open?" He asked him as he grabbed Ren by the back of his head and thrusted the blade towards his throat. But his aura protected him, and Ren just stared at him, and pressed his other hand against the side of his head.

His body turned black and white and he gasped, as Ren calmed him down, bringing him down to one knee. Shay dropped the knife after Ren used his semblance and he walked around the killer. "You think you can trust your old man, boy?" He asked curiously.

"That's enough." Ren told him.

"He's a killer… just like me. You can judge me all you want… I'm an asshole, I know that. But believe me… you're daddy ain't a good man. Just wait… and you'll understand. That's the thing here – nothing's a secret. Not even your past." He said with a grin, before he thrusted himself back up and shoved past Ren, walking to the edge of the summit and sitting down. Ren looked at him and his eyes danced around. The Feast continued, but he looked at his Father who stood there, and he returned back to his tent.

_He is hiding something…_

_… __something about Icarus. I need to know what happened between them, why Icarus came for him and destroyed our home._

_Why did he lead the Nuckelavee there so it could kill mom?_

_I need to know the truth._

Ruby watched as Ren followed his father, she looked at him and she sighed. Then she walked away from the festivities. "Ruby? Are you okay?" Yang asked.

"Yeah – just want a second. You know I don't like parties." She said as she walked away, Yang sighed and closed her eyes before she returned to the table with Eryka and Qrow. Ruby walked past the different Yurts and she found a quiet place. She looked at her hands and back at the dark horizon of Anima.

"No matter what happens… I always still hear the yelling when it comes." An old lady said, Ruby gasped and turned, seeing an old woman sat behind her inside of her Yurt.

"Oh… I'm sorry… I didn't know you were here." Ruby apologised, standing up to find somewhere else.

"Oh sit down, for pete's sake. I never said you were not welcome… especially not someone who is like me." The woman said with a smile on her face, her large glowing blue prosthetic eyes blinked as she spoke.

"Like… me?" Ruby asked with confusion.

"Your eyes… surely you knew you were not the _only_ one with Silver Eyes, right?" She asked and Ruby's eyes widened with disbelief, the silver irises shimmered with awe.

"Who… are you?" Ruby inquired.

"My name – is Maria Calavera." She introduced, walking out from her Yurt and into the moonlight.

"And you?" Maria inquired.

"Oh – I'm sorry, I'm Ruby Rose." She introduced.

"What a lovely name. Which side? The Rose Family? Was that your Mother or Father?" Maria asked curiously.

"My… my mom…" Ruby sadly said, Maria was wise and she knew sadness when she saw it.

"I am sorry, sweetheart." She apologised as she emerged.

Maria was an elderly woman with dark skin and long silver hair, which she wore in a single braid down her back. She was of small stature and appeared to be hunched over, requiring the use of a walking stick.

She wore a full-length dress, consisting of a dark blue top with full sleeves and skirt comprised of alternating light and dark blue layers. In addition to her dress, she was clad in thick brown gloves and a heavy blue cloak trimmed at the edges with a pattern of white, hollow triangles on a light blue background. A similar white and blue trim was around the neck of the cloak. The cloak was secured to her shoulders with ornate white pauldrons.

Her silver eyes were gone, however. She had a large prosthetic replacing it, much like most of the people here – she had some form of prosthesis or scar. The prosthesis was dark grey with cyan coloured lenses, each of which is equipped with a set of adjustable shutters capable of mimicking natural expressions. Four rectangular cyan lights created a partial ring on the outer bottom edge of the eyes, while a single cyan nodule on the top outer edge overlapped slightly with each lens. Two small antennae protruded vertically from the upper left side of the prosthesis.

Additionally, Maria carried a walking stick comprised of a natural wooden shaft terminating in a smooth, narrow section and metal foot with a purple band around its middle. Her walking stick was topped by an ornate blue skull connected by means of a thick metal band with a purple ring at its centre. On the front of the connecting band was a large, blunt protrusion located directly below the skull's mouth.

Ruby had never seen an Old Lady like her before, she was unique, but by far the most interesting part about her… was not just her name… but her eyes. "Wait… are you THE Maria Calavera?"

"You've heard of me?" She asked, sitting down next to Ruby as she returned to where she was, both of them looked out at the beauty of Anima.

"Yeah! My Uncle Qrow… he always talked about you, he based his weapon off yours and wanted to be just like you. He said you were known as the Grimm Reaper, and for a while you never said your name… until…"

"Until I decided to settle down and have a family with my husband… who regrettably are all gone now." She said with a sad sigh, and Ruby's face changed from excitement to sadness. She looked down at the floor, grieving for the woman.

"Oh… I'm so sorry…"

"Don't be, you didn't take them from me. You can blame _that_ on the Black Gallows, and the leader who lead before the one who controls it now." She revealed, Ruby's eyes widened.

"What? Why?" She asked with fear.

"I don't know… my husband was a loving man, best man I ever knew. He was no Warrior like me, just a man I met one day at a bar. He owned the place… and we fell in love… had three children… all of which had Silver Eyes." She explained, but Ruby was still baffled.

"I… I don't understand… why did they come for you?" She asked.

"Like I said, sweetheart. I do not know, they asked no questions. They bombed my home… and they killed them all right in front of me. Shot my children… cut my husband's throat… and sliced open my eyes. I only escaped because they burned my home down… with the bodies of my family inside." She said with a sigh. She looked back at her Yurt and she looked back at Ruby.

Ruby looked in there… and she saw the pictures… and the two old Scythes that she used. "It was all I could save, to remember them by." She told her.

"I'm so sorry."

"Gods, you apologise a lot for things you don't do, don't you."

"I'm sorry, I – oh… ha… sorry… DAMN IT!" Ruby squeaked, making Maria laugh. Ruby smiled at the Grimm Reaper as she sat forward.

"If it weren't for Nicholas Schnee finding me out there… well I would have died. He did what he could for my eyes but they would never work again. Not without this." Maria said as she tapped her Prosthetic Eyes. "I was broken for a long time, but he and Li helped me find a new path. I never wanted a new family – I had my time, but I wanted to help others."

"It's what Huntresses do." Ruby said with a smile, and Maria softly chuckled, nodding her head.

"It's what we _should_ do. Not all do though." Maria said as she held her little model she had been working on. "Like the people you're with, the Branwens?"

Ruby looked at her and she looked back at the land. "Your Uncle Qrow… I know who he is… he is Qrow Branwen, and his sister is Raven Branwen… and their Uncle… is Valravn Branwen, aren't they?" She asked her, looking at Ruby Rose.

Ruby nodded her head. "I thought so. Tell me, what do you know of the Branwens… and the Silver Eyed Tribe?" Maria inquired, Ruby raised a brow.

"Um… I know about the Warriors, and my Uncle mentioned something about a Tribe of people with Silver Eyes… but…" Ruby stammered.

"I guessed it – he has never told you, has he? The dark past between the two families?" Maria asked her, this was news to Ruby. News she was definitely not expecting at all. "Would you like to hear it? Quite the gripping tale."

"Yes please, Miss Calavera." Ruby politely said, Maria could not help but find this girl adorable. She was literally the embodiment of purity.

"Well… during the Great War – there were two factions that split off from the Kingdoms. The Branwens turned away from the Atlesian Pagans, and they descended down into Anima, whilst the those with Silver Eyes were already living out here… in fact… they were the people who lived here, a very long time ago." She explained.

"This was a home for the Silver Eyed Warriors?" Ruby inquired.

"Indeed – but as the war progressed these warriors wanted to protect countless towns from the Grimm. All that negativity in the air? People were dying every day, they wanted to save people… but the Branwens had their own methods. They fed off these innocents, they attacked them and robbed them. They were simply common bandits." Maria explained to Ruby. "However… they were not _pure evil_. The people that they robbed and killed? The truth was that they really were left no other choice. The first town? They asked if the people there would allow them to live there. The people shunned them, due to their past affiliation with the Pagans up north."

Ruby continued to listen to the tale, she was learning so much.

"The Silver Eyed Warriors however? They did not care for such morality issues, they hunted the Branwens down… and they killed a lot of them. In an attempt to try and stop them from killing anymore people, they used the burning power of their eyes to scare them off. But the Branwens were strong, and had Pagan Blood in their veins – thus they decided to attack again. This lead to a full scale war between the two factions – a war that nearly wiped both bloodlines out."

"When the Great War ended? Well the Branwens only had one Bloodline left, and that was the one you see today, the one your Uncle and Raven Branwen are a part of. The Bloodline that was – allegedly – deemed to be cursed by the Silver Eyed Warriors. Cursed with abilities that would bring harm everywhere they go."

_Uncle Qrow has a Bad Luck Charm…_

_Jackdaw's semblance brings him good fortune and takes it all away from him…_

_Raven has Good Fortune but is cowardly…_

_… __and Valravn? He has those whispering voices…_

"What happened afterwards?" Ruby asked.

"More than one bloodline from the Silver Eyed Warriors survived, there were approximately six of them still out there, and our bloodline was deemed as the dominant one. For example, my husband had blue eyes. When we had our three children all of them had my eyes, because my genes were dominant due to my bloodline. The same will be for you too." She said to Ruby.

_If I ever have babies…_

"But… the Branwen Bloodline never forgot about this dark past – I do not know everything that happened here, but I know that the Branwen Tribe did something. Something terrible, I remember returning to this… Silver Eyed Orphanage… and all the children there were massacred in their sleep. Their throats were slit ear to ear…" Maria explained, she then turned and saw Valravn stood looking out at the distance, alone.

They both stared at him.

"Nobody saw who the killer was… but whoever it was they had a real motivation to kill them for their eyes." Maria explained. "If you ever wish to learn about your eyes, Ruby Rose, to learn how to master them? I will happily teach you if you choose to return here." Maria assured, but then she looked back at Valravn.

"But please heed what I say – do not trust him. I do not know the full truth… but he has done something. I believe he may have had something to do with it. Your Uncle and Raven Branwen wouldn't have done so, they are better than him. But… Valravn seems to have more Pagan in him than they do. And believe me… from the tales I heard? The old Tribe became monstrous in their war against our blood. Do not think he will not finish the job." Maria warned.

The Old Lady stood back up and she returned to her tent.

"Ruby! Come on, I've saved you some food!" Yang called.

Ruby heard her, but her eyes were glued on Valravn Branwen who turned and stared straight into her Silver Eyes.

And she could hear them… endlessly whispering.

"Valravn… Valravn… Valravn…"

* * *

**Ren**

* * *

_I need to know the truth…_

Ren followed his father up the stairs into the High Temple, and he walked through the huge doors that were left open. He walked inside and his eyes widened at the beauty of this place, he saw how huge the pillars were. Adorned with reds and blues, ancient markings from a time long past. Inside of the warm orange hue of this building, was Li, knelt before his old Bow, with the only picture he had left of An and Lie back in Kuroyuri. He bowed his head with his blindfold taken off, and the deep scars were carved over where his eyes once were, after the Nuckelavee slashed him across the face.

He knew Ren had followed him here. "Do you know what this building is, Lie?" Li inquired, Ren looked around at the place in curiosity.

"No…" Ren answered.

"The High Temple – it was where the Ancient Monks of Mistral came to pray, back when there were many Kings and Queens. The Silver Eyed Ones lived here too, maintained it with their strength and determination." Li explained, and Ren looked back at his father. "Now very few come in here… it was just left behind, for time to claim." Li said as he stood back up, and faced his son.

It still shocked Ren to see those scars – hell it shocked him to see his father was actually alive. But it was time for him to know the truth. "What happened? What did you do to him, to Icarus? Why did he come to Kuroyuri and destroy it all?" He questioned, and Li sighed.

"I… had hoped we could have more time." Li said.

"Father! Please… Just tell me. I do not want to learn the truth through a man like Shay." Ren said with desperation in his voice. "Why… why did he kill my mom?" She whimpered.

"The Nuckelavee was what killed your mother, that is the truth. But the thing that brought it – was indeed Icarus, the same man that you fought on your way here. The truth… about what I was… it is not a gentle tale."

"I have not lived a gentle life, with the Grimm wandering Remnant none of us have." Ren stated.

"I know… but the things I did, son…" Li's voice broke as he tried to admit the things he did. He then looked back at his grown up son… and he gave in… and agreed to tell him. "I told you I was a Fallen Angel – and that I was paid by bad people to carry out dirty jobs. I shook people down, beat people into submission… assassinated trouble-makers."

Ren listened to what his father had to say.

"I wanted out of it, I had stained my hands with too much blood for me to bare, so… I agreed with my wife and promised her that the job I had lined up would be… my last job. So we could start a family together in Kuroyuri." Li explained, walking over Ren. "She was pregnant with… you… at the time."

Ren looked at the floor, it still broke his heart to know his mother was pregnant when she died – and that he could have had a brother or sister. "But my final contract… became my final sin. I was paid by none other than the Vasillias Cartel, and Lavinia was a few years older than you when this happened. She ordered me to track down someone who had dangerous intel on her operations – and I was sent to kill him. She did not care how, she wanted me to burn the house down anyway." Li explained to Ren as he walked around him, his son listened to his words… and could hear the grief in his voice.

"I never liked killing people, I never enjoyed any of it. But I had the skills and it paid me good money – so I did it. I travelled to his home, it was a beautiful estate, and I found out what the biggest reason was behind Lavinia's Urgency. The Man's Girlfriend was an Operative of Lavinia's, and she fell in love with him. The Target was a policeman, and she was desperate to get out of this life of crime – she was a beautiful young woman." Li explained with sadness in his eyes.

"And… the main reason behind her hiding with him? And him trying to tear Lavinia down? Was because they had a child together – a boy – and they wanted to live a life knowing that they were safe. But Lavinia did not care for such trivialities."

"I had my orders – and I fought them both. The Woman came at me with a knife, and I drove the blade into her heart, she died fast, but the father of the child managed to hit me a few times. I used my bow and I fired it at him… that was when I made my fatal mistake."

Li was reliving it, reliving the whole place – the sapphire blue lake that their home was built upon, the amount of blood that spilled from her chest after he murdered her… and the arrow. "What happened?" Ren asked with fear in his eyes.

"I missed…" Li said. "I never missed, but I did – and the arrow hit the Boiler tank behind him. The spark was enough to set it off, and the entire house exploded. The Boiler erupted and set off the gas line, it nearly killed me as well. The Father was in the heart of it, and the house collapsed into the lake that ran out from the river, headed downstream and into the wilds." Li explained, still able to see the father screaming out to his son, reaching out to him.

Ren had not forgotten that detail – that his son was there. "And the child?" Ren stammered, and Li looked at him with tears in his eyes.

"I… left him." He answered.

Li closed his eyes, and he saw it all again. The crying child, blown away from the house, as pieces of burning metal blew into his jaw, and ripped it from his face, blood everywhere, and throwing him into the water. "His jaw was severely damaged, pretty much severed from his body… I went searching for the boy, to try and help him. But I never found him, the blood trail stopped… and I assumed he was dead. But someone found him… someone who had a very strong mind for cybernetics and technology – and saved the child from the brink of death… and turned him into what I was… a Fallen Angel."

Ren's eyes were wide with shock from this revelation, that was why Icarus hated his father so much, and went berserk at the mere sight of Ren. It was because of what happened, because Li murdered his mother and father, and caused the explosion that blew off his jaw. "I destroyed a family… so then I could create one… for myself." Li could barely make it through that statement, nearly crying as he remembered that cold hard truth of what he did.

Li wiped the tears from his eyes. "Icarus must have watched me for a long time, and whoever saved him taught him how to fight and gave him those wings alongside that jaw. Whoever that person was? They have some impressive resources to save a boy who should have died. He lured the Nuckelavee and the Grimm to Kuroyuri… and destroyed it… so he could take everything from me. And he nearly did." Li explained, looking at his son, he reached out and caressed his cheek.

"His name may be Icarus… but he was not the one who flew too close to the sun. I am the Fallen Angel with the Burnt Wings… because I truly believed that in time I would be able to get away from my sins without punishment. What happened at Kuroyuri? It was my fault… your mother? She died… because I flew too close to the sun." Li told him.

Ren looked at his father – and what he did surprised Li more than anything. He hugged him, wrapped his arms around his father so tight that he felt like he was locked in the position forever, he held his son close, feeling his alive body in his arms.

"It wasn't your fault…" Ren told him with a crying voice. "Icarus was the one that couldn't move on… I am not saying that you were in the right because you were not. But do not blame yourself…"

_What am I saying? Am I saying this just so he can feel better? I really don't know… I mean… I guess it was his fault in a way… but he was not the one who brought the Nuckelavee there… he did not murder my mom._

_He did not destroy the town._

_What he did was wrong, there is no arguing that fact… but I cannot see my dad crying like this._

He held his dad close, and Li broke, and he cried into his son's shoulder, holding him tight as they both stood there.

"It is… my son… because if not for my actions… that boy would not have become a monster." He told Ren.

Ren held his dad, and he stared at the bow, closing his eyes and he sighed.

He had the truth – but he did not know how to feel about it.

_Does one's past mistakes define them… or can they atone for them?_

Ren believed in the latter – because that was what separated his father from people like Jackdaw Branwen. But he still wondered nonetheless…

_Who was really to blame for Kuroyuri's Destruction?_

_My Father?_

_Or Icarus?_

* * *

**Jaune**

* * *

Darkness…

Smoke…

And fire.

That was all Jaune could see, he stood in the ruins of Beacon Academy, and all he saw was blood all around him. Thick black smoke that red eyes stared at him from, deep growls and whispers echoed in his mind. "Fallen Knight! Liar! Betrayer!" The voices all yelled, and they all had familiar voices.

At first he heard the ones he cared the most for: Pyrrha Nikos, Ruby Rose, Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao Long, Sun Wukong! All of them were screaming at him, they all sounded like they were all in agony.

Then more voices appeared.

Scarlet David, Sage Ayana, Neptune Vasillias, Cardin Winchester, Russel Thrush, Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark.

There were so many now, all of the above and even more. Qrow Branwen, Killian, Ozpin, Glynda, Ironwood and countless more all yelling the same thing at him.

He turned and his eyes widened at what he saw stood by the Fountain in the Courtyard of Beacon Academy. Blood was shooting out from it instead of water, and the Huntsmen were crumbling, only the Grimm remained. And stood in front of it was a dark shadow with burning eyes, staring at him with a sinister smile… eyes that were flames that turned deep purple.

"You… must… all… kneel!" Salem yelled, her face appeared for a single second, eyes burning red with fury.

Jaune gasped, sitting upright in a cold sweat, completely unaware of the creature that was staring at him, felt like he was being choked by something. He looked at the sofa and saw the creature was gone, and he touched his neck… feeling a hot pain like something had him by the neck. Long nails dug into his neck, and he looked out the window – it was still night time and the storm had calmed into a gentle sprinkling of snow.

He pressed his hand against his head, squeezing his eyes shut. Pyrrha softly moaned as she sat up, and she wrapped her arms around him, softly kissing his neck. "Hey… are you okay?" Pyrrha asked with concern as she stroked his sweaty blonde hair.

"Just… a nightmare." He stammered, as the entities watched him from the shadows.

Something was here…

… something terrible.

* * *

**Author Note - Da Creeps be Creepin...**

**God I love writing chapters like these, ones filled with character development, worldbuilding and backstory. We got to meet Maria Calavera, and learn of her quite sad history. It also shows the Black Gallows have been dangerous long before Killian started leading them. Which begs the real question - How long have the Black Gallows been working for Salem?**

**Valravn... he may be one of my favourite characters... I have written. He is seriously up there with Vir Nominis Umbra, he is so mysterious and unnerving yet so wise. And of course I adore his design. We got to learn of his backstory too and the Myth of Valravn (based off actual folklore by the way XD). We also learned about the history between the Silver Eyed Warriors and the Branwens... a damn intriguing one too, really had fun coming up with that.**

**And of course... the truth about Li and Icarus. Who do you think is truly to blame for what happened at Kuroyuri? Li or Icarus? Both are to blame in different ways if you ask me, but it was still fun to play around with it. Loved the idea of that backstory too, if you are an avid reader of mine then you know I love making characters who are Morally Grey.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**\- Matt**


	32. Brunswick Farms

**Chapter 31 – Brunswick Farms**

* * *

**Jaune**

* * *

"Just a nightmare…" Jaune stammered, still shaken from what he saw, those burning purple eyes on that face… and her red eyes at the very last second. He had never seen what Salem looked like – but that was enough for him to know she was terrifying. And her voice… soft and almost tender, yet it burned right through him. Pyrrha gently held Jaune's hand to soothe him from this feeling that kept lingering in him. She never saw him get this rattled over something like that before.

Jaune looked around and he saw that everyone else was still asleep, even Winter was, and it took her a while to finally get some shut eye. Her bandage was doing an alright job and keeping her wound contained as well, she seemed stable enough.

But Jaune couldn't help but shake that feeling, he looked around at the dark house, it felt like there was something watching them the whole time. Eyes in the darkness, constantly watching their every move, breath over their shoulder – hairs standing on end atop their gooseflesh. Jaune shuddered, like someone had just walked over his grave. "Hey, hey… it's alright. Talk to me." Pyrrha softly said to him, he looked at her and his breath clouded from his mouth.

The storm had stopped but the house was ice cold, even with the fire still burning by them. Though the logs were running low, soon they would have to replace them, but he didn't really want to. Neither did Pyrrha, they just felt so tired. "I saw this… man… I couldn't make anything out of his face, all I saw were these glowing purple eyes." Jaune explained.

"Like that guy? Tyrian? His eyes turned purple when he attacked Winter for some reason." She commented.

"No, it wasn't him. He had no tail – all I saw were these eyes, like they were actually on fire… like…"

"Cinder?" She asked him, and he did not even need to finish that sentence. Bringing her name up? It continued to give birth to some bad memories, to the event that nearly ended any possible relationship between the two of them. It still haunted her even now, how close she came from being taken by the Angel of Death. But no longer to that horrifying experience control her like it did after the Battle of Beacon, not anymore.

"Yeah… it was actually." He agreed, the purple eyes of the entity that he saw in his nightmare had eyes that burned in a similar way – of course the biggest difference was not just the colour being purple, but also the cracks of purple energy around the eyes. It was really strange; he had never seen anything like it.

He even thought that maybe it was the Praetorian Knight… but even that thing did not look like that.

Pyrrha turned his face to look at head, his eyes moved away from the things that lurked in the Kitchen. "Hey, it's alright." She promised. "It was just a nightmare."

"Yeah… just a nightmare." He agreed, but as he sat there, he still felt that shiver. It was not from the cold; his heart was still nervously beating as he looked around. "Gods I hate this place… do you feel the same way? Keep feeling like something is watching us."

"That and the bodies around the estate." Pyrrha agreed as she stood up, looking out the window. Jaune got up and he walked with her, and he affectionately wrapped his arms around her, resting his head on her shoulder as they both stared out. Neither could see a damn thing, the snow was very thin in the air now, but the ground was still thick and frozen from the icy night. Neither of them could know how many of those things were slowly moving through the snow, they didn't even see the faint tracks being swallowed up by the weather out there.

Something was definitely out there… and inside.

None of them knew it, but it was there.

Pyrrha smiled as she felt his affectionate hands gently hold her. "Getting a bit frisky, huh?" She cooed. "Not sure this is the best place."

"Yeah… shame it's so creepy, huh?" Jaune whispered, she grinned and turned around, looking away from the darkness, gently stroking his cheek.

"Remember that trip you and I took? That old cabin we stayed in? Had no power, was so cold in there." Pyrrha giggled as she fiddled with his hoodie.

"Oh gods… how many blankets did we use?" He asked her.

"I think… six?" She giggled, he laughed as well.

"That fireplace was our best friend that night." He said with a smile. "That was a good trip. Especially after everything at Beacon, really helped us, wouldn't you say?" He asked her curiously and Pyrrha smiled brightly.

"Yeah…" She kissed him passionately, and as they broke, she smiled. "That was a great trip."

"No… no… no…" They heard Winter mumbling on the bed, she was shaking, and it looked like she was in a cold sweat. The sound of her struggling, almost panicking, it woke Weiss as well. Her younger sister stood up and approached Winter as she struggled through the nightmare she was happening. Pyrrha and Jaune walked over, and the Arc could not help but notice that someone else was having sleeping problems here. Jaune was not one to believe in coincidence, as a Huntsman that would be the first ever lesson.

Especially when it came to the wilds…

"Winter?" Weiss softly said to her sister, walking over to the sofa where she was resting. She was shivering, jolting every now and then.

"Don't… get off her… leave her be!" Winter slurred in her sleep, and Weiss held her hand.

"It's okay… he isn't here…" Weiss promised as she held her sister. Everyone else began to wake up one by one, Ilia and Blake, and finally Sienna.

"What's up?" Sienna asked as she reached over and held the Cerberus Whip just in case, always ready for anything. In fact, when Ilia woke up, she immediately checked the windows, searching for any signs of the Feral Ones. But it was so dark it was near impossible to tell where Adam's Followers could hide. And in the dark? In Northern Anima? That would be a very bad idea to try and ambush someone in these kinds of conditions.

"Is she okay?" Jaune asked Weiss.

"Don't touch her!" Winter growled viciously, jolting again.

"I've seen it before… she has nightmares… about… well I think you know." Weiss said as she looked at her friends, and they all knew.

The Schnees all suffered from _him_.

Pyrrha looked at the two Sisters, and Winter finally shook herself awake from her nightmare, eyes wide, and the first person she saw was her sister. She immediately hugged her sister, holding her tight. This was a side of Winter they knew was there, but even still – rarely saw it in person. She may had been an Atlesian Specialist – but she was still a sister and loved Weiss with all her heart.

Sienna stared at Pyrrha, she still wanted to know what the hell it that was happened between her and Mercury. Pyrrha Nikos was easily one of the sweetest and gentlest people from Beacon Academy, so it was extremely shocking to see her practically torture Mercury by using her polarity on the iron in his blood, putting him through immense agony.

Ilia walked around the house, making sure that there were no intruders but luckily the whole place was clear of foes – that they could see.

"Gods… so hard to sleep here… but I am so tired." Blake groaned, rubbing her sore eyes.

"I know what you mean." Jaune yawned, Pyrrha turned and she saw Sienna Khan staring at her and Jaune.

"Sienna?" Pyrrha asked nervously, then Sienna walked towards her.

"No more beating around the bush – what the hell was that?" Sienna asked her finally.

"What was… what?" She asked with concern.

"You know what. I don't know you well, but you are no torturer, yet you managed to lift Mercury off the ground with your polarity and you lost your mind." Sienna stated.

"Sienna, now isn't the best time." Jaune defended as Pyrrha started to shrink into her shoulders.

"Oh no, I think it is. Ilia and I agreed to help you on the way to Atlas, but after what I saw her do? I wanna make sure that I can trust you to not go crazy on me, so tell me – what the hell did you do?" Sienna commanded as she stared straight at Pyrrha. It was easy to forget sometimes that Sienna was still the High Leader of the White Fang, and with that came her pretty stern and intimidating personality. Pyrrha looked at Sienna and everyone else – they were not as stern as Sienna, but they wanted to know too – and clearly, Jaune was the only one in the know.

"I… O-Okay… okay…" Pyrrha stammered as she walked over to the sofa where Winter was sitting, and she sat down. She wrung her fingers, whilst the others all looked at her, and Jaune put his arm around her, comforting her.

She began. "My… Semblance… there's more to it than just, Polarity." Pyrrha revealed as she stared at her hands. "It links to my emotions; it's why I always keep a level head and stay calm in combat. It helps me keep full control over my powers, and I can use it discretely to gain the upper hand over my opponents."

Everyone listened to what Pyrrha had to say, and Weiss thought back to when she first saw Pyrrha use her semblance – in Forever Fall to save Jaune from the Ursa Major, lifting his shield to block its incoming claws. "I remember… when you aided Jaune you seemed like you were completely focused."

"Precisely, and most of the time I have a level head over my power… but…"

"… but when you don't?" Sienna continued as she crossed her arms.

"If… I become overcome with negative emotions, or even if they are there in any way… it is more powerful. It's not the first time it has happened… when I fought Penny in the Vytal Festival I was scared by Emerald's Hallucination, and my Polarity was strong enough to… rip… her…"

"It's okay." Jaune whispered as he kissed her cheek.

Pyrrha recovered and she moved on from the memories of Penny and what she did to her. "When Jaune tried to comfort me, I was upset, and I pinned him up against the wall. When I fought Cinder on the Tower, I was able to bring down lots of huge metal cogs onto Cinder out of anger." Pyrrha listed the many times she had to use her negative emotions to strengthen her abilities.

"You must really not like using it when you aren't happy, then." Blake commented, which made Pyrrha chuckle.

"To put it mildly… but… I learned about this side of my semblance when I was a child. The first time it happened, it was subtle. Kids that I thought wanted to be my friend – lead by a Girl called Dandelion, who bullied me a lot as a child… for a time – they only came around my home to look at my family's stuff. They didn't care about me and it made me cry – I didn't realise I crushed the swing set because of it."

Ilia slightly gasped as her eyes widened, she was only a child and she managed to do that. "But… the one that scared me? Like what I did to Mercury? Was when Dandelion and her friends were humiliating me at school, spreading lies about me, trying to make people hate me. In that moment, I cracked, and I screamed… so loud I lost my voice for a week. And my Polarity crushed the cars in the carpark, crushed the steel rulers, everything made of metal…" Pyrrha explained with tears in her eyes as she remembered it.

"Pyrrha… I'm so sorry…" Weiss softly said.

"I deserved it…"

"What? No, you didn't." Weiss told her.

"No… I did. My mother, she was vengeful for how Dandelion treated me last time and she… had dangerous friends in the world. Friends that put her family in debt, a debt that could never be repaid in years. Dandelion's grandchildren would be the ones to repay that debt." Pyrrha explained, and that one surprised Sienna.

Juno Nikos was many things – but Vengeful was not one of those things that they thought. But Juno adored her baby girl – and she would ruin their lives if they tried to ruin hers. It scared Pyrrha for a very long time, to know how far her mother would go to keep her child safe.

But Juno always said…

_When you are a mother, you will understand that you will do anything to protect your children._

_Anything._

"Ever since… I have tried to stay positive, never use my semblance when I was angry, or sad or afraid. Because if I do, I lose control. Just like what I did to Mercury." Pyrrha explained, looking at Sienna. "That – is why I am the way I am. Because I am afraid of what I am capable of."

Sienna stared at Pyrrha and she sighed through her nose. "Well… Thank you for telling us. I know I can trust you now." Sienna said, uncrossing her arms as she walked back to where her sleeping bag was.

Jaune held Pyrrha close, gently caressing her long soft red hair, whilst everyone else remained. Pyrrha was not the only one who had something that was eating away at her, Jaune felt the same way, still able to picture the face of Tyrian Callows – and of course, the Mystery of the Disappearances of Jvaani's Citizens. Jaune did not want Pyrrha to linger on her past and her Semblance's Flaws any longer, so he wanted to change the subject. "Hate to change the subject, guys – but there's something that's been eating at me."

"I think I know what you're about to say." Ilia said.

"Jvaani?" Blake inquired.

"That's the one." Jaune agreed as he looked at his reflection in his sword. "I mean, those guys that came after us… after _me_? That's one thing, but Jvaani? I've never seen anything like that before. The entire Village was completely abandoned… but it happened like five minutes before we even got there." Jaune said as he looked at them all.

Winter coughed. "Yeah… it's been on my mind too. Never seen a Grimm Attack that quiet before. Or that fast… not a track in sight either. Like the people just disappeared." Winter said as she wiped the sweat from her brow.

"Something's weird happening, Jaune. I've been hearing stories about people disappearing without a trace ever since the Battle of Beacon. Emerald and Mercury, hell even Neo. All of them vanished." Blake explained as she sat forward.

None of them knew that Neo was in the custody of the Black Gallows, but the disappearance of Emerald and Mercury was definitely something they still did not understand. Qrow tracked them down, and they vanished. They started to run… and they vanished instantly.

Blake was right – whatever was Abducting people?

It was new… and Jaune could not help but notice that the civilians forgot what they saw.

"That recording you found… the people forgot what they saw, literally as they looked away. Ever heard of a Grimm capable of doing that?" Jaune asked them.

"No, now that you mention it. You think it's a new Classification?" Weiss asked him curiously.

"I don't know… but I don't wanna rule out any possibilities out either." Jaune explained as he walked around the room some more, making one last sweep around the lower level to make sure nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

"Gods I hope not. How do you fight a Grimm that can make you forget it was ever there?" Pyrrha stammered.

"Well… we're clear by the looks of it. We should try and sleep through the night." Jaune said to them and they all nodded their heads. Or at least… they did, until all of them heard the sound of something moving upstairs. That was not their imagination, all of them heard it. Like footsteps, trailing slowly from one room to the other. Jaune swiftly grabbed Crocea Mors and he pulled it from the Shield, pointing it up the stairs. "Hello?" He called up the stairs, but alas there was no answer whatsoever. Jaune lowered the sword and looked at everyone.

"Something is up there, I heard it." Winter coughed, pressing her hand to her burning chest. She sat up and Weiss looked at her, concerned for her condition. She was coughing a lot and seemed like she had some kind of fever.

"Yeah… alright let's all do a sweep. This place gives me the creeps." Jaune said, walking ahead of them. He and Pyrrha both walked towards the Kitchen with Blake, keeping their eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary, which also connected to the cellars where all the wine was kept. Blake glanced at all the alcohol and then at the Cellar… she could see something that really did give her cause to worry. Whilst Jaune used the flashlight on his scroll to check outside, only to find nothing – Blake crouched down at the cellar.

Pyrrha approached her from behind. "Found something?" Pyrrha asked.

"I don't know… I mean it's nothing big but… it means something." She said, Blake stood up and Pyrrha saw the wooden planks by the cellar's entrance. Old nail shavings and scrapes were all across the floor… like someone was clawing the floor, trying to climb out of the cellar. It gave her chills, but nothing quite like the message that was scrawled into the wall by the cellar that Blake just saw thanks to her Night Vision. "There's something else."

"What is it?" Jaune asked as he approached, his eyes wide as he stared at the marks on the floor, then both of them looked at what Blake found. That… that one seemed like it was even worse. "I think Bartleby did something… something very bad." Blake said as she stepped aside, and they read what was scratched into the wall.

_You'll Burn for This._

* * *

**Ilia**

* * *

Ilia stood by the bed that the body of Bartleby Brunswick was still laid in, his face covered over by the duvet cover he slept it. His skin was blackened from rot and frostbite, she looked away from the corpse and she sighed, stroking her tail of soft hair. Weiss walked up the stairs and she entered the bedroom as well, looking at the Faunus Huntress. "Are you okay?" Weiss asked her, and Ilia softly sighed.

"I… I guess so. I'm just really tired right now." She yawned. "But I can't go to sleep either." She said, looking back at the corpses in their bed. Both Bartleby and his Wife… died in their sleep, there were no signs of a struggle – but the marks on the floor in front of the cellar hinted at a different story. Ilia walked away from the bed where the cold black hand slowly reached out, nearly tripping her if she was an inch closer to it. "What about you?"

"Same thing. Feel like I'm gonna fall over, this place… I really hate it here. It's not just Bartleby and the other people we found dead here – there's… something off about it." Weiss explained as she hugged her shoulders, shivering from the cold. It struck her as odd, since Weiss came from Atlas, she knew how the cold felt – yet here? It was unnaturally cold; it gripped a hold of them as they examined the whole house.

"Not to mention all the crops and the cattle. If a disease came through or if their water got contaminated, then maybe I would agree. Hell, even the cold – but all of those things just don't add up. The crops were untouched, and the cattle starved. I checked the bodies of their dead horses too – skinny to the bone. Disease didn't do this or poisoning or even the cold. Frostbite came afterwards…" Ilia explained as she paced around the room, pushing her hands through her hair.

"Even their pets." Weiss added. "It was like they all just stopped caring about living, just all stayed in their beds… until they died."

Ilia shuddered from how uncomfortable it felt here, she believed in ghosts – as a Huntress you would have to. Geists were most certainly a thing that existed, and they were extremely dangerous too. But this? This was no Geist, they would have encountered it by now, they also never left houses in perfect condition either. But Brunswick Farms? It was like it was just left… a lot like the town of Jvaani.

Ilia walked around and she found something, another book – so she picked it up and opened it, and the first thing that fell out was another photograph. One that had the entire family involved in it – she looked at it and they were not as happy as they looked in the picture downstairs. Not at all, all of them had sad tired looked on their faces, and Ilia rubbed her eyes… until she noticed something in the picture. It was in the background; in the window of the house they were in – in fact – as she stared at the picture… in one of the windows… there was something there.

Dark, tall and thin, humanoid – and glowing red eyes. It was damn near invisible from how dark it was, in fact it was only because of the flash did it even pick the eyes up. Ilia looked at Weiss and handed her the photograph. "Look, the top left window. You see what I see?" She asked her, and Weiss stared at it and she gasped.

"The hell?" She softly said as she stared at it. The creature was tall – they had never seen anything like it before. "I don't… I don't even know what that thing is."

"Me neither." Ilia said as she stared at the picture, but the harder she stared… it was like the entity in the picture began to fade away. And she sighed. "N-Never… never mind… I think it may have been the matrixing, y'know? Pixels can… mess things up, make you see things." Ilia slowly said, her eyes sunk as she stood there, Weiss looked at her and she seemed to be just as lethargic.

"Yeah – don't worry about it. No point, we'll be leaving this place tomorrow anyway." Weiss sighed, the two of them left the room as the dark figure climbed slowly out from under the bed, staring at them as they closed the door. Weiss and Ilia walked down the hallway up the stairs, and they entered the next room – and inside… were the beds of the children they found. They covered their bodies too and it seemed to make Ilia tear up as she looked at them. Weiss glanced at Ilia, raising her white brow. "Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah… this house… it just reminds me of my family." Ilia sadly said to her.

"What happened to them?" She inquired.

"My Mom and Dad worked in the mines, whilst my two little brothers lived at home with me. All three of us – we were Chameleon Faunus like me. We lived up in Atlas – and my parents were workers for the Atlesian Dust Mines… and so were we." Ilia sadly said as she shut her eyes.

That? That shocked Weiss – she never knew that her father had Children employed in those mines. "You… what?" She gasped.

"I didn't at first, my parents wanted us to blend in with all the other kids. I could pass as human, the three of us could easily do that. And for a few years, we did. Made friends… and we had to laugh with them when they made jokes about our kind." Ilia explained, it made Weiss feel tremendous guilt – to think that once she held such prejudice against the Faunus. But she was not that girl anymore.

"I'm sorry." She apologised.

"But one day, my baby brother – he was six – was hit by this other girl, so hard his skin flashed red, and that was enough for the Atlesian Government to send their men after us. They took us away from the school and brought us to our parents. Our punishment? We worked with them in the mines – Jacques Schnee wanted more workers, no matter the age."

This revelation? That was even worse, she knew that the Faunus were treated terribly up north in Atlas, but this was news to her. "They… kidnapped you? Arrested you because of your race?" Weiss questioned.

"Yes – I spent three years in those minds… but the first year? That was the one where… I lost them all." Weiss' eyes widened. "The Schnee Dust Company pushed us hard, they wanted more dust out of the mines, more than we could handle. My whole family was with me, and I saw them. Two kids, they must have been five years old? Not strong enough to carry Dust as heavy as the one they were – and – they dropped it by accident. It was unstable, and caused a chain reaction, blowing the mine apart, and burying us all alive."

Weiss knew about this tragedy – she never knew that Ilia was down there. Weiss' eyes glistened with tears as she stared at Ilia, her guilt flowed through her like blood. "My mother and father… my two brothers? They were killed instantly – the only reason I survived, was because I was behind the loading truck, and got pinned under it. I nearly died, because a piece of metal stabbed me, right through here." She lifted her shirt and revealed the puncture scar above her hip by her belly button on the right side. "The whole Mine collapsed – and Jacques called the operation a failure."

"Ilia… I… I am so, so sorry." Weiss apologised, she also sounded like she was going to cry.

"Please, Weiss – don't be. I do not blame _you_ for what happened. I blame Jacques and the Atlesian Government. They wanted faster results and decided that children who were Faunus deserved to work down there. But they kept that a trade secret for many years. Eventually these people – the Ace Ops – they disobeyed direct orders from the Council and rescued the survivors, me included. One of them was a Faunus, one that General Ironwood personally freed from his shackles by the S.D.C." Ilia explained, sitting down on one of the chairs, rubbing the back of her shoulder.

Weiss was lost for words, and never before did she feel as much resentment for her father until right now. How he treated her family name and family in general was one thing, his racism another – but Child Slavery? That was a whole other monster. "One day I couldn't take it anymore, working for that man after he dusted off the deaths of my parents, my brothers and all those other workers. So, me, and a bunch of other Faunus worked together to try and escape from Atlas. We knew about the Happy Huntresses who were helping free Faunus and transport them from Atlas – but so did Jacques. He had been hunting the leader of them all for a long time, and she disappeared. Not sure where, nobody knows." Ilia explained.

"I remember her – Robyn Hill – right?" Weiss asked.

"Yup. She was a symbol of hope for Mantle and the Faunus up on Solitas, but Jacques shot down multiple ships when I tried to leave and kidnapped the rest of us. He tortured… and banished most of them to the Atlesian Wildlands, except for ten so they could go back to the Mines. I was one of them… and he had his men make sure that I remembered." Ilia explained, she turned and showed the back of her shoulder to Weiss.

And just like Adam Taurus… she had the S.D.C branded into her. Ilia pulled her shirt back up, hiding that wretched name from the world. "If it weren't for Sienna and attacking the S.D.C with Adam and a few other Faunus? I would either be dead in the Wildlands or still be up there. Sienna saved me and the others and managed to get us to Mistral, she fed us all and made us strong. She never asked us to join her cause – but I wanted to. For a while… I felt the same way as Adam – I hated Humans… I hated all Schnees." Ilia explained, then she looked at Weiss.

"But I was wrong. Because when I saw Faunus Children in the same street… attacking Human Children… because they believed they had the right to? Because of what Jacques Schnee did? That's when I knew… we would be no better if we judged Humanity as a whole for the crimes of one man." Ilia explained, looking at Weiss with a smile. "And you and your sister showed me that not all Schnees are the same."

That made Weiss chuckle. "That's good to hear." Weiss giggled, making Ilia laugh as well.

Her past was most certainly heartbreaking, and Weiss walked towards her and she gently wrapped her arms around Ilia. "I am so sorry, Ilia – for what my father has done to your family… to the Faunus." She said to her. "But I promise – my father will face judgement for what he has done." Weiss assured and Ilia smiled.

Weiss had come a long way from being that snobby brat she was before.

* * *

**Winter**

* * *

Winter held her hand on the bandage, it still give her pain as she walked, leaning against the wall. Sienna was with her, checking the Wine Cellar that Jaune, Pyrrha and Blake were just inside of, who were now looking around the other rooms, like the dining room. Winter picked up one of the bottles of Wine and she sighed, she knew that this was one of the brands. "Looking for a pick-me-up?" Sienna asked curiously.

"No." Winter swiftly responded, slamming the wine down into the rack. Sienna looked at her and Winter sighed. "Sorry… my Mom… she drinks a lot. Didn't make a for a fun childhood." Winter said as she walked away from the cellar, and she walked down the hallway with Sienna in tow.

"I apologise – I know how that feels." She told her.

"You do?" Winter scoffed.

"Both my parents were drunks, my dad hit me, but my mom hit harder." She said with a chuckle, Winter glanced at her and she sighed. In a strange way, Winter had a feeling that Sienna did not have the best parents, she had quite the stern personality, quite a lot like herself. It seemed like a lot of people nowadays failed to have supportive parents. She envied Ruby, Yang and Blake for this gift, and of course Pyrrha. But they seemed to be a bit too supportive, especially how far Juno would go to keep her daughter safe and happy.

"I'm still thinking about that guy – Tyrian. Never seen a Scorpion Faunus before, didn't even know that was a variant." Winter said as she walked and bringing up the Scorpion Faunus Trait seemed to… linger on Sienna. The Tigress walked beside her, then she sighed.

"It was." She said, Winter could not help but notice the word that meant a thousand - _was_.

"What does that mean?" Winter asked, but Sienna did not say anything as she opened the door to Bartleby's Office. She walked in and looked around, but Winter grabbed her shoulder and turned her, so she would face her. "Hey, what does _that_ mean?" She repeated, and Sienna just stared at her. She still said nothing, and that made Winter scoff. "Man… you really do have a twisted way of thinking, don't you? You give Pyrrha crap for keeping a personal secret, but you can't tell me this? That's real hypocritical y'know?" Winter pointed out.

"Some secrets are too dangerous for the world to know. You of all people should know that, after what Killian pulled back at Beacon." Sienna told her.

"That was different, if I knew that my opinion could bring that bastard down then you can bet your ass, I would tell the whole world. But I don't wanna end up like all those M.I.A Journalists that Ozpin hired." Winter explained, and Sienna shook her head.

"This secret could trigger a war, and destroy everything we have built." Sienna told her, but Winter was not about to give up.

"Why are there no Scorpion Faunus, Sienna? Why is it such a big secret to the White Fang?" Winter questioned. "It will stay between us." Winter assured; Sienna was not sure if she could trust Winter. But she managed to stay quiet about Killian, even though she didn't want to. "Us… and the others. You made Pyrrha open up to everyone – so that means this goes to everyone in the team."

Sienna looked away from her and she sighed, before she turned back around. "Fine, but this information _cannot_ reach the public." Sienna commanded. "Give me your word." She demanded.

"You have my word." Winter promised, that was the best that Sienna could really hope for.

"The Scorpio Bloodline existed for a very long time, one of the oldest traits in our Species. Scorpios were powerful warriors, skilled in countless arts of war, and their Scorpion Tails made them a force to be reckoned with." Sienna began as she walked around the Office. "But the Scorpios were regarded as Lunatics, driven by nothing but a hereditary bloodlust. They were Super Soldiers and Assassins for the Valerians during the Great War. Sent to kill the leaders of the different armies. They were one of the reasons that the Vacuo Mongrels fell apart, their armies were so focused on trying to beat the Spartans of Nikialos that they were hunted down and massacred by the Scorpios. Without their Mongrels to protect them? They were fresh meat… and they were slowly tortured to death. The bodies they found? Well it took them a long time to figure out who they were."

That sent a chill down Winter's spine, whilst the entity watched the two of them from the open closet. "The Scorpio Bloodline tainted our species during the Great War, and our kind were hunted out of fear. We were nearly wiped out from Humanity… so the Faunus went into hiding until we were accepted again and were given Menagerie. The Scorpios were hunted down, and for a few decades it seemed like it was the end of it." Sienna explained, she sat down, and she pressed her hand against the side of her head.

"Until Kaldararr was built. Have you heard of Kaldararr?" She asked Winter.

"Yeah, the city was wiped out by the Grimm, right? Built in Vacuo, one of the first external cities built away from the Kingdom… and the last." Winter remembered.

"Half right there, you see that city was named after Kaldararr Scorpio – the first of the Bloodline back in the Stone Age. He was a powerful Clan Chief who had the Scorpion Tail… and he was a madman. The city was one of the other settlements promised to the Faunus, but over time Humans populated there as well. To be quite honest, it was a nice city. It was the largest City away from the Kingdoms before Argus was built by the Mistraalians and the Atlesians." Sienna explained.

"But?" Winter had a feeling that word was coming.

"But… when I was eighteen and just joined the White Fang, the leader before Ghira took over… before _I_ took over… was afraid of something like the Cleansing would happen again. Too many Faunus lives were lost in those years to happen again, countless Bloodlines and Traits extinguished." Sienna explained. "All because of Kaldararr's Bloodline."

"What happened?" Winter asked her, and Sienna let out a shaky breath.

"Ghira, Kali and I… we did not believe this was right… we pleaded with him to not do this. But he did not listen to us, he only listened to the whispers in his head – so he commanded us all to go to Kaldararr – and wipe out the Bloodline. Once and for all, to prevent the Scorpion Trait from destroying our name any further. The men… the women… even the children. We were ordered to kill them all. Ghira and Kali… they could not bring themselves to do it, and because of that both of them were imprisoned for defying their orders. But me? Well I have always been a coward – I never ran from a fight, per say. But I never defied an order, too frightened to. So… I helped kill them. I still hear them… even now." She stammered.

Winter looked horrified by this confession. "I… I don't understand, I have been to Kaldararr, I saw the damage, it was done by the Goliath Herds and swarms of Grimm."

"Afterwards – we did not massacre everyone in the city, no – but our actions? Hunting down and murdering people because of their traits, to save ourselves future discrimination? It brought fear… Negativity was everywhere. And the Grimm soon came, Goliaths and Blind Worms and much worse. We left… and we knew that any others we missed would be food for the Grimm – alongside everyone else. By the time the Vacuo Military and the Huntsmen got there? It was far too late; the Grimm were everywhere, and the city was taken. The world assumed it was due to the lack of Natural Barriers they had – but in truth? It was the White Fang… cutting off loose ends." Sienna explained.

"A few years after those events? I knew that I had to kill him for what he made us do, and I did… I knew he had feelings for me, so I gave him the best night of his life. And it was the last night of his life. I killed him in his sleep, and I made sure that Ghira would take his place. He was a good man who wanted peace – and when the time came… I agreed to take his place. And we kept the truth a secret, because it was a truth too terrible to bare, because I didn't want anybody else to die… and then Adam Taurus came along… with scarily similar ideas." Sienna explained, looking up at Winter.

She was not crying, but Winter could see the remorse in her eyes, the guilt and the regret. "That… is why I keep it a secret, Winter Schnee. Because if I told the world, the Faunus, that we massacred an entire Bloodline out of fear? It would make us no better than the Humans that look down on us." She said with a sigh.

"Is that… why the White Fang symbol is a Grimm?" Winter asked.

"Depends on who you ask. If you asked Adam Taurus? It was because the world saw us as Monsters, so we donned their faces. Ask Ghira? It's the idea that even monsters can change, on both sides. Me? It's because of what we did… because we were no better than the Grimm that day." Sienna explained, and Winter sat down by Bartleby's desk. "So, there you go, the truth."

"The truth…" Winter softly agreed.

"The fact that Tyrian has the same blood, though? Means that he somehow survived…"

"Or not all those from the Kaldararr Bloodline lived at the city?"

"No… it was the only place left for them. I sent feelers out, across all of Remnant afterwards – not to kill them, but in the hopes, we could protect them. But we found nothing… if that man, Tyrian, came from anywhere? It was Kaldararr…" She said, sighing.

"It's ironic." Winter said, and Sienna glanced at her.

"What is?" She asked.

"Your leader ordered all of you to massacre the Scorpio Faunus Bloodline – because he was afraid of them being the monsters they were during the Great War. And in doing so, turned the last of them into the very thing he feared." Winter stated as she leant back against the table.

"It's what I warned him of, but he never listened to me. He was young, too young to be a leader, he was younger than me. And even though he was in love with me – it was not enough." She said as she stared at her hands, and in her head, she could see so much blood. Blood that would never wash away. "No side is good or evil, Winter. That was what I learned that day. Faunus and Human? There are good and evil on both sides – that was why I helped you all four years ago at Beacon. I wanted to show the world, that we are not monsters… and I knew that not every human is cruel. I just want to out an end to your father's Tyranny." She said, and Winter nodded her head, coughing.

"You're not the only one." She said, as she turned to Bartleby's table. Her hand landed on a piece of paper left behind – a note written by him. She took her hand from the paper and she realised what it was. "Sienna?" The subject swiftly changed, probably for the best too.

"Yeah?" Sienna replied.

"You said you were reading Bartleby's Journals, right?" Winter inquired.

"I'm on the last Volume he wrote, why?" She asked.

Winter picked up the letter… of confession. "Because he confessed his sins here."

_Forgive me Brothers Grimm…_

_… __for I have betrayed my sacred vows._

_I promised that I would protect my people at Brunswick, that under your light and your shadow that they would be safe from the monsters… both of your creation and our own. But I fear I have doomed them all, I never should have taken them away from the safety of the Kingdoms and their walls. I see that now… but I do not know what to do now._

_The Vasillias Cartel are not accepting my requests to extend the deadline to pay my debts and I fear that they will come and claim it for themselves. I have heard tales of what they are capable of and what they do to people. I do not want my family to suffer, but I need the money. I am close to repaying the debt that I owe them… but the last Huntsman that I hired was torn apart by the Grimm in the last attack._

_If I hire another – I will not have enough to pay them back._

_I beg you… forgive me for what I am about to do. I have a plan, to keep my people calm and prevent the Grimm from attacking us again._

_But in order to do so… I must lie. I know this is a foul sin, and I merely ask… that you forgive me._

_I must do this._

_I am so tired…_

\- _Bartleby Brunswick_

"That doesn't sound good." Winter said, wincing as she held her side. The pain was getting worse and worse, but then they heard everyone reconvene back into the living room. Winter turned to go but Sienna caught her arm.

"Do not tell anyone outside of this group about what I told you, Winter. I may regret my actions in Kaldararr… but I cannot risk another Cleansing." Sienna begged her, and Winter nodded her head.

"I gave you my word, Sienna. I intend to keep it, and unlike Killian? I actually give a damn about you and your race. I will gladly make sure this stays a secret until you deem it right to announce it – end of the day, this is your duty. Not mine." Winter told her and Sienna smiled and released her.

"Thank you…"

Then there was a loud bang from the room opposite, like a door had just been slammed shut. Sienna and Winter stared at each other with shocked faces.

The two of them came out, and they saw something very odd – it was Jaune, Pyrrha and Blake… and it looked like they just saw a ghost. They were shaking with fear, but there was so much confusion on their faces. "Guys? You okay?" Winter asked as she winced from the pain in her side. Jaune and Pyrrha looked at each other and they stammered.

"I… I don't… I don't know…" They both said with fear, looking at the door that they just closed.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Sienna questioned, and Blake gasped.

"Jaune… your arm." Jaune lifted his arm after Blake said, and there was a horrific deep blue handprint that was icy cold to the touch. Gooseflesh covered his whole body, to the point his skin was going red around the pointed ends where his hairs were stood on end. Winter turned to the door, but Sienna beat her to it as Weiss and Ilia walked down the stairs.

"What's going on? I heard a door slam shut." Ilia said as the thing lurked across the landing behind them.

Sienna opened the slammed door that was freezing cold, and she spun her Cerberus chain round, ready to attack whatever was inside. But it was completely empty, she entered and looked around. But alas there was nothing inside whatsoever. Sienna then remembered…

… the thing that the person on the recording saw? The one that they completely forgot was there as soon as they looked away?

"I think we're being hunted by something." Sienna softly said as she looked around, Jaune stared at the print on his forearm. It was… odd… he could faintly remember something, like he was bring grabbed by something. And Pyrrha and Blake must have tried to pull him away, because his other arm had their prints too, and it was warm and a bit red, not deep blue. "The thing that was at Jvaani, none of us remember what it looks like."

"We could have seen it hundreds of times now and never remembered…" Weiss stammered with fear.

They all looked at each other and they returned back to the Living Room. "Okay… all of you get some rest. I will sit on Watch." Sienna told them as she sat there, ready to fight whatever it was that was lurking inside of this house.

"I… I don't want to." Ilia whimpered softly as she held her arm.

"You need to – we have four hours of night before sunlight. As soon as morning comes, I will wake you all up. We leave first thing, I don't wanna spend one second longer in this place." Sienna ordered as she sat back on the rocking chair and she held her Cerberus Whip on her lap, looking around. Winter looked at her bandage and she groaned in pain, walking back to her sofa.

"Winter? Are you okay?" Weiss asked with concern.

"Yeah… still healing is all." Winter coughed as she sat on the sofa and laid down with the blanket over her. Jaune and Pyrrha laid down where they were, Blake and Weiss next to each other and Weiss was right next to her sister. Ilia was the last to find her place, taking the other sofa. They got as comfortable as they could… and strangely… they fell asleep… fast.

They were out like a light.

Sienna stared at the room, keeping an open ear out for anything out of the ordinary… but most importantly?

To try and catch whatever this Creature of Grimm is that is hunting them… and erasing their memories of its presence.

* * *

**Pyrrha**

* * *

After they reconvened, they returned back to their beds to get some rest, and when morning came… Pyrrha felt like she never wanted to get up. She was cradled in Jaune's arms, resting her head on his chest… until she felt cold sharp hands gently stroke across her cheek and through her hair. A faint whispering sound came as well… one that shook her awake, she gasped and sat upright, eyes wide and emerald irises shrunk, shaking with fear. She stammered as she sat there, beside the man she loved, looking down at him before touching her cheek. It was freezing cold, then she gasped and stared at Sienna.

She was asleep… passed out…

_Sienna was supposed to keep watch… how the hell did she of all people fall asleep?_

Pyrrha stood up and she groaned, picking up her scroll and checking the time. She gasped…

_10:45 AM_

"It's nearly Eleven… we should have been up four or five hours ago." Pyrrha stammered, she approached Sienna and she held her shoulder. "Sienna? Come on, wake up." She shook her and Sienna grumbled in her sleep.

"Go… away…" Sienna slurred as she sat there, her head slumped forward as she rocked back and forth on the chair.

"We overslept; we need to leave." Pyrrha said as she looked around, rubbing her eyes. _How am I still so tired?_

She looked back at everyone, and they were not budging, still in a deep sleep somehow. Pyrrha stammered and looked back at the High Leader, who was still asleep. Pyrrha furrowed her brow with frustration and she grabbed Sienna and shook her harder. "Sienna! Wake up!" Pyrrha yelled, Sienna suddenly woke up and grabbed Pyrrha by the throat, growling with rage as she opened her other hand and razor-sharp claws extended… but then she snapped out of it, gasping and releasing Pyrrha. She sat back down and looked around, then opened the curtains.

The snow was thick… and the sky was bright and blue. "What time is it?" She asked her.

"It's nearly Eleven in the Morning." Pyrrha answered, massaging her throat.

"Shit, we need to go. Come on, crap… crap…" Sienna sounded like she was panicking that she fell asleep. Whatever was hunting them? It could have grabbed one of them at any moment… they were lucky that it never came for them when she passed out. But as Pyrrha gently shook Jaune and Blake to wake them up – who were Apathetic and Lethargic at best… she heard Winter coughing.

This was not like last night, her coughs were throaty ones, and she was sweating badly. Pyrrha turned to her and saw Pyrrha sit herself upright on the chair, holding her side where Tyrian's stinger sliced her. Pyrrha approached Winter with concern… and then she gasped… seeing the dripping purple liquid soaking the bandage and her hand. She was pale… and very sick. "Well… shit…" Winter groaned, before she passed out and fell from the sofa, on top of Weiss.

Weiss screamed with horror, crawling away from her sister before immediately checking on her. "Winter!" Weiss cried out, that scream woke all of them up in a jiffy. Ilia opened her eyes and she sat up, and so did both Blake and Jaune. They turned and saw that Winter's condition had worsened. "What's happening?"

"She's poisoned… that shouldn't be possible." Sienna stammered.

"W-What? Why?" Jaune questioned.

"Scorpio Faunus Trait… the tail doesn't have poison in it, not until now at the very least. Never seen this before… but… it's treatable." Sienna said as she looked at the wound. It was bad, her skin around the slice had turned black and puss was everywhere, infected blood was starting to flow through her veins, discolouring them all.

"Why did you never tell us this about Scorpion Faunus Traits? If you knew then maybe, we wouldn't have stopped here for so long!" Weiss yelled with anger.

"It's a long story, one we will tell you at the right time." Sienna assured, since they had bigger problems. "I have seen poison like this before – it's like a Deathstalker's. It is treatable, there is a Hospital in Argus, they would easily cure her. But we need to get her there."

"O-Okay… we need to wrap her up with a bandage again. Blake, Ilia – find something we can use to make a carrier for her. We can get her to Argus quicker that way. As soon as we get her to the station and on the Argus Limited, we can get her there." Jaune ordered as he stood up, Winter groaned as she laid on the floor, and Weiss picked up the bandage, rapidly wrapping it around her side and belly.

"Make sure you get her some water too, Jaune. There's a tap in the cellar." Sienna told him and he nodded his head. Pyrrha stayed by Winter's side whilst Jaune went looking for the place to get water. Winter was not looking good; she was sickly pale as she laid there and was sweating badly. Pyrrha stood up and she looked outside, Blake and Ilia had the materials that they needed to build the Stretcher but… they were panicking. Just like they were inside, dropping the tape and unable to hold the things that they needed. Weiss was barely able to keep her arms still, none of them had ever felt _this_ rattled before by something.

Pyrrha looked around, hearing the building creak as the time went on, and the gas flowed into the heating, starting to warm the place up a bit. Pyrrha paced back and forth, Milo and Akoúo in hand as she looked around, seeing the others struggle outside. Sienna picked up the Journal that Bartleby had written, and she was near the end. Weiss finally finished applying the bandage around Winter. "Okay, it's done." Weiss told them. "Gods, stop shaking!" Weiss growled at herself.

Pyrrha turned around, and she narrowed her eyes with confusion. "Come on, Jaune… how long does it take to fill up a bottle of water?" Weiss questioned, and Pyrrha looked at Sienna.

"Go check on him. Hopefully the tap is working." Sienna said, and that was exactly what Pyrrha did. She walked to the cellar and she turned the corner.

"Jaune? How's it coming?" She asked, but when she saw the cellar… it was empty… and the tap was still pouring water out onto the floor, overflowing the bottle. But Jaune was not there, not anywhere to be seen, whatsoever. "Jaune? Jaune! Where are you?" She called out desperately, looking around and leaving the cellar as the cold black hand came out from behind her, unaware of the many eyes that lurked in the dark room, trying to claim her.

"What's wrong?" Weiss asked with fear.

"Jaune! He isn't there!" She stammered.

"He has to be here somewhere." Sienna said as she held the Journal in her hand, walking around the house, checking every room, and Weiss did the same. Pyrrha pushed the door open hard as she went outside, her heels dug into the deep white snow.

"JAUNE!" Pyrrha yelled at the top of her lungs, nearly breaking her voice in the process. Blake and Ilia looked up at Pyrrha with concern.

"He isn't in there?" Ilia asked.

"No, I don't see him." Pyrrha stammered as she walked around, but there were no other tracks to be seen, he was missing. Except for a couple footprints but they were too small and thin to be his.

"He isn't out here, Pyrrha. We would have seen him." Blake said as she stood up by the Stretcher. Ilia finished building it, the little thing was good enough to carry Winter on, they would have to take turns in getting her to the Station.

"JAUNE!" Pyrrha yelled again, and again, her voice echoing across Northern Anima. The door burst open, Weiss and Sienna came out, Sienna still with that Journal tucked under her arm.

"He's not in the house." Weiss told her.

"Where the hell are you?" Pyrrha stammered, so she opened up her scroll and she activated her Map App. This was she could see where her Teammates were… Ren and Nora, Ruby and Yang had theirs switched off, meaning they were nowhere to be seen, but Jaune's was… and he was… _under_ the house… and moving. Very slowly though, Pyrrha looked extremely confused.

"It says he is under the house." Pyrrha told them whilst Sienna and Weiss carried Winter out of the house and onto the stretcher. She would probably be safer out there anyway.

"What? That can't be right, try it again." Weiss told her.

"Weiss, I am telling you that it says that. We are all in the right place." She said, showing the App to all of them. Pyrrha closed it again and she looked around.

"I checked the Cellar, it was locked." Sienna said to her.

As Pyrrha stood there, she opened the Scroll again, a hunch formed in her head and she glanced at the map… noticing something quite interesting. "There's a sewer system all around the Farmland, one that has its Fuel Line connected to it all. And this Well is at the centre." Pyrrha said, walking towards the Well, she peered down and saw nothing but darkness.

And two glowing red eyes, and an unnerving hiss.

Pyrrha screamed with horror, nearly dropping her scroll until she caught it with her Polarity. She pulled it back into her palm and she staggered back, into Blake's arms. "What's wrong?" She asked with fear.

"There's… something down there. I saw it…" Pyrrha told them, and they all looked at each other. "We need to go down there." She told them.

"Okay… Pyrrha, Blake and I will go down there, Sienna and Ilia? Carry my sister to the gate of the Farms and wait for us. We'll get Jaune and get back here… time to leave this hellhole." Weiss ordered and Sienna nodded her head. But Pyrrha could not help but notice something.

_I… don't feel tired anymore…_

Sienna and Ilia took both ends of the Stretcher with Winter laid on it and they carried her off, whilst the three of them jumped down and landed in the mucky sewer. Pyrrha used her Polarity to call Milo and Akoúo into her hands, whilst Weiss drew Myrtenaster and Blake held both the Scabbard and the Sword of Gambol Shroud. They both looked around and Blake lead, using her Feline Night Vision to see where they were going. "Gods… this morning started well, didn't it?" Blake scoffed.

"Well, we know something is definitely at this place now. I think it may have taken Jaune. He was moving really slowly for some reason." Pyrrha said.

"Where is he? Can your scroll help us here?" Weiss inquired curiously, Pyrrha swiftly pulled out her Scroll as Weiss kindly held Milo for her. She checked the map… but Jaune's signature was no longer moving. It was dead ahead as well, the three of them looked ahead and there it was. Jaune's scroll was in the water, Pyrrha ran to it and she picked it up, looking at it as she wiped the sludge off it.

"He can't be far." Pyrrha hoped.

* * *

**Sienna**

* * *

After Sienna and Ilia got Winter to safety, Ilia was sat down by the post and the sign that _Brunswick Farms_ was written on.

Sienna was still reading the book that Bartleby wrote, and she was at the last section now, and things were indeed getting quite troubling the more she read… especially after finding that note Winter uncovered. "Anything good?" Ilia asked, but Sienna did not answer, she was glued to what Bartleby did.

_I didn't want to lie to her… I love her so much… I love my children so much._

_But I need them calm, that is the thing that is most important right now, we cannot afford another Huntsman or Huntress. But I think I have found a way. I did some light reading in the Bestiaries that were published by Huntsmen, this one was by Professor Peter Port from Beacon Academy._

_A bit up his own ass, I have to admit, but he noted a creature that could be the solution to this problem – for now anyway. As soon as I have paid off my debt to the Vasillias Cartel I will kill it myself, they seem pretty slow actually._

_It's called – the Apathy._

Sienna gasped and her eyes widened with shock and fear. "Sienna?" Ilia softly repeated, tilting her head. Sienna dropped the book and she drew her Cerberus Whip, sprinting back to the Well. "SIENNA!" Ilia called out.

"Stay with Winter! They have no idea what's down there!" Sienna yelled back as she ran through the snow.

It all made sense down there…

And the name echoed in her mind.

_The Apathy_

* * *

**Pyrrha**

* * *

Pyrrha, Weiss and Blake turned a corner in the dark Sewers and Pyrrha approached a certain turning… and their hearts skipped a beat with fear when they saw him. Jaune was held against the ground by them, and they had their long claw like fingers around Crocea Mors, trying to take it from him, but he was still holding onto it. He stared at them with terrified eyes, but he could not move or even scream.

"JAUNE!" Pyrrha screamed, and she launched Akoúo towards them…

… the Apathy.

The group of them broke away from Jaune, and it gave him the chance he needed to get up and escape the monsters. Jaune was shaking with fear and she caught him. "Are you okay?" She stammered.

"R-Run…" He stammered, pointing at them as they stood back up.

They were horrifying monsters… but Pyrrha and Jaune knew that these were not the same as whatever took the people of Jvaani – and not what had been hunting them. Because they could remember what they looked like as soon as they looked away from them. The Apathy were humanoid in shape, somewhat similar to the Imps that hung from the Nuckelavees, but they were very tall, with long arms that reached down as far as the ground and extremely long fingers. They had hideous faces, resembling skulls, some even lacking nostrils, and low-hanging jaws.

And their eyes glowed bright red… Weiss knew… the creature in the Photograph was indeed one of the Apathy. They were slow and they shambled towards them, dragging their arms through the sludgy water. Pyrrha transformed Milo and aimed the rifle at them, firing it repeatedly, Weiss and Blake did the same. Weiss launched fireballs and Blake fired Gambol Shroud's Pistol at them. Their bullets and flames impacted their thin bodies, knocking and killing one of them.

Pyrrha nailed one of them in its bony cranium, causing the Apathy to flinch from the impact, cracking the bone. But then they all shrieked at them, so loud that their jaws that hung from sinewy black muscle hung so low they nearly came off. The screech was deafening… and they felt the exhaustion return, nearly knocking them unconscious. "What… is this?" Pyrrha groaned from the painful sound.

"My weapon… feels… heavy." Blake groaned.

"RUN!" Sienna yelled behind them, she launched one of her explosive Chain Pieces towards the Apathy and it exploded, killing more of them instantly and reducing them to nothing but thick black smoke. "NOW!" Sienna added, they all turned and ran as fast as they could. Fighting the Apathy conventionally was not an option, that shriek would drop them, and they would just be food for the horrors. They ran around the corner and saw the light from the well… that Illuminated more of the Apathy at the other end. They Shrieked as well, the weight of Drained Will felt like the Gravity was working against them.

Jaune pressed his hand to his head and then he gasped, looking at the others. "Come on! This way!" He called, pointing to the other path, and they fled from the Apathy, leaving the way they got in behind. They ran as fast as they could, not wanting to look back. But when Weiss did, she saw the amount of them.

And then…

… the Apathy slowed down, and something seemed to change in them. Their long limbs snapped, and they howled from the pain as they mutated into a different shape. Their knees bent and they looked more like Spiders now, and they started to sprint after them, rushing through the water at great speed. "DON'T STOP!" Weiss yelled in horror. The horde of Apathy were pouring out of the walls after them, slashing their clawed hands at them, only just missing Jaune and Pyrrha's faces. They kept Jaune in the middle as they continued, turning around every corner.

Through the sewers were other Farmhands, one that were not in their beds, disembowelled remains and blood everywhere, all over the walls. They died slowly and in agony.

_This was what he would burn for…_

That was what Blake realised when she saw their corpses, the other Farmhands that he paid? He must have fed them to the Apathy as well…

Sienna was at the front, running as fast as she could, but every corner seemed to hide more and more of them. _He said he had one… how are there so many?_

They entered another room… and they saw the large Boiler and Fuel Cannisters that the Fuel Lines had been connected to. As they looked around, there were more barrels too, some with wine stacked on top – others with fuel. Weiss turned and she saw the Cellar Door. "We're under the house?" Jaune questioned as Weiss ran to the doors, but they were still locked.

"They're locked!" She yelled, Sienna spun her chain and readied another explosive piece.

"Stand back!" She called out, but the Apathy arrived as well, they all ran in, then they stood upright once more, their bodies mutated back into their Humanoid Forms, not the horrific Spidery Ones. They all shrieked just as Sienna went to launch the Chain Piece towards the door, and she fell onto the stairs, Weiss reached out to her with wide eyes.

"No… no…" Weiss groaned, and Pyrrha looked at everyone. Jaune was on the ground and could not move. She held his shoulders and shook him.

"Jaune… come on…" She begged, until she heard Blake drop her weapon, and collapse onto the floor. "Blake… get… up…" She begged, her eyes were wide, and her pupils dilated as the Apathy approached them, hunger present in their glowing red eyes.

"It's fine…" Blake softly whispered as the Apathy walked closer and Pyrrha looked around… unable to know what to do.

Her fear grew more and more… and that fear?

Turned to rage when the Apathy slowly reached down to Blake, its long claws moved to her beautiful face. "LEAVE HER ALONE!" Pyrrha howled with rage, and her body's outline turned black as her Polarity wrapped around the room and the metal bent and crushed into itself. The metal supports bent downwards, and she launched everything made of metal into the Grimm. The Apathy that reached for Blake roared in agony as the metal sliced its arm clean off, shielding her from them. The Apathy howled in pain as they were blocked from Blake by all the metal, and some of them were even killed by the forks and cutlery she threw at them. Pyrrha panted and everyone gasped, free from the power of the Apathy.

Jaune sat upright and he looked around as Sienna launched the explosive Chain Piece into the door, blowing it open. "Come on!" Sienna yelled, but Jaune knew…

"We can't leave them here." Jaune said, but as Pyrrha stood there… her use of her Polarity enhanced by her anger? It caused her to collapse and pass out.

* * *

**Jaune**

* * *

Jaune caught her and he looked and Blake and Weiss. "Blake!" He pushed Akoúo to her and she picked it up. "Hit the Valve! Weiss, when we're all at the exit, blow this place to hell." Jaune told her and Weiss nodded with a smirk. Jaune picked her up and Weiss took Milo for her since she was unconscious.

Blake launched Akoúo and it bounced against the Valve, breaking it and causing all that gas to come hissing out of it. It slid across the floor towards Blake and she picked it up – unfortunately she did not have the Polarity to call it back to her hand like Pyrrha did. She and the others all ran to the stairs and Weiss stood there, and she ran the Fire Dust across Myrtenaster's blade, igniting it. She stared at the Apathy as they climbed through the bent metal Pyrrha used to protect Blake from them.

They all stared at her and were about to shriek. "Burn in hell." Weiss hissed, launching the flames into the gas filled room.

The fire ignited and Weiss ran as fast as she could, the flames travelled into the Fuel Line, and the Apathy's howls were silenced as they were completely vaporized from the explosion. Weiss, Jaune, Blake and Sienna ran, with Pyrrha in Jaune's arms. They ran as fast as they could, hearing the explosions beneath them. The Apathy were swarming the house, coming for them as the wood shattered beneath their feet. The house buckled and rippled as fire climbed up from beneath them, blowing the Apathy apart as they howled.

The stairs shattered and the roof began to collapse, windows shattered, and the gang sprinted across the snow. They looked around and saw the explosions erupt up through the ground where the Sewers were, causing the entire estate to collapse around them. The main house crumbled into the flames. Burning the Apathy and the memories of Brunswick Farms. The Guest house sunk into the flames as well, whilst the Apathy burned.

They all jumped at the perfect point, just escaping as the ground collapsed beneath them, forming a burning sinkhole where the estate once was. Only leaving behind the stinking fields where the Cattle rotted. They all looked back, Pyrrha in Jaune's arms, she groaned as she came to, looking around with widened eyes. "What happened?" She gasped as she looked around, then she saw the destruction caused by setting off the fuel lines.

"We… blew up the estate… only way to stop them from getting out…" Jaune answered.

* * *

Some time later…

They had made a few miles of walking away from the destruction, there was a tall pillar of smoke rising into the sky where the fires still burned. Winter was resting on the Stretcher that Jaune and Ilia were carrying. Pyrrha was back on her feet, albeit quite dazed from using that much of her semblance in one moment, and Blake and Weiss were walking at the front with Sienna who still had the books that Bartleby wrote in her bag.

Not all their memories were lost at least.

"What… were those things?" Pyrrha asked as she walked by Jaune's side, and Weiss looked at Sienna.

"The Apathy." Sienna answered. "I heard stories about them, but I have never seen that many of them before."

"The Apathy? Professor Port never taught us about them." Blake said as she held the straps of her backpack.

"Not surprising, the Apathy are not very common. According to Bartleby though he did publish them in one of his Bestiaries. Judging by their bodies? It must have been one of his newer ones." Sienna explained as she walked with them.

"Makes sense then, we haven't read that one yet." Weiss scoffed.

"Were they the ones that made us… feel the way we did? Always so tired? Not wanting to go on?" Jaune asked curiously.

"Yes – the Apathy drain your will to keep on going forward. And by the looks of it, they did the same to the people of Brunswick Farms. But to the point that they did not even have the will to get out of bed in the mornings anymore." Sienna explained.

"Gods… those poor people…" Ilia softly said as she carried the rear end of the Stretcher.

"The thing is – the Apathy were part of Bartleby's Scheme to pay back his debt he owed to the Vasillias Cartel. When Debt Collectors came demanding money, they gave him a month to pay back the money that he owed. But with all the Farmhands he had and the Huntsmen and Huntresses he had to hire for protection? He could barely make enough to pay them back in that time. So… he wanted to find a way to stop getting the Grimm to come here – so he proposed the idea of fighting fire with fire." Sienna explained as she held the last book in her hand, giving it to Blake and she read the last few entries. "To avoid Grimm attacking he needed everyone calm – always."

Blake read his last Entry.

_I managed to lure a few of them, six, and I got them into the cellar in the night when everyone was asleep. Was damn difficult with them constantly trying to break me, but they were not loud enough to wake everyone up._

_When they were in the cellar, I locked it up – I'll close up the Waterway Entrance tomorrow morning, at least they won't escape. I still need to figure out how to keep my costs down on the Farmhands… I could fire them… but they won't have anywhere to go. I dragged them out here._

_I'll find a way._

_I always do._

"His final entry? Well…" She pulled the note that she and Winter found. "I guess it proved it did work. But instead of being rational and closing it in the night, the Apathy made him wait until morning. At that point though, it was too late. The swarm of them we found down there? That was the rest of the pack that followed the six he lured home, and they found their way through that very Waterway Tunnel. Which he sealed up the next morning." Sienna explained as they trudged through the snow.

"The Farmhands… they were down there… eaten alive…" Pyrrha gasped with horror in her eyes.

"The Apathy made Bartleby lose his mind near the end, if you look at the last page." When Blake turned it, she gasped… it was just violent scrawling all over the page, no coherent words… and just a terrifying drawing of the Apathy scribbled at the end. Sienna held the final note he wrote coherently. "The Apathy caused him to think irrationally, like I said. Instead of… firing the Farmhands… he fed them to the Apathy instead. And eventually? The Apathy killed them all as well, draining their will to go on." Sienna said, and she took the Book back and held the Note over the scrawls.

She read that note one final time.

_Forgive me Brothers Grimm…_

_… __for I have betrayed my sacred vows._

_I promised that I would protect my people at Brunswick, that under your light and your shadow that they would be safe from the monsters… both of your creation and our own. But I fear I have doomed them all, I never should have taken them away from the safety of the Kingdoms and their walls. I see that now… but I do not know what to do now._

_The Vasillias Cartel are not accepting my requests to extend the deadline to pay my debts and I fear that they will come and claim it for themselves. I have heard tales of what they are capable of and what they do to people. I do not want my family to suffer, but I need the money. I am close to repaying the debt that I owe them… but the last Huntsman that I hired was torn apart by the Grimm in the last attack._

_If I hire another – I will not have enough to pay them back._

_I beg you… forgive me for what I am about to do. I have a plan, to keep my people calm and prevent the Grimm from attacking us again._

_But in order to do so… I must lie. I know this is a foul sin, and I merely ask… that you forgive me._

_I must do this._

_I am so tired…_

\- _Bartleby Brunswick_

It now made sense…

The "_I must do this_"? It was not about him taking the Apathy… it was his last sane thoughts before the Apathy drove him to insanity and fed his people to those monsters down in the sewers. In the dark… alone.

Sienna stuck it over his madness, as the real final words that he ever wrote. "No one was angry, or sad, or scared. No one was anything."

"And then… no one… was left."

* * *

**Author Note - I will never tire writing the Apathy.**

**So obviously I know everyone knows that the Apathy were down there but the big question... is what the hell is this new Grimm? The one that they keep forgetting is there as soon as they look away? Because it wasn't the Apathy, it is something else... something new.**

**This was such a cool chapter to write, the different character interactions and character development and backstory. Especially for Ilia, Pyrrha and Sienna. We learned a lot about them, Pyrrha's semblance and how dangerous it really is, Sienna's past with the White Fang and also what happened to the Scorpion Faunus Bloodline (which is also subtly Tyrian's past). And poor Ilia, she lost so much yet she is still so good at heart, never let her suffering turn her into a monster like it has for Adam Taurus.**

**It was fun playing around with the Apathy too, I wanted to include the Concept Art Design of the Apathy too, where they sprinted on all fours, since that was a cool idea. And bloody terrifying too XD. And I will never tire writing the Apathy in such a creepy way with them subtly being in the background.**

**And of course - Bartleby and the Fall of Brunswick Farms... If you are an avid reader of my stuff then you know I love doing Worldbuilding, and whilst this was small in comparison, I loved doing this. The way in which his Paranoia of the Debt Collectors from the Vasillias Cartel coming to collect what he owes made him end up going insane and destroyed everything he built? I love Brunswick Farms in itself in Canon but man this was fun playing with.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter everyone!**

**\- Matt**


	33. The Vasillias Cartel

**Chapter 32 – The Vasillias Cartel**

* * *

**Ruby**

* * *

Ruby looked at the beautiful Village up in the mountains, her backpack filled to the very top with the supplies that they kindly gave. Ammunition, food, water and more comfortable things. Also, some better Aspen Gear too, it would not be of massive help in the Atlesian Wildlands if they are forced to go there, following Jackdaw's Trail. Ruby was not thinking about that, though – the idea of going to such an inhospitable location simply scared her to the core.

A land so cold that not even the Grimm can survive.

And those that did? Well… if the climate did not kill you then they surely would. Ruby zipped up her bag and she blew out a breath, feeling Ren's gentle hand on her shoulder. She turned and smiled as the Son of the Summit's Mentor stood beside her. "Are you ready?" Ren asked her, and Ruby stood back up, throwing the bag over her shoulders so then it was on her. It was heavier than before – which was not a bad thing, not at all.

"Yeah, as ready as I'll ever be, I guess." Ruby answered as she walked with the Kuroyurian towards the gathering of people wishing them all luck. Not so much to the Bandits of the Branwen Tribe, but more the brave people who were standing up against the Corrupt Black Gallows. "Must say, I'm kinda scared. I've heard some really scary stories about the Vasillias Cartel. Still can't believe Eryka and Neptune are the children of its leader."

"I know – when I first met Neptune? Heir to the most powerful Cartel in the world was not one of the things I thought about him." Ren said as he chuckled.

"What did you think?" She asked curiously.

"_He's a bit of a show-off… and an idiot… but his heart is in the right place_." Ren answered with a smile.

"Yeah, he's a good guy. I'm glad Weiss has someone like that for her." Ruby said with a bright smile, and Ren smiled down at her, since she was so much shorter than he was.

"You ever think about it? Having a partner?" He asked, Ruby looked at him and her face was the answer on its own. She didn't seem bothered by the idea of it, it was not _yeah_ or _no_, she simply was not really concerned by it. "Seems some things don't change." Ren said with a smile.

"I mean, maybe some day. I don't know what will happen in the future, but right now? Nah…" She admitted, and everyone loved Ruby for that. Her honesty was always one of the first things that people liked about her. Which was why it had such an effect on her when she was forced to lie to her friends about going after Jackdaw… specifically after they told them not to.

Ruby looked at Ren. "Do you think that's weird?" She asked curiously, he raised a brow at her.

"Huh? No not at all… honestly, for a while I was afraid of something like that. After what happened at Kuroyuri? I was… I am… so scared of losing Nora. I don't know what I would do if I lost her – but I guess that's the deal, right? With any family… you never know how things will go. But if we can protect each other from the clutches of death for as long as we can? Then I'll take it." Ren said with a smile, and Ruby smiled back, playfully punching his shoulder as they walked.

"I can always trust you for the deep talks, Ren." She giggled, making Ren chuckled with her.

"It just comes out." He admitted.

The two of them approached the crowd and then… well… it was not what they expected. They thought they were saying goodbye to them all, but Yang made Nora a bet… a bet that they were about to settle.

Sat at a bench, the two of them had their elbows rested on the wood and hands clasped together, forcing their strength against one another. Both of them had their teeth gritted, eyes glaring at each other and Ruby crossed her arms and raised a brow. "How long have these two been at it?" Ruby asked Eryka.

"About twenty minutes now." She said.

"It's been that long? Gods… I knew it took me a while to pack up my stuff… but damn." Ruby gasped with wide silver eyes.

"Getting… tired… yet?" Nora strained through gritted teeth; biceps flexed as she held her back. But her Cybernetic hand had just as much strength as Nora's freakish power, despite her size in comparison. Yang smirked as she held Nora back, but she was struggling too.

"Nope… could… do this… all… DAY!" She cheered, except neither gained against each other as they kept forcing against one another. Ruby looked at Sashaa who stood there.

"How long are these two gonna go until they give up?" She wondered, Ruby stood next to her and she sighed.

"Oh, this isn't gonna end anytime soon… she's always been the immature one." Ruby said with a grin, glancing back at her sister, noticing her hand started to move further against Nora's. Her silver eyes bulged wide. "GO ON YANG! YOU CAN DO IT!" Sashaa jolted from shock as the high-pitched squeak erupted from Ruby, bouncing up and down around Yang. Ren sighed and he shook his head, Nora looked at Ren with a raised brow.

"Yay… you can do it! He softly cheered, nowhere near as explosive as Ruby was, but Nora kept forcing Yang back. As Ruby bounced around her sister like a little Bunny Rabbit, Qrow and Raven returned to them all and Eryka glanced at them. She still had the bandage around her, but she was looking much better. A bit hungover, mind you… but better.

"Oh no." Qrow sighed as he approached.

"What?" Raven asked.

"This may last a while." Qrow said as he looked at his blonde niece. Raven bumped her brother's shoulder which got his attention.

"I remember you and Tai doing this all the time." She said with a smirk.

"Oh yeah, I was definitely better." Qrow quipped, and Raven just raised a brow at her brother. Qrow glanced at her and he sighed. "Alright fine, he's better."

"I wonder where she got that from?" She softly said as she looked at him.

"Oh, one hundred percent from me. Someone's gotta be the bad influence on them." He said with a grin, making Raven laugh. Li Ren approached the scene and he could hear the sound of the two Arm-Wrestling each other.

"What do we have here?" He said.

"Yang and Nora having an Arm-Wrestling Match." Eryka answered, it made Li chuckle as he looked at the two of them. It was no longer a stagnant battle now, and they were pushing each other back and forth, slowly getting closer to a victor.

"Glad to see the old ways still stand tall." Li said as he held both his hands on his staff that he had with him.

"You did this crap back in your day?" Sashaa asked with disbelief in her voice.

"I was a young man once, believe it or not, Sashaa." He joked with a smile, making her softly giggle.

Ren approached his father, part of him was still amazed that this was truly his father and that he was not killed by the Nuckelavee. "Father… I…" Ren stammered, but Li gently squeezed his son's shoulder.

"Son, the gates of the Summit's Claim will always be open for you. To _all_ of you." He said with a smile, and he gently hugged his son, who held him tight.

"I will come back. I promise…" Ren said with a smile and Li smiled back to him.

"Then I will await your return. My heart and thoughts will always follow you, son." He sweetly said to him, and Ren smiled.

"I love you dad… I never got to say that to you last time." He sadly said, but Li gently caressed his son's cheek.

"You needn't say it." He assured. "We both knew."

Tears streamed from Lie's eyes as he remembered his mother, but it was tears of happiness, not sorrow. He missed his mother… but she was always with him. Li turned to Nora and he held out his hand, she looked at Yang and she strained harder and harder, and Yang strained more, her arm moved closer to the ground and finally – bang!

Nora beat Yang, so much power in her tiny body. She bounced up in the air with joy. "YES! YOU OWE ME A LIEN!" She pointed at Yang on the bench, and Yang sighed, handing it over, massaging her cybernetic bicep.

"Yeah, yeah… you win." Yang groaned. "Ow…"

Nora hopped off the bench and immediately went to Li and she gave him a loving hug, and when they broke, he looked at her. "I am happy to know my son fell in love with such a beautiful woman." He said, and Nora blushed. At first Nora was surprised by his comment until she saw Harmony Gives Humble Mind, the huge Altum Eagle that stood on the ground, eyes glowing as she looked at the two of them, so he could see her himself.

It made her blush more – because he legitimately meant it.

"Oh, you don't mean that!" She giggled and Li chuckled back.

"Keep each other safe…" He said, then Nora saw that Harmony Gives Humble Mind turned her gaze and stared directly at the gates. Where Valravn was already beyond them with Cinder and the other Bandits, his cloak blew in the wind and the chimes softly sung with the whispery voices. "… and be careful around him, son. Valravn Branwen is _not_ to be trusted." He warned, as he walked to give gentle hugs and goodbyes to everyone else.

Ren stared at Valravn as he stared ahead, and Ruby looked at him as well. It was the same thing that Maria Calavera warned her about.

Valravn was shrouded in mystery, shadows of his past – and that question of who he was?

It scared them all.

Li walked over to Eryka and he gave her a gentle hug, and they broke apart, looking at each other. "Try not to do anything stupid until I get back." Eryka joked, making Li chuckle softly.

"We will try our best." He said as he looked at the people who were so happy to be where they were, free from the Corruption of the Governments of Remnant. "I am so proud of you, Eryka. You have come a long way from being that girl filled with hate and anger in your heart, who fell on my doorstep looking for help." He said with a smile, and it made Eryka smile with a faint blush. Not much made her blush, but hearing those words?

Well… her Mother and Father never told her that they were proud of her.

So, it went a long way for her.

As Li said goodbye to them all… Ruby kept her eyes on Valravn, who stared out at Anima, the chimes softly bounced off one another as he stood there.

Not many people scared her to just… look at… but Valravn?

He terrified her.

* * *

**Jaune**

* * *

The Northern Anima blaze of snow was extremely powerful, and the team were very far away from where their targets were – but they knew that tracking them in Anima would take too long. They knew their target was Argus, so the best chance they had to catch them was to sit and wait for them to get there.

But now they had a second, more important, reason to get to Argus as fast as possible. Tyrian's poison from his Scorpion Stinger was getting worse, Winter was pale and sweating even in this freezing cold weather. They forced their way through the storm, not looking back. But in the distance the tower of smoke could still be seen, whilst Jaune was staring at the icy handprint on his forearm.

"It wasn't them." He said, and Pyrrha looked at him with a confused look, Ilia next to her.

"What?" She asked.

"The Apathy… the thing that has been stalking us? The one we keep forgetting is there? It wasn't there, I can still remember what they looked like. Their faces… the sounds that they made." It terrified him, in a weird way he wished he could forget what the Apathy were and looked like. They were the things of nightmares.

"He's right." Sienna added from the front of the team, whilst Blake and Weiss were taking their place in carrying Winter as fast as they could. "It couldn't have been them… Gods I should have known. I heard stories about the Apathy and what they were capable of, but I never knew that they could do… that." She said with a sigh. "But this thing? Wiping all memory of what it looked like? Never heard of a Grimm capable of doing that, this thing is new alright."

"Yeah, great." Weiss groaned. "More bad news on top of what's already going down."

"There must have been more of them too, whatever this thing is capable of it could not have possibly abducted all those people from Jvaani. Not alone, there must be more than one." Blake added as they carried Winter.

"Yeah… but it doesn't make sense. I've never heard of Grimm _abducting _people before, sure we've seen them carry people off, but they usually kill them elsewhere." Sienna said as she walked, it made some of them shudder from how horrific that must be to die like that. But the Apathy were even more terrifying.

"The Apathy… they managed to kill Bartleby and all his people without laying a finger on them. How are you supposed to stop something like that? I mean we only figured out they were down there when they were trying to kill Jaune." Pyrrha softly said with fear in her voice. Her head still hurt from using the dark side of her Polarity against them to save them all, to save Blake.

Jaune glanced at the sword sheathed into his shield… and there was one thing lingering in his mind from when those horrifying things snatched him.

_They were trying to take my sword from me… they didn't even try and kill me first… they went straight for my sword._

_Why?_

He did not bring his thoughts up, because none of them could possibly know the answer to his question. But it was still lingering in him… especially how much it terrified him. They grabbed him when he was filling the bucket up with water and dragged him into the cellars. But the scariest part? He wanted the scream, but nothing came out… they just dragged him away and he felt like he wanted to go to sleep.

That… that was the most horrifying part of the Apathy.

Jaune shook the feeling away, pulling his sleeve back down to hide the cold handprint that was marked on him. He looked over his shoulder and forgot it was there. They kept on moving forward, and Ilia rubbed her bitingly cold shoulders. "How far away is this damn Waystation?" She stammered from how cold it was.

Weiss looked through the snow, and her eyes widened with hope in her irises. "There! There's a light!" She called out, and they kept moving, carrying Winter up the slope of snow towards the Waystation. And at the flattened terrain was the Train Track that the Argus Limited was bound to arrive.

Sienna opens the door and she turns, her hand held close to Cerberus Whip as she looked around. The Feral Ones were not here, and neither were anyone that looked suspicious in any way. No signs of anybody that could possibly be related to Salem in any way. So, she calmed herself down whilst Weiss and Blake rested Winter and her stretcher down on the sofa that was inside here. Their teeth were chattering as they escaped the blistering cold storm outside, the windows rattled from the wind that blew against them, like a deep hum from a horn or something like that.

Jaune peaked through the blinds, checking for anything. Mainly for that Grimm that was out there, following them still. But they could not see it anywhere… but it was there. That much was dead certain. They just prayed to the Gods that once they got onto the Argus Limited it would help them get away from it.

"Hello, can I help you." A polite man asked which made them all jump, Jaune turned and he grabbed the hilt of Crocea Mors. He was shaking both from fear and the cold, he immediately stood down, shocked from how quickly he was ready to attack whoever was stood next to him.

"Oh! I'm so sorry…" He apologised.

One of the other people approached Winter and he crouched down, checking her wound. "Deathstalker Poison?" He asked.

"Not exactly… a Scorpion Faunus." Pyrrha answered, the two Humans scoffed, shaking their heads.

"There's no such thing." He said, Sienna squeezed Pyrrha's shoulder.

"Remember what I told you… the world forgot they ever existed. Best to just say it was a Deathstalker." Sienna advised. Sienna was right too, not just for the fact that most people did not even know of the existence of Scorpion Faunus – just as they didn't – but also, people knew how to treat Deathstalker Venom.

"Hmm, we can ease her pain and give her a suppressant, but she needs to get to Argus Hospital to get proper treatment." The older Worker said to them.

"How long until the Argus Limited gets here?" Weiss asked as she sat next to her sister, gently holding her hand. The Worker looked at the clock on the wall and then at her.

"A few Hours, there were some delays back in Mistral. Some new faction – like the White Fang but different. They were killing Humans in the streets and freeing imprisoned Faunus." The Worker explained, looking at Sienna, Ilia and Blake.

"The Feral Ones?" Sienna asked.

"Yeah, something like that. Always knew something like this would happen, ever since the Battle of Beacon and that lunatic? Something was gonna start." He sighed as he walked around. "My wife was one of the people there when it happened."

"Is she okay?" Ilia asked with worry.

"She's alive, just a bit shook up. I should be there with her, but this damn storm just won't let up." He said as he tapped the window.

"I'm sorry." Jaune apologised.

The man smiled at the Warriors. "Thanks. Well you all can stay here for the next few hours, we have a Coffee Machine and some snacks if you want some." The Worker said, whilst the other returned and gave Winter a shot. It would keep Winter in a semi-stable condition, slowing the deterioration of her cells from Tyrian's poison.

"Thank you for this. Been a rough journey." Ilia said to the Worker.

"I can tell… you all look pretty shaken." He said, and Jaune chuckled softly.

"Yeah… you could say that again." He said as he walked to the window of the view, but they could see very little. The snow was everywhere, it was very strange to see a storm like this at this time of year. But then again, things are changing, there were new Grimm, the Children of Salem were no longer in hiding, the Black Gallows were a stronger presence in the world now… and of course… Jackdaw Branwen.

Pyrrha walked over to Jaune and she held his hand. "I can stop thinking about that thing… the Grimm… that… _Abductor_." He sighed as he stared out at the storm.

"What do you mean?" She asked him.

"There's something about this Grimm that I can't shake. Grimm normally are drawn to negative emotion, right?" He asked her.

"Yeah." Pyrrha agreed,

"That thing isn't… sure we're scared but it's been following us before Tyrian attacked us. Before the Apathy." Jaune pointed out. "This thing? It is hunting us out of choice, like it's got a mission. And think about it, a Grimm that can erase your memories? There would be no fear in you at all. No negative emotions – there were no other Grimm there either, it was completely abandoned. It's easily the weirdest thing about it." Jaune explained to her and Pyrrha thought about it.

He was right – this was the first Grimm they had ever encountered that was not driven by Negative Emotions.

Which begged the ultimate question – _Why_?

"Abductor… that's a good name for it." Pyrrha agreed, they both continued to stare out at the mountains in the distance, waiting for the Argus Limited to arrive.

* * *

**Eryka**

* * *

She walked ahead of the convoy of brave people who headed through the mountains towards the Vasillias Cartel. From the warm and loving welcome of the Summit's Claim to the icy cold fear that ran through her blood like electricity. Eryka massaged her wrists as she walked, Dulcis sat on her shoulder, softly chirping in her ear as she walked. They had already passed by many markers of the Vasillias Cartel.

Ignoring all of them, they were headed straight for the main base. It was not the same one that they were _raised _at in Mistral. Eryka knew this place, it was where the Vasillias Cartel headed their operations. They kept following the Mountain Path when Shay slid up next to her with that annoying sinister grin on his face. "So, Blue – you excited to go back home? To see Mommy and Daddy? Bet they got a cake to welcome you home!" He laughed, but Eryka just gave him a cold glare, staring right into his eyes.

"DON'T." She warned, before she stormed ahead of him. Not much hit her nerves that fast but that one did, and she made a lot of distance from Shay. Cinder walked and she caught up with her, looking at Eryka with her arms at her side.

"Did you Mother kidnap little girls before?" She asked and Eryka sighed.

"Yes. The Cartel dealed in Trafficking from time to time, if I remember correctly, they managed to make a lot of money from selling them off to others. Mainly to people from Vacuo… I think half of them were actually sold to Malachite." Eryka explained and it made Cinder shudder to imagine.

"Those girls she had working for her… Vernal told me about the things that Malachite would do to them if they… didn't… do as they were told. They were beaten, branded and tortured – or worse? Strapped to a rock in the desert and left to die. I know some of you looked at me as a monster when I did what I did to Malachite, but I don't care. She deserved it after what she put those poor women through." Cinder said as she walked with her, and Eryka glanced at her.

"Why do you care so much? About Amber? From your reputation, you never struck me as a mother figure." Eryka commented and Cinder gave her a look. At first it was angry, but then she calmed, and it seemed more like she understood her doubts. Eryka was not one to back down either, not like Ruby or the others.

"She's like me. I was once an innocent little girl raised by terrible people, and it made me into a monster. Salem just made me even worse when I was one of her _Children_." Cinder scoffed. "I don't want her to be like me… I can't atone for my sins, but I can make sure that little girl can lead a happy life."

Cinder kept walking and Eryka looked ahead as they walked. "I know how you feel." Eryka said.

"You do?" She scoffed, surprised by that.

"Yeah – and it's why I don't like coming here." Eryka stammered. Cinder listened to her words as they walked up the cobblestone steps. "When we were kids, before I took him away… I was only six… but some people tried to kill the Vasillias Family. My mother, my father, me and my brother. He was only two at the time." Eryka explained as she walked with Cinder. "They were from the Valerian Biker gang, and I had to fight them off as they tried to kill me. But when I fought them… my mother killed them all with her swords. She saved us… and it terrified me. I thought we were safe there." She explained.

"At least she protected you." Cinder pointed out.

"You don't understand, Cinder. That night? It was the first time I saw my mother than whole year, because she was always at the Cartel or on business for the Cartel. The one time I saw her, it was when she stained herself in their blood, and declared a Gang War on the Bikers. She nearly wiped them out, until they surrendered." Eryka explained. "The older I got the more I learned about what my parents really were, and when I found out about the Vacuo Mafia? That was when I knew it was enough, so I took my brother with me and we ran, hiding from them. She never came after us though."

"Maybe she never knew you did it?" Cinder asked.

"Oh, she knew." Eryka assured. "My mother is not someone to be trifled with, just remember that when you see her."

Cinder scoffed. "If they don't show me her in one piece, I will burn them to dust." Cinder growled, they walked up the steps and her eye widened when she saw the massive iron doors and Paladins stood at the gates. Painted with the blue Vasillias Cartel symbol upon the armour plating. There were massive turrets as well, and it was clear what the Cartel Base truly was.

The base was an old decommissioned Military Base from the Great War, used by the Mistraalians. Clearly the Vasillias Cartel utilised it to their advantage when the war came to an end – nothing could get to them with those armaments. "You sure about that?" Eryka asked her.

They approached the gates and the two Paladins aimed their weapons at the large group of people, weapons in hand. "Halt! State your business!" The Paladins both ordered. Eryka walked past Cinder as she stared at the Paladins. The pilots stared at the Falconess, and they were able to tell just from her face. "You… you are Eryka Vasillias."

"I am." Eryka replied.

"Why have you returned?" One of the Paladins questioned.

"_Returned_? I was never one of you to begin with. We're here to see my mother, she took a child who belongs to us. We have come to get her back." Eryka told the Paladins.

"You sure it's a good idea to tell them that?" Oscar softly asked her.

"You wanna get in, or not?" Eryka replied, which shut him up pretty quick. It saddened the Rogues to see Eryka acting so cold and serious, when normally she was so bubbly and jokey. "Let us through, we will deal with Lavinia or not at all." Eryka said, and one of the Paladins chuckled.

"You are definitely your mother's daughter." The Paladin Pilot said.

"No need for the insult, pal." She retorted, the Paladins stepped aside, and the heavy doors slowly opened up before them all. The massive base… it was _filled_ with combatants of different kinds. There were soldiers, thugs and Huntsmen walking around. Lavinia had been busy, she was not just a Cartel, she had an army that could even rival the Black Gallows if she used it correctly. Eryka and Cinder stayed at the front of the party that walked in, passing by the many soldiers who pushed the crates of countless counterfeit products.

The smell was in the air of so many different drugs. _Enigma's Tears_ – a fluid that when injected into the body would give the user hallucinations and immense relief, however constant usage would turn their skin yellow. _Trinity's Mistress_ – a flower collected from the fields of Ard Valera, an Archipelago of small islands in Northern Vale, renowned for acting as a sex enhancer, but became illegal around thirty years ago, meaning the Black Market would purchase these flowers for a very high amount of money. _Devil's Thorn_ – a weed that when burned would grant ecstasy and relief to the user, and countless others.

Counterfeit Lien, Forged Documents and many other different methods, shipped to the different Black-Market Groups across Remnant. Something else that shocked them were the number of weapons, vehicles and ammunition being both manufactured and sold here. No wonder the Feral Ones got armed as quickly and effectively as they did, it must have been through the Black Market, and thus – through the Vasillias Cartel.

Their name was everywhere, because Lavinia made it so then they were the ones in charge of the Criminal Underworld. And nobody would dare rise against them, not even the Black Gallows seemed to challenge them. Eryka kept walking but she stopped and held Cinder back as a modified Paladin carried multiple large heavy crates in the arms to one of the Airships that was landed on the airfield. The Paladin turned as he walked, the pilot shouting through the intercom. "Watch it!"

They ignored the Cartel Mercenary, and they kept moving, Ruby looked around at the place, she felt so small as she walked with them all. Eryka turned one of the corners as many vehicles drove past, and prisoners walked with chains… like slaves. They were constantly sweeping the snow away from the roads and into the corners. "Hey… have something to eat." Ruby softly said to one of the slaves, he was beaten, bruised and barely standing. But the slave did not even look at her, Eryka gently turned her away from the Slave.

"You can't. Those slaves? They got it easy in comparison to others." Eryka told her.

"Who are they?" Yang asked with concern in her voice.

"People who did not pay my mother back in time. Their debt was not large enough to warrant… that…" Eryka stopped as she looked ahead, and all of them gasped as they saw her.

Lavinia Vasillias.

She was very different to Eryka, she was taller and far slenderer than Eryka was. She had an athletic frame but Eryka had more muscle on her from her time working out and training in Hand-to-Hand Combat. But she was much taller than Eryka was. She had a large black coat with a white fur collar around her neck. Her hair was long, mostly black with stripes of blue hair through them in places. She looked a lot like Eryka but just older with more wrinkles and scars from her time as the leader of this powerful cartel. She wore black Combat Trousers and military Boots with a pair of swords sheathed onto her belt where she could easily draw them.

There was no sign of Roland Vasillias – their father.

Lavinia walked around the man who was chained to a pair of metal pylons around him, only in his underwear. Frostbite had set in on his feet and hands, and he had been tortured. Beaten to a pulp, cut up and whipped to the point where blood was everywhere, on the floor and his body. He screamed in agony as Lavinia slowly cut her blade across his back, spilling more blood.

Then she spoke, her voice soft and almost beautiful, like a singer's voice. And that was probably the scariest thing about her.

If you heard her voice alone?

You would think she was a kind person.

"You knew what would happen if you refused to pay your debt on time, we have already punished your settlement enough. I have sold your prettiest daughters to the best buyers out there; I have enslaved your sons. But you still have the _tenacity_ to try and swindle me after all that?" Lavinia scoffed as she wiped the blood off the blade. The crying father looked up at Lavinia.

"The Grimm! I've been trying to protect my people!" He cried, then she pressed the blade to his neck, staring right into his eyes.

"Oh honey, I have heard this tale time and time again. I had my men protect you, free of charge. I know what you are… you're a man who tries to find a way out. But that trick doesn't work on me, buddy. And I am out of merciful chances." Lavinia said as she walked around the man, she drew her other sword and spun them through her fingers.

"We… tried… to follow your rules." He whimpered.

"Oh bullshit. I give you people chances, _many_ chances, but you keep on wasting them. Then you sent some of you people to attack my people? Us? How did you think that would end?" Lavinia asked as she held out her arms "So this? Is how it has to be." She said, driving both her blades into his chest. He screamed in agony, blood drooling from his mouth and his bare chest.

She then pulled the blades apart, into a large X on his chest, blood splattered all over the floor as his intestines fell from his stomach. Ruby gasped and looked away, right into Qrow's arms, Yang looked away as well. "No…" Ruby softly whimpered. Lavinia sighed as she cleaned her blades and turned to her men.

"Take him to Kuchinashi, crucify him in front of them all as a reminder. Now the entire city must pay the debt they owe. If they don't then we kill them all." Lavinia told the men and they nodded, taking the Mayor of Kuchinashi down and dragging him away. Lavinia had his blood on her face when she pulled the swords apart and she cleaned them, turning and she froze, staring straight at Eryka who stood there with the Branwen Tribe.

"Well… I bet Albert was on perimeter watch." She sighed, walking towards Eryka. "So… finally come to your senses?" She asked her daughter.

"What do you think?" Eryka asked, she did not even flinch when Lavinia executed the Mayor.

"Guess not then." Lavinia sighed, sheathing her swords, she then looked at the large group that was behind her. She only needed one glance to know, that was how well she knew the many Criminal Groups on Remnant. "The Branwen Tribe… what are you doing back with these savages?"

"I'm not back with them. You took a child who was with them, they want them back." Eryka explained with her arms crossed.

"_Bought_. Not _took_." Lavinia corrected, that was the last straw for Cinder, she walked past Eryka with clenched fists and her eyes ignited.

"Cinder, don't." She softly begged, but it was too late.

"WHERE IS AMBER! GIVE HER BACK TO US YOU UPPITY BITCH?" She erupted with immense rage, until Lavinia stared at her and held her finger to her lips.

"Shhhhhhh…." Lavinia softly hushed, and Cinder gasped… unable to breathe… unable to speak. She grabbed her throat with fear as she stood there, trying to speak but nothing came out.

_Silence_. That was the name of her Semblance, the ability to silence anyone she desired. Eryka looked at Cinder and saw the legitimate terror in her amber eye. "Well, well… Cinder Fall. Malachite told me about you… before you hanged her in her burning house. My, my… I could make a killing selling you to the right people for the right price." She softly said as she looked at her beauty. "But… a girl like you? With your history? I doubt they would buy someone who has probably had many beds kept warm." She said with a smirk, walking around Cinder, before looking at Eryka. "What about you? Got a partner yet?" She asked her curiously.

"What the hell does that matter to you?" She snarled.

"Can I not be kept in the loop on my daughter's life?" Lavinia asked, staring at her. Eryka stared right back.

"Yeah… I have someone." She answered, and Lavinia smiled. "But I bet you already knew that, didn't you?"

"Winter Schnee…" Lavinia answered, which made Eryka scoff. "Pretty girl, skilled too. I'm glad you are happy, but with her not being here and everything that happened at Beacon Academy recently? I have heard some rather… interesting… stories about your friends." Lavinia said as she walked towards the ground, staring right at Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao Long, Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie. "I do hope you and Winter can sort out your problems."

Eryka glared at Lavinia, she had not changed a bit. "I hope we can properly catch up later, Eryka. But… I would rather not have any more blood shed today. Why don't we handle this like adults, Branwens?" She asked them, staring at Qrow, Raven and Valravn.

The three Branwens walked forward and looked at Lavinia Vasillias, who smiled as she glanced to the largest building where her office was, and she walked ahead of them, her black and blue hair blew in the wind. Qrow looked back at them all. "Stay together, and don't get into trouble. We'll see what we can agree on." Qrow said, and he walked ahead of them with Raven and Valravn.

Lavinia then snapped her fingers and Cinder gasped, able to speak again, breathing normally too. "What… what the hell was that?" She gasped.

"Her semblance… she always liked to discipline me with that one." Eryka said. She then scoffed. "Because I talked too much." She winked, clearly not much had changed, but around her mother?

There was no love there.

But for Ruby?

Lavinia Vasillias lived up to her name. She was not someone to be messed with.

* * *

**Qrow**

* * *

Lavinia held the door open for the three Branwens, she could hear the whispering voices echo from Valravn's aura as he walked past. He was the only one not to sit down, and she closed the door. She took off her jacket and she hung it on the back of the door. It surprised Qrow to see the deep blue T-Shirt she wore underneath. She walked over and sat down on the chair, leaning back and resting her legs on the table.

"So then… you want to reclaim the little girl? Amber?" Lavinia asked them curiously.

Raven looked around the Office, there were pictures all over the place here. Locations but also… pictures of her family.

Lavinia with her husband specifically, there was only one that had Eryka and Neptune on it. Eryka was stood next to both of them, only three at the time and she held baby Neptune in her arms. What was very interesting though? Her hair was blue once, just like Eryka and Neptune, however it was clear that her natural colour was black. And… she looked so happy. And the husband? Roland was an attractive man. Square Jaw and windswept brown hair, but they did not see him anywhere around the place.

They heard stories about them – Roland was not a Vasillias, but when they married, he did not really have a choice in which family he joined. Lavinia was the better choice… but the way she gently caressed that picture and looked at it – it meant a lot. If she was abusive to him… then she would not seem so affectionate to the pictures and have them everywhere. Roland was not dead – but Eryka always described him as a man who hid behind his wife's shadow.

So, Raven pieced it together… by the time he found out the truth of her? It was too late, and he saw her for what he was, and was too terrified of what would happen if he tried to walk away. So, he hid behind her shadow… even though she still loved him… and just wanted him to see that. It was quite sad, but at the same time she understood why he feared her, because she was ruthless.

Qrow leant forward and he started the debate. "You hired Icarus, didn't you? To kidnap her and bring her here? Leave the Spider Egg so we would go after Malachite?" Qrow asked.

"Correct, you have a sharp mind." She bluntly admitted.

"Why? Wasn't Malachite one of your most useful allies?" Qrow questioned.

"She was, but I would never trust a spider on my shoulder. Eventually it would bite me and kill me. Have you not done your research? How she betrayed the Vacuo Mafia for me? Why would I trust someone who turned sides as fast as her? Besides, I now have the networks that she had." Lavinia explained as she tapped her fingers on the mahogany desk. "She fulfilled her usefulness to me."

"Sure, but you could have wiped them out with your forces. Why use us? You knew it would bring us here." Qrow questioned.

"How about you Bird Boy? Think you know the answer?" She asked Valravn, he stared at her and he answered.

"The fruits must be earned via labour." He answered and Lavinia stared at him with confusion.

"Okay, Bird Boy can stay quiet then. Basically, it's because I will not give you Amber, not unless you can give me something in return." Lavinia explained.

"How much?" Raven asked her.

"Oh, please no, if it was Lien, I wanted I would just sell her. No, no Raven. What I want is far more valuable than that cute little girl." Lavinia stated as she leant forward, taking her legs off the table and resting her arms on the table. They looked at each other with concern for Ruby, since they had a bounty on their heads. "You're filled with doubts, no? Want to see that she is okay?" She asked, so she brought up a holographic feed of a bedroom… Neptune's old bedroom that was kept the exact same way.

She was sat there playing with the toys and with some tasty looking food. She was looking after her… which was why they knew she had something planned for them. "What is it you want?" Raven asked her.

"Ever heard of Lake Matsu?" She asked them.

"Sure." Qrow responded.

"Well, then you know that it is the richest source of Gravity Dust Crystals in the world. I have been trying to get my men in there, but the Lancers have been making life difficult." Lavinia explained as she brought up the Holographic Feed of them all. The huge islands and mountains that floated up above the lake of water, and a diagram of a Lancer as well. The creatures were very dangerous and could take out countless Airships in one attack.

"If you want Amber back, I want you to keep the Lancers off my Miners' backs." Lavinia offered as she sat there, staring at them all.

Valravn looked at his Niece and Nephew. "What do you need Gravity Dust for?" Qrow questioned with confusion.

"Clearly you don't scour the Black Market for things that are worth a fortune nowadays?" She asked him and he shrugged his shoulders in agreement.

"Touché." Qrow said.

"What does this mission entail then? How many crates will they need to fill?" Raven inquired.

"I will allow you two to go and take the Rogues who are with you, my daughter, Oscar Pine and a few of your Bandits." Lavinia answered, then Raven furrowed her brows.

"How do you know Oscar's name?" Qrow asked.

Lavinia tapped her nose with a smile. "Remember… Malachite's database has a lot of interesting information for me."

"Why not Cinder, Valravn and Vernal?" She asked.

"Leverage – in case you try anything." Lavinia answered and Raven chuckled.

"Got us wrapped around your little finger, huh?" Raven scoffed.

"You came to me, remember. That means this mission goes by my rules." She stated, then she held out her hand.

"So… do we have a deal?" Lavinia asked, holding out her hand. The Branwens all looked at each other… they sighed… and knew that this was the best deal they were going to get.

"Alright – we have a deal." Qrow agreed, shaking her hand.

But Qrow did not forget Eryka's warning.

_Do not trust Lavinia Vasillias._

* * *

**Author Note - Lavinia Vasillias, honestly the Vasillias Cartel has gotta be one of my favourite parts of the world for Eclipse, it adds so much to both Eryka and Neptune, and man is her mother such a cool character to write. She is extremely dangerous, yet deep down... she does love her family.**

**But what is more important to her? The Cartel or Family?**

**Her intro was another idea I loved too, makes her live up to the fear the world created for her. And now it is time for them to go to Lake Matsu and the Floating Islands. It's gonna be fun :D**

**And we have a name for this mysterious Grimm hunting Jaune's team... the Abductor... god I love this thing.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!**

**\- Matt**


	34. Lake Matsu

**Chapter 33 – Lake Matsu**

* * *

**Ruby**

* * *

It was nothing like the Summit's Claim, she felt like she was in danger with every second that passed by. So far, the Claim was the safest place she had known, even safer than Beacon Academy felt. Perhaps that was due to the two Battles of Beacon that occurred? Ruby lost her best friend and she was stabbed there, so it was understandable why she could not feel totally safe there all the time.

But this place? Everything felt like it was a trap, there were people keeping their eyes on them, but they also knew that they would be slaughtered if Lavinia gave the order. Ruby glanced at Eryka, and she was tense. She massaged her wrists constantly, Constantine Damascus laid on her lap. She held on of her extendable arrows in her fingers, spinning it round constantly whilst Dulcis sat next to her, his eyes stared around the area. Paladins marched past and the soldiers were armed to the teeth, using armour from Atlas and modified to suit their needs.

They were intimidating to say the very least, and the statement that they could take on the Black Gallows was most certainly not an understatement. Ruby stood up and she walked towards Eryka, moving past the Tribe that were all together, nervously talking to each other. Shay was sat with his grunts, and he was on edge as well – which made Ruby very nervous. He never struck her as the kind of person to think strategically in situations like these. Ruby approached Eryka and she sat down next to Neptune's sister. "Are you okay, Eryka?" She asked her curiously, and Eryka glanced at her.

"I… well… this place just brings back memories." Eryka sighed.

"Why? Was this where you and Neptune were raised?" Ruby asked, shocked at the idea that this was where they could have been raised.

"Oh no, no… Mom… Lavinia… she never took us here. We were never anywhere near the actual Cartel itself, she and our father wanted to keep the family separate. Well our dad did, Lavinia was always more passionate about leading the Cartel than raising a family. But no… our home was in Mistral. But I've been here a couple times." Eryka explained to her and Ruby looked at Eryka as she spoke. She sighed, pushing her hands against her face, sighing into her palms.

"I'm sorry…" Ruby apologised.

"Don't be, I knew this place was not gonna be fun the moment I knew we were coming here. I guess I didn't prepare myself for how many memories it would bring back." She sighed as she rubbed her scarred knuckles. Ruby noticed them, then Eryka pulled her gloves back on, hiding her self-consciousness from her friend. Ruby did not comment, she was not stupid she could put two and two together.

The Criminal Pit Fighting that Eryka took part in had brought her some pretty terrible scars that had haunted her even now. Her hands were not thick, they were still slender and gentle looking… but the scars changed a lot of that. Ruby then looked at her bow, gently stroking Dulcis' head. He softly chirped next to Ruby. "I never asked… did you make that bow?" She asked her.

"Yeah. But it wasn't something I always knew; it was something that Li taught me." Eryka explained as she held Constantine Damascus to her. Ruby held the huge Bow in her hands, she was surprised by the weight of it, but she also knew it was a shotgun as well as a Bow. She slid her fingers across the impressive craftsmanship of the Bow. She looked back at Eryka as she held the weapon. "You really are a dork for weapons, aren't ya?" Eryka chuckled.

"Oh yeah… I never was great at socialising with people. But weapons? That was always my thing." Ruby admitted as she turned Constantine Damascus over so she could admire the many markings that were engrained into the metal.

"I must admit… if you told me when I first came to Beacon four years ago that I would have a girlfriend and become a Huntress? Well I doubt I would have believed you." She admitted, and Ruby smiled.

"You wanted to be more. To be there for your brother." Ruby said with a smile. "He's lucky to have a sis like you. I know I am for having Yang, and Weiss with Winter." She said with a smile and Eryka smiled, gently rubbing Ruby's head.

"You're a good kid, Rubes." She said, making Ruby giggle with a blush.

They all turned and saw Qrow, Raven and Valravn returning to them, and Qrow had a worried look on his face. Ruby and Eryka were the first to stand up, looking right at the three Branwens as they came back to them. Eryka walked towards Qrow and Raven whilst Valravn hung back, since he could not go with them per the demands made by Lavinia Vasillias. "Come on, what's the word? Does she have Amber?" Eryka asked, and Cinder immediately walked over to them, stood next to Ruby.

"She has her, she's safe and being looked after." Qrow said, and it partly gave Cinder some relief, but she still desperately wanted to save the poor girl. She did not want her to be like what Salem turned her into.

Even though Cinder believed she was always going to be this way… all that hate and desire for power? It was always there.

Salem simply magnified it.

"Will she give her back to us?" Cinder asked the two of them and Raven looked at Qrow with a sigh.

"She will but it isn't Lien she's interested in. If it was, she would have already been sold to the highest bidder. No – Lavinia wants us to _earn_ her custody." Raven explained, and Cinder clenched her hand into a fist, scoffing.

"Cool it, C." Eryka softly said to her, maintaining her composure.

"So, what does she want?" She asked them. Qrow looked at Eryka and he scratched his stubble.

"She wants a team of us – ones she has selected – to go and protect her Mining Team from Lancers, in the Lake Matsu Floating Islands." Qrow explained, and Eryka's eyes widened.

"What the hell could Lavinia possibly want from there?" Ruby asked.

"Gravity Dust." Eryka answered. "I knew that stuff sold for a lot, but I never knew she was into selling illicitly acquired dust through the Black Market."

"She's a slave trader, and that's what surprises you?" Cinder scoffed, Eryka glanced at her and she sighed. Eryka walked past the group of them and she started to ponder it all.

"I don't like it. My mom never does things so simply, she has her own angle on all this. It could be a trap." Eryka explained, looking back at them all.

"Why would she wanna lay a trap for us?" Ruby asked, showing her sweet innocence again.

"Ruby – trust me when I say this – my mother is one of the most dangerous people on Remnant. She is cunning and will do anything to ensure her own victory, there's a reason why she managed to take over the entire Criminal Underworld as quickly as she did." Eryka explained, her hands behind her head.

"Lake Matsu is unpredictable, it would be really hard to lay a trap there, Eryka." Raven said as she walked over to her.

"You don't know her; not like I do. That place is dangerous on its own but with her being our eyes and ears in this operation? She has something planned for us." Eryka explained.

"Then what do we do? We can't just cut Amber loose and just leave." Cinder stated, and Eryka stared at the Office where she could see her mother staring at her through the windows. Eryka sighed.

"No… we're not. Get everyone ready… I'm gonna go have a chat with my mother." Eryka told them as she walked towards the Air Traffic Control Centre that had been re-designed into their headquarters for their many operations. Ruby walked after her, still holding Constantine Damascus.

"Do you want me to come with?" Ruby asked.

"No." Eryka sharply responded, walking to the doors with her fists clenched. The others all stood there, watching as Eryka walked away from them.

* * *

**Eryka**

* * *

It was not long before Lavinia's forces took her to meet with her mother, she walked down the hallways inside of the base. There were many rooms, and she glanced in each of them. One of them had many people sorting through the shells they had made, carefully inserting the ammunition inside their cases, building Dust Projectile Magazines for distribution of ammunition. Some of them were even making explosives, it was very clear to Eryka that Lavinia had some big order to fill in.

_This is new… last time I was here she never really dealt in weapons; it was more the trade of drugs. That was easily the highest earner, but the whole time we have been here it has mainly been Military Equipment being built and sold off._

_What kind of deal could she have possibly been given to build this much military equipment?_

_And of course… who is she selling it to?_

The questions were rattling around in her head as she walked, and in each room, there were more workers building weapons. Rifles, and machine guns, rocket launchers and grenade launchers, some of them were even building… Huntsmen Weaponry. She glanced inside of the room and saw collapsible swords, ones that looked like they could turn into guns on command. She furrowed her brows.

_I knew that the Vasillias Cartel had Rogue Huntsmen and Huntresses in their ranks, but I've never seen them build their weapons for them. Huntsmen don't normally buy weapons either, they make them to suit their needs. Sure, they may pay for a skilled Blacksmith to do it for them, but a Huntsman or Huntress always designs the weapon._

_There is no market for this…_

_… in fact, most of these weapons being sold off keep being given to their own men and women._

_… is she selling them?_

_… or preparing?_

Everything was just getting stranger and stranger, but Eryka kept following the guards that were taking her. She could not help but… well… appreciate… how disciplined they appeared to be. They were nothing like Shay and the Branwen Tribe, they were like the Military in their own right. But pretty soon she was about to get the chance to ask her mother what exactly is happening here.

She turned a corner and the soldiers stood there, and they opened the double doors to Lavinia's round office where her desk was sat at the very end, and Lavinia stood at the large window that overlooked her base and the mountains. She held a small glass of whiskey in her hand, looking out and Eryka slowly walked into the Office. The doors closed behind her, and immediately Lavinia sighed through her nose.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised – you've always been the one to fall for the losing cause." Lavinia said, turning to her daughter. Eryka scoffed, raising a brow.

"Losing Cause?" She questioned. "We want to make the world a better place."

"By inciting a war against the Black Gallows? Yeah… the whole world knows about you and your little band of rogues turning on Beacon Academy after Jackdaw's attack." Lavinia said as she turned around and walked towards her desk. Eryka was stunned at that.

"You… know it's him?" She asked.

"Of course, I knew. The second that Jackdaw appeared in Malachite's Nest her spies informed me that the infamous Jack the Ripper was indeed alive. He made one hell of an impression on Beacon Academy." Lavinia said as she walked around the room.

"Then how can you possibly claim I am on the wrong side? If you know, then you know that he slaughtered those people! Children!" Eryka growled as she slammed her hands against the desk.

"I said the _losing_ side… not the _wrong_ side." Lavinia corrected as she sat down. Lavinia was not one to lie to her… not her daughter, that was the one thing that Eryka knew. But Lavinia was a bit like Valravn sometimes, she knew how to be clever with the words she would use, and Eryka could snuff out her meanings real fast. Eryka stood tall again, taking her hands away from the table. "It's brave… standing up against Killian. I'd advise against it though, his men went easy on you back at Vacuo, I doubt they will do the same a second time." Lavinia said.

"Then we'll kill them if they stand in our way. Jackdaw has to pay for what he has done." Eryka snarled with a clenched fist.

"Is… this about what happened? That night?" Lavinia asked, slowly standing up and walking over to her daughter. She gently reached her hand out to Eryka and stroked her striking blue hair, almost affectionately, but Eryka wanted none of it.

"Don't touch me." She snarled, pushing her mother away. Lavinia sighed, squeezing her eyes shut.

"I did what I did to protect you. Those men wanted to kill you, both of you." Lavinia told her as Eryka crossed her arms. "I'm a shitty mom, I know that. But… I do care… I do love the two of you… if I could just see him…"

"No." Eryka growled. "I won't let you corrupt his mind, not like how you nearly did to me."

Lavinia chuckled. "Come now, Eryka. You were never gonna be like me, always idealistic. Never accepted the world for how it is."

"You'd be surprised." Eryka said as she looked over her shoulder at her mother. "I know you killed them to keep us safe, it wasn't that… it was when I learned what you really were. When you massacred the Vacuo Mafia for control."

Lavinia sighed. "I did what I had to – the Mafia were week and also too idealistic. If we did not destroy them then someone else would have."

"But it was all for nothing. Vacuo is doomed, the Kingdom is falling apart and in the next few decades the Kingdom will just be a memory. That's on your hands, not theirs. They died for nothing – all for your power. I won't let my baby brother have a mother like that." She growled at her, clenching her fist and walking over to her table.

"Did you come here to simply regurgitate past arguments? I'm tired of them my angel." Lavinia softly said to her.

"Don't call me that." Eryka snarled.

"You're my daughter – whether you like it or not." Lavinia said as she walked past her and returned to her table. Eryka looked at the photograph that was there, the one that had her beloved family. Lavinia was a confusing character to figure out, because of her devotion to the Cartel… but her true love for her family. The trouble was this simple question – which meant more to Lavinia?

The Cartel?

Or her Husband, her Daughter and her Son?

"So… why have you come up here?" Lavinia asked as she sat down, she was not as laid back in front of Eryka as she was in front of the Branwens. She was sat up straight and she cleaned up her face so there was no more blood. Like a completely different person.

"What are you up to?" Eryka questioned, and Lavinia raised a brow.

"That's vague…" Lavinia softly mumbled.

"With us? All the guns too? I remember you once said you never dealt weapons – rather kept your arsenal close." Eryka commented and Lavinia looked at her.

"And we are – I'm not selling weapons, well we are… but only to those I know will help us when the time comes." Lavinia explained as she got up from her desk and she approached one of her other desks.

"What does that mean? _When the time comes_?" Eryka questioned, Lavinia picked up a newspaper and she walked back to Eryka, holding it to her.

"I won't lie… not to you." Lavinia said, and Eryka stared at her mother then she looked at the Newspaper. "See for yourself."

Lavinia walked past her daughter and she sat on the edge of her table whilst Eryka read the front page.

**_Riots Break Out in Vacuo, Mantle and Argus_**

_Following a battle against the Black Gallows in the Marketplace of Vacuo, multiple Rogue Huntsmen and Huntresses clashed against Killian and his forces. With most of the population under the belief that Commander Nathaniel Killian is what is best for our society._

_Conflicting reports from multiple civilians claimed that Yang Xiao Long, a Huntress from Beacon Academy, responsible for breaking the leg in foul play of Mercury Black during the Vytal Festival, said that Killian was not who he said he was. Many people started to believe her words, the Black Gallows were an organisation to be feared for many, many years. And many people had started to take up arms against the mysterious organisation._

_This group rivalled against the Puritan Followers, who named themselves the Truth's Voice have started growing in numbers across the world of Remnant. These different opinions are sparking fights in the streets, and soon? We fear something worse could be afoot._

_Nathaniel Killian still has not had anything to say after being released from Vacuo Hospital on the situation._

_We will keep you informed as the situation develops._

"Seems like that show you all put on in Vacuo has given some hope to people who have the same trust issues in Killian and the Black Gallows." Lavinia said as Eryka put the Newspaper down on the table.

Neither sides of this journey had any idea of this development in the Kingdoms, especially after they had to cut themselves off from the Cross Continental Transmit Network. "I don't know what to make of this… we didn't want to start dividing people. I know the Puritan Followers are a devoted bunch, and I can't say I blame them. Killian saved a lot of Valerian Lives that night."

"Yeah, from a Grimm attack that _he_ started." She pointed out, and Eryka looked at her mother.

"So, you agree with me?" Eryka asked.

"Of course, I do, I'm not stupid. I don't eat up his bullshit like the rest of the world seems to. People want a hero to turn to nowadays, and Killian managed to play the part perfectly that night. But it doesn't mean he can't become the villain again… you just need to him show what he is to the world." Lavinia explained as she shrugged her shoulders.

"How are we meant to do that?" She asked.

"By playing it smart. If you manage to find the biggest proof in the world, one that shows him for the sleezeball that he is? Then you can't show the full truth." Lavinia explained to her.

"Why?" Eryka asked.

"Some people cannot handle the cold hard truth, so sometimes you need to make it familiar and fluffy. Tell them the stuff they can handle and hold the harsher stuff back for a later date." Lavinia explained. "Because if you don't? You could trigger something much worse."

"You're talking about what he did to Jaymes, aren't you?" Eryka asked. "I take it that was something else Malachite told you?"

"No… I believed you when you sent me that message." Lavinia said. "But yes, that is a scary truth people will not want to hear. You need to start with small truths about who he is, things that slowly show him to be what he is. Jumping the shark to the worst thing you know he has done will make people think you're untrustworthy." She explained.

"But why? Wouldn't it be easier and faster to use the full truth? No matter how harsh? People will handle it." Eryka stated.

"No."

"Why?"

"Because people are children, and children like stories. How many stories have you read that jump straight to the villain's demise?" Lavinia asked her and Eryka sighed, since she knew she had a point. "Let Killian build his own downfall. Once he stands at the cliff? Push the bastard off it."

Eryka sighed as she stood there. "I'll think about it… but Mom…" She said, looking at her and Lavinia looked at her beautiful little creation. "… you still didn't answer my question."

"The weapons are to defend ourselves when Killian eventually tries to take me and the Cartel out of the picture. I'm the last army that can stand against him, the Atlesians already are with him alongside the other Kingdoms. When that time comes, we will fight to the last man." Lavinia explained to Eryka.

"And us? No other secret plots you're waiting to hatch on us at Lake Matsu?" Eryka questioned and Lavinia looked at her and she just walked towards her. Eryka stood her ground, despite her heart pounding.

"Be careful, honey." She gently said to her, moving the strand of blue hair that fell over her eye round her shoulder. "You read the front page – Killian is back, and he is coming. And he won't be playing this time." She warned. "Be ready."

Eryka stared back at her mother, and she had a feeling that she knew what that meant.

_Killian is coming for us… somehow, I knew that was coming._

Eryka turned around and she walked away from her mother, but before she left, she stopped, and her eyes widened when she heard his voice. "Eryka?" Roland gasped, Lavinia turned, and she saw her husband stood there. He looked so small in comparison, yet it was Lavinia who looked away, out of regret for the things she did to make him so afraid of her.

"Hey… dad…" Eryka softly greeted, her voice fragile, as if she was about to cry.

"What are… what are you doing here?" Roland nervously asked her as he crossed his arms over his chest, fiddling with the steel wedding ring on his finger.

"Just… getting some things." Eryka answered.

"Oh… okay…" Roland softly sighed. Lavinia turned to her husband and he flinched… it stabbed deep… she loved him madly, she never hurt him or abused him in anyway… but he was scared of her, nonetheless. She reached out for him, but he walked away. "It… it was good to see you sweetie." Roland departed, and Eryka wiped the tears from her eyes.

"You too." She softly winced, before she walked away from Lavinia again. Her mother stared at where her husband left, and then she turned with tears streaming from her eyes. And Eryka was gone too… leaving her alone.

And she said one thing, as she stood there – with everything and nothing.

"I'm sorry…" She sniffled, voice breaking.

Lavinia Vasillias lived like a Queen, she had an army, the world never dared mess with her.

Yet she always felt so lonely.

_That_ was Lavinia's Curse.

* * *

**Ruby**

* * *

A few Hours later, the team had arrived at Lake Matsu, and Ruby was gleefully floating in the bizarre gravity fluctuations here.

Lake Matsu was roughly circular, with one very large island located on the west side of the lake halfway between the shore and the centre of the lake. Large natural gravity Dust deposits along the south shore of Lake Matsu formed huge crystals that caused small islands to float several hundred meters above the lake. The Gravity Dust was known to cause turbulence for ships flying through the area, hence why they used a very unique Airship, one that could be landed on the water, and they made their way up the islands, using the Zero-Gravity to their advantage. While many of these islands were nothing more than large rocks, some of the islands were large enough to support grass and even trees.

But they knew this place was not safe, not by any means, and Yang bounced up and down on the zero gravity that surrounded them. "This is so cool!" Yang laughed, doing flips as she did so. Ren on the other hand kept his senses sharp and Oscar was walking back and forth on the rocks.

Eryka and Dulcis were both sticking close to each other, like Glue and she kept her blue eyes watching the islands… but she heeded her mother's advice. She kept her eyes out for the Black Gallows, if they really were coming for them then this would be the perfect place for an ambush. Eryka knew that trusting her mother was a fool's game, end of the day she had double crossed more people than Eryka could ever dream of doing.

But Lavinia would never lie to her children or her husband.

Ruby jumped up and she flew through the air, landing next to Yang on one of the mountains, looking down at Nora who was working hard to keep herself afloat. The Miners were drilling into the huge Dust Crystals that formed this islands that floated above the sapphire blue lake beneath them. "Any signs of Lancer Activity?" Raven called out, transforming back into her Human Form once again as she returned to them. Qrow flew around the sky and he landed on one of the other islands as well.

"Nothing, I think we're in the clear so far." Qrow said, and Eryka looked around as she stood there. Ren walked up the Islands and he stood beside Eryka, he looked at Shay who was with his men he brought with him.

"What are you thinking?" He asked her, she looked at Ren and she blew out a breath.

"I don't like this. It just feels like they are waiting for us to make some kind of mistake. Lancers have never been stealthy, to say the very least." Eryka said with a sigh, her grip on Constantine Damascus was strong.

"I know…" Ren agreed as he looked around, listening but all he could hear was the wind.

But as they stood there, they heard one of the miners scream with terror. "I'm on it!" Ruby called out, blasting off with Yang in a flurry of petals. Yang bounced off the closely clustered islands and boulders, and they turned to see the large Lancers that hissed at the Miner who held his drill in his hands.

Lancers had a three-segmented black body with three sets of legs. They had a white bone armoured mask and armour along their back. On the back of their abdomen, the armour was in four overlapping plates. They had jagged pincers, antenna, four red transparent wings and a stinger, with glowing red eyes. The huge Wasp snapped its pincer-like mandibles at the Miner who tried to get away from it. Ruby yelled and she fired herself forward and slashed straight through the Lancer. The Creature of Grimm crumbled away into smoke around them, and Ruby slammed Crescent Rose into the Island next to her to stop herself from floating any further.

"Nice shot, sis!" Yang cheered, thrusting her fist up into the air.

"Everything seems to be going according to plan." Qrow shrugged to his sister and she smiled, nodding her head.

Ren smiled and he looked up as the sun was blocked out by the Shadow of Broken Promises. The massive jet-black Dreadnaught darkened the sky and he saw the flashes… and the incoming shells that came firing down towards them. His eyes widened, realising too late. "GET DOWN!" Ren bellowed, as the Broadside Cannons opened fire upon the entire Cluster of Islands. The shells exploded against the islands, shattering some of them and throwing the huge burning chunks of rocks flying, killing multiple Vasillias Cartel soldiers, Miners and some of the Grunts that Shay had brought with them. The wave of shells burned across Lake Matsu, some of them missed and whistled as the exploded into the lake beneath, throwing water up into the low gravity, forming rising Waterfalls.

Yang jumped to Ruby and she caught her, both of them tumbled as the explosive shells erupted where they were, killing the Miner that was stood there. The Shadow of Broken Promises eventually stopped firing on them all, Qrow transformed into his Corvid Form, flying as fast as he could to avoid the remaining artillery that came crashing down, diving and dodging the shrapnel. Nora blasted herself away from the islands just in time and Shay rolled into one of the caves, narrowly avoiding one of them. Eryka slid down her Island with Ren, both of them held onto the sides, looking up at the huge Dreadnaught that floated up there.

"Damn it Mom… why did you have to be right?" Eryka softly growled, but as she stared at the Shadow of Broken Promises, she saw the Black Gallows descending from the hangers, and multiple Wasps came towards their location. The Raven Talons jumped out from the Airships alongside some Shadow Dagger Troopers, using what seemed to be grappling hooks alongside the thrusters on their boots. They used the Zero-Gravity to their advantage… and as Eryka watched them… she grit her teeth in anger as she saw him descending.

Killian.

He was not messing around anymore, he dove from the Airship with stern eyes and gritted teeth, wearing his combat armour and he fired the Grappling Hook from his bracer that punctured into the island and he drew his Pistol and Dagger, swinging towards one of Shay's Grunts who survived the Ambush. The Grunt choked in agony as Killian drove his dagger straight through his jugular, ripping it out and sliding across the ground to dodge the gunfire. He jumped up and fired his Chrome Pistol at the two Grunts in front of him, hitting one of them in the heart and blowing the other's eye out. Their blood rose up into the sky.

Killian turned with anger in his onyx eyes, and he swung round and launched his Throwing Knife towards the other Grunt. The knife wobbled into his skull, and he opened the palm of his gauntlet which glowed bright, using a magnetic calling device that pulled the knife right back. The corpse of the soldier was pulled with him and he ripped the knife out from his head so hard that he threw his corpse away.

The remaining Vasillias Cartel soldiers stood there with fear in their eyes, guns in their hands, scared to fight. The mission was ruined, and they knew it. Eryka hung in there, and she finally knew something.

_This isn't my mother's doing… she may be untrustworthy, but she isn't stupid. She never would have put so much stake in this mission to have us come here… someone else was responsible for this!_

"We need to get to the others, the Cartel Soldiers won't stand a chance, but we can use their deaths to give us time." Eryka whispered, but Ren looked horrified. None of them had spilled any real blood… yet…

Killian pointed at the Cartel Members that hid at the same spot, and the Raven Talons made their move. The Cartel Soldiers yelled desperately, firing their machine guns at the Black Gallows, but the bullets were completely useless against them. Because the Stockholm Troopers were completely shielded by Hardlight Dust, all around their bodies, meaning that they could not be stopped… or at least it seemed that way. The Raven Talons fired their Grappling Hooks forward and they rushed the six remaining Cartel Fighters.

One of the Raven Talons fired his Grappling Hook straight into the fighter and he pulled himself right towards him, kicking the Combatant in the chest with both feet. The attack ripped the hook out, opening a hole in his chest. The Raven talon turned and caught the machete that the soldier swung at him from behind, and he snapped the blade and drove it straight through the man's knee. He then grabbed the Thug's head and drove it into the same blade, pinning his skull to his knee.

Another Raven Talon shot up into the air, using the low gravity and the many islands that surrounded them to his advantage, and he aimed his Machine Gun and fired it down at them. The bullets shot down and punctured through their bodies, no armour or valuable tech whatsoever. Lavinia should have sent better men; these poor people were practically target practice. The fourth of the six remaining combatants looked around with fear, unaware of the Shadow Talon that emerged behind him, shutting off his active camouflage and driving his two swords through his back. He gasped in agony, blood poured from the wounds and the Shadow Dagger ripped them out with great force.

Only two more.

And Killian had them for himself. He walked towards them as they charged towards him, and he ducked under the first man's bat that he swung at his head. He fired his pistol into the back of his leg to bring him to one knee, whilst drawing his advanced throwing knife and driving it upwards, right up the second man's jaw. Blood poured from the wound before he kicked him in the chest and ripped the knife through his jaw. He finished the last man off by rolling across his back and carving the blade clean through his throat. Killian spun his Knife through his fingers and he calmly sheathed it.

The Monster was unleashed, not the Human Being.

Killian turned to his squad of Black Gallows soldiers, and he more of them just landed, all of which were Raven Talons and Shadow Daggers. This terrain was not suited for the heavier soldiers, this needed quick soldiers who could react fast. "Find the Rogues, kill the rest. Take them alive." Killian ordered as he reloaded his Chrome Pistol.

Whilst the Black Gallows looked for them, everyone found each other underneath one of the islands, hanging onto the Vines. "Damn it… I thought we would have more time!" Yang said.

Eryka had already informed them of what Lavinia told her, about the Newspaper and Killian being back on his feet. But how he immediately knew they would be here? That meant something… something big. "There's no way he could have figured out that we would be here at this moment, not on his own. He's smart but not omniscient. Someone… is playing games!" Qrow growled with anger as he clenched his hand into a fist.

"Calm down, we need to figure out a way out of this mess. We'll have to find a way to free Amber afterwards…" Raven said as she looked around, but Ren got a good look at them.

"I saw them, the Cartel shot at Killian's men and their bullets completely bounced off their armour. They had some kind of Hardlight Shielding around them, they didn't even make a scratch." Ren explained, and Ruby started to think as she sat there.

"That makes fighting them a lot harder. This really is what these bastards are capable of then, huh?" Oscar scoffed.

"Yeah, guess we really pissed 'em off?" Yang scoffed.

"Wait…" Ruby said. "It's not possible for all their body to be completely shielded. The Hardlight has to come from somewhere, like some kind of generator that is exposed on their armour?" Ruby asked and Eryka thought back.

_Wait… she's right! I remember seeing a bright blue light on their backs when they ran forward._

"On their backs! Definitely, it must be the generator! You little genius, Ruby!" Eryka squeaked, making Ruby blush a smile.

"I saw they were using Grappling Hooks too, to use the terrain." Ren explained and Qrow nodded his head.

"Makes sense, they can move faster than us… but we have the element of surprise and can use the low Gravity to get to them." Qrow explained as he drew Harbinger, ready to shed blood. Ruby's silver eyes widened as she looked at him.

Qrow looked at his nieces and then at Nora and Ren. "This is it, you four. This is the day where you're gonna have to dirty your hands." He told them.

Killian looked around as he walked across the grass, and a Lancer suddenly erupted from the hole in the ground in front of him, but he swiftly drew his Pistol and fired it straight through the skull of the creature, killing it instantly. He lowered his pistol and he admired the beautiful rising waterfalls, when suddenly an arc of fire suddenly shot upwards into it, instantly evaporating the water into clouds that obscured his vision.

"Shit!" Killian explained, looking around with his men as they all started to move away from the clouds, realising that this was happening to all of them. "They're here… turning the water to steam so we can't see them… this could get ugly." Killian said as he looked around, then they all leapt up from underneath their floating island.

As Ruby floated up the low gravity, doubts filled her mind. _I… I can't… I'm... I'm a huntress, not a murderer…_

Qrow flew up into the air in his corvid form and he could see them all from up there, and he counted how many Black Gallows were down there. He dove back down and transformed back into Human Form. "Twenty-five and Killian! Total!" Qrow called out, and Killian turned as he heard his voice echo through the clouds.

"I can't see a thing!" One of the Raven Talons yelled as he flew through the air, using both zero-gravity and the grappling hook to pretty much fly through the air. But as he tried to find a way through the fog, Ren suddenly emerged behind him. Uncertainty plagued his face… but he focused… and he understood.

_We have to do this…_

_… we have no choice._

Ren fired Stormflower into the glowing blue Hardlight Dust pack inside of the Raven Talon's armour, and the bullet nailed him there, shattering it and causing the field that surrounded his body to fade away. "What the –" Ren yelled, bringing down the second Stormflower blade, and he sliced it straight through the soldier's throat. His dying eyes stared up at Ren as he groaned from the pain, his crimson blood rising from where he opened his neck. Ren yelled, forcefully finishing the job as he pulled the blade away from the soldier's throat, and his corpse fell through the clouds, crashing against the mountains.

Oscar was using this strategy to his advantage as well, he launched his hammer into the back of one of the soldiers, so hard it broke his spine and destroyed his Hardlight Pack on his back. The soldier screamed in pain as he recoiled and Oscar swung the long-chained hammers round and smashed them against the back of the other, not killing her though. He launched his chains forward and he smashed them into the side of the Male Raven Talon's head, killing him instantly. Unlike the Rogues he had nothing holding him back, no morality when it came down to spilling blood.

He landed on one of the Islands, but he gasped, turning to see that second Raven Talon erupt through the fog and aim her rifle at his head. "Die!" She yelled, only for an arrow to come soaring through and puncture through her sternum between her breasts. The soldier gasped and she plummeted down from him, disappearing into the clouds.

"Yes! Nice shot Eryka!" He called out, and Eryka sprinted across the Islands as she dodged the incoming bullets, sliding underneath one of the toppled over trees from the Shadow of Broken Promise's assault. She jumped up into the air and she twisted round and fired another arrow that landed behind the soldier, and it exploded. The shrapnel destroyed his Hardlight Pack, lowering his shields, when Raven suddenly blasted up with a yell and drove Omen straight through his chest, so hard that his blood splattered over her face.

"Damn it!" Killian yelled as he heard his men being slaughtered by the rogues, firing his gun up at Ruby as she soared through the air. She ducked under the incoming shots from the Shadow Dagger that flew around her. He slashed his swords at her and fired the gun on his shoulder, a small arm that held a turret, aimed at whatever he was looking at. Ruby kicked the soldier in the chest so hard that he slammed against the wall and the generator broke apart, the only thing that was no protected by the Hardlight Shields. Ruby flew round in a burst of petals and she slammed her boot into the side of his head, so hard it knocked him out.

But it did not kill him.

She landed and looked at his unconscious body. "I'm sorry." She softly said.

Nora blasted up into the air as she charged up Stormur Skeggox, her eyes glowed bright blue as she shot towards them. "Damn she's fast!" One of the Raven Talons yelled as Nora's body charged up, her semblance enhancing her strength and speed. She yelled and she swung Stormur Skeggox with great force and cut straight through the pack on the back of the soldier, using the fog that obscured their vision to their advantage.

It was making combat against them painfully easy – but the clouds would not stay forever, and they were beginning to thin.

As his Hardlight Shield faded, Nora swung round and dug her axe into his chest and swung him round and launched him towards one of the other Raven Talons. The body of the soldier crashed into his and knocked him out of the sky. Nora took that chance as she shot towards him and she fired her grenade launcher into his chest, which blasted him down and he crashed against one of the Islands, destroying the generator and he plummeted down from the islands and into the lake below.

Yang blasted up into the air and she punched one of the Raven Talons across the jaw, she yelped from the pain but swung right back, nailing Yang's cheek. Yang took that as her chance and she kicked her in the side of the head to stun her for a second, and she blasted behind her and punched straight into the generator with her Cybernetic Hand, ripping the core out. The field faded and Yang grabbed the soldier and blasted Ember Celica through her chest, her eyes widened behind the red visor and Yang winced… watching the life leave the soldier as she fell from her.

"Once they break our Hardlight Shields, their weapons have the advantage!" Killian yelled as he looked around. He turned and he saw Raven transform from her Corvid Form, and she leapt towards three of his soldiers. Raven drew her Flaming Blade and she slashed across their bodies, and she rolled across the back of one soldier and she run the blade through the generator and his body. She jumped off his body and flipped through the air, firing her flaming blade towards the next soldier which bounced off the Hardlight, but she caught it in the Hilt, and she slashed up the back of the soldier. As the generator exploded, she switched to her red Odachi Blade and cut straight through his body and rushed to the next.

"We're getting slaughtered… we have to stop them!" Killian yelled, until he felt the Bad Luck Charm coming back for him. He heard four of his men die at once and he turned, wide eyed as the glowing red eyes of Qrow Branwen came for him, blood covering Harbinger. "At this rate… they'll wipe us out!" He yelled, anger in his heart.

Qrow flew closer and closer towards Killian, ready to finish him off.

For good this time.

Qrow yelled with anger, Harbinger held back as he got closer and closer.

"SURPRISE BROTHER!" Jackdaw yelled, suddenly appearing from one of the mountains, transforming out of his Corvid Form. He flipped through the air and blasted both of his Grave Dust Formed guns at Qrow.

He gasped and so did Killian who took cover out of fear, and Jackdaw landed on one of the floating mountains, looking down at Qrow with a smirk. Qrow stood behind one of the trees, only narrowly missing that attack. "Well, well – I see you've remembered every trick dear old Uncle Val taught us. Managed to follow my little breadcrumb trail all the way here." Jackdaw chuckled sinisterly, Ruby landed, and her silver eyes narrowed, and she gritted her teeth as Yang landed next to her.

"JACKDAW!" Ruby yelled with anger and Yang's eyes flared red.

"Damn! If it isn't the girls themselves!" Jackdaw laughed as he jumped down from the island he held onto, and landed on the one with Qrow, Killian, Ruby and Yang on. "A pleasure to finally meet you both in the flesh, wow you really resemble your mommas don't ya?" He teased with a smirk, his bladed feathers forming from the 3-D Printers built into his cybernetic arms, grave dust hardening into razor sharp feathers.

"You… you're gonna pay for what you did!" Ruby yelled in anger, gripping Crescent Rose tight and he smirked at her.

"The innocent little flower? Funny how you hated being forced to kill these fine soldiers… but me? Oh, that's different?" He laughed. "You hurt me. Come here, why don't we make up? Come on give a nice hug to you're Uncle Jack?" Jackdaw smirked as he tilted his Top Hat… ready for a battle.

* * *

**Author Note - It's been a while since we last saw him, but he's back!**

**God I love this chapter, time for the gang to dirty their hands, and all of them bar Ruby have done it. I do love exploring Ruby's conflicts over killing people, since she couldn't bring herself to kill a soldier, but Jackdaw? That's different. I love playing around with a bit of hypocrisy with my characters from time to time.**

**And man, I love writing the Black Gallows. If it weren't for the fog it would have been a more even fight, but luckily Raven thought ahead, but the fog has cleared now, and there are still more of the bastards out there. Everything is on even turf now. And I could finally show what Killian is capable of too, there is a reason behind how he has made it this far. Not just lies, but also because he has become a pretty lethal fighter. With failure comes wisdom, and he has become very wise from how many fights he has lost. I also love his pistol, simple yet effective.**

**I also love the Vasillias Family in Eclipse, so interesting to write, how Lavinia has so much yet she is so alone because it has cost her the love of her family. Everything has a price.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Stay tuned for the next chapter - Peaks Pass!**

**\- Matt**


	35. Peaks Pass

**Chapter 34 – Peaks Pass**

* * *

**Jackdaw**

* * *

His eyes glowed red, or at least it seemed like they did.

He tilted his black hat as he stood before his two nieces, and Ruby instantly shot forward before Yang did. Her blonde sister gasped; eyes wide as Ruby blasted towards Jackdaw. "Ruby!" She yelled to her, firing after her to assist Ruby. Ruby yelled with fury, her silver eyes shimmered with her strong emotions, and Jackdaw smirked sinisterly as he waited. Then, he launched the fatal feathers that were printed from his cybernetic arms. Ruby gasped, her eyes widened, and she spun through the air in a swirl of rose petals.

The Feathers flew right past her, narrowly missing her body before she slashed Crescent Rose towards Jack the Ripper. He stopped her scythe with the long feathers on his other arm, staring right into her eyes. "My, my… truly just like your mother. A fire burning so hot within you, I do hope the cold of death does not extinguish yours like it did her." Jackdaw told her, and it just hurt Ruby more and more. Tears welled up in her eyes, but not from sorrow, from an anger she could not control.

Ruby fired at Jackdaw, but he jumped over her head, twisted his feathers around her curved blade and he launched it from her hands. Ruby gasped as Crescent Rose bounced across the ground, before it floated up into the air, the low gravity carrying it off with ease. Jackdaw landed behind her and he swung his body around, and roundhouse kicked Ruby across the face. She yelped from the sharp pain, crashing to the ground, and Jackdaw tilted his head at her, before he walked towards her.

Yang suddenly slammed into Jackdaw's side, so hard that he had to dig his boots into the soil to stop her from shunting him off the edge of the island. Yang yelled and swung her cybernetic fist towards his face, until he caught it in his bigger, less elegant, cybernetic hand. He twisted her arm round and he stared at Yang now. "Just like your mother, always head first into trouble. Never thinking about the consequences." Jackdaw growled, kicking Yang in the chest, pushing her away from him but Yang still went for him.

Yang swung at Jackdaw, but he duck under her punch and slammed his fist straight into hers. Yang staggered back and stared back at Jackdaw. Both her and Ruby remembered what the Branwens told them about Jackdaw… about his semblance.

_He will have good luck until he doesn't._

No matter what he will have the advantage over them until the time comes where he doesn't, but the issue was simple. They never knew when that good luck would run out, sometimes it could happen during a fight, or it could happen days from now. Maybe even years…

There was a reason behind what made him the most prolific serial killer in Remnant's History.

The grave dust formed new blades for him to use against the two of them, alongside the two long barrels, one on each arm, that he could fire fabricated bullets from. "You a damn monster." Yang snarled at Jackdaw.

"Monster is simply a descriptor for a certain point of view. What you call a monster would be _vastly_ different in comparison to what _I_ call a monster." Jackdaw told them as he paced back and forth, waiting for them to make their attacks. "Thing is, I do not wish to fight you. Only… to teach you my next lesson." He said to them.

They both scoffed, Ruby looked at Crescent Rose that floated in the air, she could get to it, but Yang needed to keep Jackdaw busy. There was no way in hell he would just let her grab her weapon… but even then… he probably would.

Jackdaw is in it for the thrill of the hunt and the fight, always has been.

"Oh yeah? What lesson is that?" Yang replied as she loaded fresh shells into Ember Celica.

"Lesson Number Two: Trust." He began, but Yang fired herself forward towards him, engaging in their next bout. But that did not stop Jackdaw from lecturing them. Yang swung her fist towards him, and Jackdaw pushed her aside, and he immediately spun round and started firing both his machine guns at her, firing well forged fabricated bullets at Yang. She held her cybernetic arm up, using it to block the bullets that flew towards her.

"Trust can be just as fickle as the truth. Who do you truly think you can trust? How many words from the voices of Qrow, Raven and Valravn can you trust? We were raised by bandits, by liars and thieves… we all know how to lie. But I was the one who believed in the truth more than anything. Tell me, how much do you believe what the three of them say? Do you know what Valravn has done? What dear old Uncle Qrow and Mommy Raven have done?" Jackdaw asked her as he fired at Yang. She blasted herself up into the air, and she grabbed onto one of the vines from a floating island.

She swung round and launched herself towards Jackdaw, yelling as she slammed her fist down towards him. Jackdaw jumped backwards as Yang smashed the ground apart, shattering the surface and launching chunks of soil up into the air, alongside countless rocks. Jackdaw slid across the ground and launched more of his Fatal Feathers towards Yang. Yang fired her whistling missiles towards them, and they all exploded upon the feathers, shattering them like glass. One of those missiles flew towards Jackdaw, but his arm pumped out more Grave Dust, which he used to fabricate and shield on command, blocking the fiery discharge that hit him.

"It doesn't matter! They're family, that's all that matters!" Yang said back to him, throwing the empty chains that once held her missiles.

Jackdaw scoffed as the smoke and flames faded around him, and he walked through the cloud, staring at Yang, wiping the ash from his hat. "And yet… here you are… trying to kill your Uncle." He said to her, and he saw Yang's eyes dance around, he was getting in her head, making her see the hypocrisy in what she said. "There was a time where I would have said the same thing, Yang… but they disappointed me… as always." Jackdaw smirked at her.

"That's no excuse for what you've done!" Yang yelled, and Ruby shot up into the air in a burst of Rose Petals, and she grabbed Crescent Rose, and she swung round, and launched herself down towards Jackdaw. Yang did the same, shooting herself forward and Jackdaw jumped backwards, instantly deflecting the shotgun shells fired towards him by Yang with his bladed feathers. Ruby landed in front of Jackdaw, slashing downwards with Crescent Rose, and she managed to actually land a hit on him this time, cutting across his tough blood red aura. He grunted and immediately swung round and fired his machine guns at her. Ruby spun Crescent Rose to block the bullets that shot towards her, but as she did so, Jackdaw caught the handle of her weapon, and he pulled her forward and punched her across the cheek.

Ruby fell to the ground with great force, and Yang immediately leapt at Jackdaw, hooking her metal arm around his neck. Jackdaw snarled with anger as she pulled him back, but Yang was still at a disadvantage here, because he towered above her, and her feet were barely even reaching the floor. He reached back and grabbed her by her long locks of blonde hair. He slammed her down to the ground and slammed his boot down towards her head. Yang rolled out of the way and blasted upwards, and she too landed a punch on his face.

It was not like Neo luckily, he had luck on his side for now but clearly that did not mean that he was untouchable. They just had to be careful against him, because he could turn the tide at any moment. Jackdaw staggered and Yang sprinted towards him, whilst Ruby did the same. Yang punched at him over and over with great speed, both her arms moved like a blur, firing the shells at him with every single punch. But Jackdaw crossed his feather blade over to block the shots, and just as he went to attack her, Ruby slammed herself into his back, knocking the serial killer forward, right into Yang's fist.

Yang grabbed his arm and she pulled him downwards, throwing him over her shoulder with force. Jackdaw dragged his metal hand through the soil, burning red eyes glared right at the two sisters. Jackdaw rose back to his feet as both Yang and Ruby stood side by side, ready to fight him again. Jackdaw walked towards the sisters, and they both went for the kill, and Ruby slashed Crescent Rose at him, but he stopped her blade with his metal arm and punched Yang in the face. He pushed Ruby away but she countered by firing the sniper rifle behind her, using the recoil to blast her forward, she spun like a saw blade at him, and cut across his metal arms, he formed a shield on one arm, that blocked that strike and Ruby slammed the scythe down to the ground, blasting the rifle over and over again. The bullets bounced off his aura and his tough metal arms.

Yang punched Jack in the side, and he grunted, cartwheeling towards Ruby and he slashed his long feathers across Crescent Rose, Ruby defended herself from the attack, sparks flew from the contact of blades clashing against one another. Jackdaw jumped up and spun through the air, launching three blades from his arm towards Ruby. But she spun Crescent Rose again, deflecting and rebounding the feathers back at him. Jackdaw dodged two and he caught the third, and he threw it towards Ruby and it stabbed through her red hood. Ruby yelped, as the blade carried her up into the air. Ruby reached to the blade and pulled it out, the Grave Dust crumbled away into their dusty form with the electrical charge fading away that hardened it into a shape.

Jackdaw turned whilst Ruby floated away, and he blasted towards Yang, and he grabbed her by the throat, and smashed the side of her face into the ground. Yang grabbed onto his arm with one hand whilst she punched her metal fist into the soil. Eventually her metal hand caught a sturdy rock under the surface of soil, and she stopped Jackdaw's charge. She kicked him in the chest, flipping him over her body and she rolled back onto her feet. Yang cocked Ember Celica and she launched herself back at Jackdaw. He flipped through the air and landed on both feet, slamming his fists together with a maniacal grin on his face.

"Come on, Xiao Long! Show me you've got!" Jackdaw challenged her, and Yang grit her teeth with anger, and she blasted towards him, arching her arm back to punch him in the face. Behind her, Ruby was launching herself forward as well, the recoil and low gravity in the air turned the red-haired girl into a bullet. They both launched themselves towards Jackdaw Branwen, and he jumped at them as well.

Both him and Yang slammed their fists together, and Yang tackled him afterwards, they both floated through the air. Yang slammed her head into his, forcing him to recoil, and Yang swung her fist across his face. Jackdaw hooked his arm around her neck, and he swung her downwards with great force. Yang crashed against the stony walls of the mountains that floated above Lake Matsu, breaking apart as Yang collided into them. Ruby launched Crescent Rose towards Jackdaw, and the huge scythe spun like a sawblade, a red blur that sliced across Jackdaw's aura. He held his arms together, the huge metal blade cut against the steel, but he held her back, before he punched the weapon out of his way.

Ruby zoomed around in a flock of red petals, launching towards Jackdaw, firing her rifle over and over at him. Jackdaw pushed his legs off the walls of the mountains, and he fired his guns back at her. Some of the bullets hit Ruby's strong red aura, but she did not stop, she flew back towards Jackdaw as he sprinted across the mountains that he landed on. Ruby slammed Crescent Rose towards him, and the huge curved scythe pinned his neck to the wall, and she glared at him. But… even though she wouldn't be able to, due to his aura still remaining strong… she could not bring herself to kill him.

Even though she hated him… even though he killed her mother…

… her heart could not do it.

Jackdaw stared at her and he smirked. "It seems even your heart is as tender as hers was." Jackdaw softly said as he stared at Ruby. She glared at him and she tightened her grip on Crescent Rose.

"Why? Why did you do it?" Ruby cried out with heartbreak, and Jackdaw stared at her… right in her eyes.

"Curious… that they did not tell you." Jackdaw chuckled. "But then again… I expect nothing less from my twins. Always the liars to save their own skin, even if they hated themselves afterwards." Jackdaw told her, and Ruby stared at him with confusion.

_What the hell is he talking about?_

"Ol' Qrow and Raven? The eyes of Ozpin? They see all but speak very little – especially the truth." Jackdaw snarled at her, Ruby grit her teeth with anger. She knew that there was some serious bad blood between Qrow and Jackdaw, more than Raven and Jackdaw had, but it did not matter – Qrow was her Uncle – her family.

"Shut up! Nobody hurts my family!" Ruby yelled with anger and she swung her fist towards Jackdaw. He caught her fist with his metal hand, and he pulled her forward with great force, headbutting her. He grabbed onto Crescent Rose and he ripped it from the wall and swung the blunt end round and whacked it across Ruby's cheek. He then jumped towards her and punched her three times in the face, before he jumped higher into the air, twisted round and kicked her in the gut. Ruby plummeted down towards the lower islands, and she held onto Crescent Rose, digging it into the side of the mountain. It cut deep, penetrating through the stone and soil, chunks of rock and earth plummeted and floated away in the zero gravity. Dust filled the air and both her and Yang coughed, struggling to breathe.

"You've seen it with your own eyes! Qrow and Raven? They have kept so many secrets from you… you life has been shrouded in lies. It's time you learned the truth." Jackdaw called down, his voice echoed through the mountains, and Ruby coughed as she wiped the dust from her face.

"The Truth? Or _Your _Truth?" Yang called back, and Jackdaw remained silent for a few moments.

"I guess we will see, when the time comes." Jackdaw responded.

As the dust cleared, Jackdaw suddenly dropped down towards them, he held out his hands and punched both the metal hands into the walls of the close mountains they were between. The rock and soil shattered as he descended, eyes blood red as he glared down at them. He jumped down towards them and launched his feathers towards them. Yang grunted as one of them hit her in the chest, shattering against her aura. Her golden aura shimmered from the heavy strike, but it did not break, not yet. Jackdaw extended his blades from his forearms and he spun his body through the air, slashing across Ruby's aura with great force and rage. Ruby screamed in pain as she felt the razor-sharp blades damage her aura. He punched her and she crashed against the wall, falling into the vines. Ruby reached out for Crescent Rose, which was caught in the many Vines.

Jackdaw descended toward Yang, using the tight islands to his advantage. He slashed his arms across Yang's chest, and he grabbed her by the throat, smashing her up against the wall. Yang grunted, but she swung her fist towards his head, only for Jackdaw to sharply move his head out of the way. The Ripper stared right into her violet eyes, until they suddenly turned red and Yang punched him hard in the face. Jackdaw grunted, launched back by his niece and crashing against the wall. Yang jumped off the wall and she punched him in the chest, then repeatedly in the face, over and over again. She grabbed him by the throat this time, and she lifted him up off the floor, and with gritted teeth, she took her metal fist and pummelled him downwards with all her might.

His red aura flickered, but did not break, not yet. He plummeted down, then he smirked, blasting both his guns down beneath him, and he launched up towards Yang, grabbing her by the throat again. "Is that all you have to offer?" Jackdaw challenged, dragging her face against the wall as they both flew up the side of the mountain. Ruby gasped, grabbing Crescent Rose and slashing through the green vines. She launched after both Jackdaw and Yang, in an effort to help her big sister against their foe. Jackdaw and Yang both flew up from the chasm between the two mountains, and he twisted round and kicked Yang in the sternum.

Yang plummeted down and crashed into the ground with great force. Yang groaned in pain; her aura was broken as she laid there in the shattered terrain. A Lancer emerged from the mountain and stared straight at Yang who was barely conscious, it hissed and flew towards her, launching the long barb from its tail towards her. Until a Fatal Feather from Jackdaw severed it, and Jackdaw launched down towards the creature and he cut it clean in half in one strike, his long blades made short work of the Creature of Grimm. He landed beside Yang as the Lancer crumbled away into black smoke. Jackdaw walked towards Yang and he aimed the long barrel of his right armed gun, pointing it at her face. Yang was scratched up and bruised, staring up at Jackdaw.

_This is it… this is how I die… I'm sorry, Summer… Ruby… everyone… I failed…_

She closed her eyes and awaited the end… only he never fired. He just pointed it at her, when Yang opened her eyes, she saw him lower the gun as he looked at her. There was an expression in his eyes… one that she didn't expect.

_He… doesn't want to kill me?_

_Why?_

Jackdaw did not say a word, he just stared at Yang, and as the blonde brawler stared up at Jackdaw, suddenly red petals swirled up behind Jackdaw and Ruby floated in the air. With Crescent Rose held back, her teeth gritted, she glared at Jackdaw with anger. "Gotcha!" She yelled, blasting down towards him after firing her rifle backwards, and Jackdaw's red eyes widened, and he spun round. Ruby hooked her blade onto his neck, and she dragged him across the ground, sprinting as fast as she could as she dragged him across the ground. She twisted her body and launched Jackdaw towards a tree, and she kept going for him. Jackdaw rolled out of the way and Ruby cut the tree clean in half. The tree floated upwards from the stump that remained where it was, and Jackdaw stood back up. "Catch!" Ruby yelled, using the zero gravity to her advantage, she kicked the tree, and the lack of weight allowed her to send the tree flying towards Jackdaw.

Jackdaw grunted in pain as the tree smashed into him, sending Jack the Ripper tumbling back. Ruby stood in front of Yang, protecting her big sister whilst her aura recharges. Jackdaw rose back up and he glanced at the aura meter on his arm. He had half of his aura lost, which was more than he was anticipating. "Damn… either I'm getting slow with age… or you two are better than I was expecting. Not bad." Jackdaw chuckled as he ejected the broken blades, only forming more from the Grave Dust. Ruby watched as that dust that was used for the broken blades returned back into his armour – meaning he reused the same Grave Dust over and over again.

No wonder he never seemed to run out, he simply reused the same amount repeatedly. _Clever…_ Ruby thought. "But judging by your sister's broken aura? I doubt you have much left either. Tell me, do you really have this much of a death wish? Turning against the Black Gallows, going after Roman Torchwick at Mountain Glenn and at Beacon? Even Neopolitan." The mere mention of her name made Ruby shudder. "You never know when to back down, do ya?" He asked her.

Ruby scoffed, wiping the sweat from her brow. "I could do this all day." She replied, and Jackdaw smiled.

"I admire that." He told her, but as Ruby stood there. She prepared to attack Jackdaw… when suddenly Qrow and Raven landed in front of her, weapons at the ready. The Branwens stared at one another, and Jackdaw laughed as he stared at the two of them. "Damn… look at this… just a good ol' family reunion." He laughed, holding out his arms, Qrow grit his teeth and Raven sternfully glared at Jackdaw.

"Ruby, stay back. Stay with your sister… Raven and I will handle this." Qrow assured.

"About time you showed up. You know your little girl, Raven, and your niece were tough enough to kick my ass a few times? You really that cowardly to finish what they started?" Jackdaw asked them, and they both grit their teeth, Raven drew Omen as she glared at him and Qrow transformed Harbinger into its Scythe Form.

"Shut up, Jack. This ends here." Raven growled.

"You kidding me? This story's just getting good!" Jackdaw laughed as he sharped the blades, slashing them against one another, over and over again.

The Three Branwens stood before each other, ready to continue their battle.

* * *

**Eryka**

* * *

She could see the battle between Jackdaw, Qrow and Raven.

But she could not help them, because she and the others were now at a severe disadvantage. The Fog that Raven managed to create with that arc of fire on the waterfall was now gone. The Black Gallows soldiers no longer were at their mercy, and if anything, they were more dangerous. The Raven Talons were using the environment with highly impressive precision. She looked around and saw everyone bar Shay, she assumed that he was either dead or was waiting for the right moment to strike.

Oscar launched his hammer towards one of the Raven Talons, who took the impact straight to the chest, but the Hardlight Shielding muffled the pain completely. He crashed against the wall but immediately shot forward again and slashed his sword that he extended from his arm across Oscar's aura. There was a faint green shimmer as the Raven Talon attacked, sliding across the dirt and immediately firing his rifle at him. Oscar spun the chains that the heads of his hammers were attached to with impressive speed, blocking the bullets from hitting his aura protected body.

He sprinted towards the Raven Talon and slid underneath his legs, and as he rose up behind him, he shot the hammers forward, towards the Generator that was forming that Hardlight Shield around the Raven Talon's body. But the Talon turned, and he moved aside, catching the chain that Oscar's hammer was connected to. He then yanked it so hard that it pulled Oscar towards him. The Raven Talon close-lined up with his arm, knocking him to the ground with great force. Oscar tumbled across the ground and he immediately went to get up and attack his enemy, until the Black Gallows Stockholm Trooper aimed his gauntlet and the plates of metal opened up and he fired an electrified cable.

It wrapped around Oscar and constantly sent high volts through his body, restraining his arms. Oscar screamed in agony, and the electricity swiftly broke his aura and knocked him unconscious. Oscar collapsed to his knees and fell on his chest. The Raven Talon walked towards him, ready to take Oscar away. "One Huntsman down, let's wrap this up. They had their fun with that trick with the fog – take them down. We'll take down Jackdaw when the others are with us." The voice of Killian commanded.

Eryka gasped as she saw the Raven Talon lifting Oscar over his shoulder, until he turned and saw Ren sprinting towards him to save Oscar.

Eryka turned and saw Killian stood on one of the Mountains, he avoided the fight against Jackdaw… and judging by the look on his face? It was out of fear, of what Jackdaw did to his parents so many years ago. And how many times he escaped… and judging by Jackdaw's combat style? That was a wise move, even at half of his aura diminished, Jackdaw could still beat Qrow and Raven right now. His semblance made him an unpredictable force to be reckoned with.

Eryka glared at the Commander of the Black Gallows, he was alone, making sure that the mission went according to plan. Nora was still battling against the remaining Stockholm Troopers, and Ren was going to help Oscar.

_I can take him down…_

_… I can kill him._

Eryka grit her teeth and she whistled to Dulcis and sprinted across the many chunks of rock that floated in the air, levitated by the low gravity and created from the assault by the Shadow of Broken Promises. Of which was still watching them, something that Eryka did not forget about.

_Wait… even if I do manage to beat him… the Shadow of Broken Promises could just barrage us like it did earlier._

_How the hell are we getting out of this?_

Dulcis screeched as he flew over Eryka, and she got closer and closer to Killian. He stood there and his onyx eyes turned as he heard her coming and the sound of her Eagle crying out was enough. He swiftly reloaded his Chrome Pistol and swung round, firing it at her. Eryka leapt off the island and jumped towards him with Constantine Damascus drawn all the way back, and she fired an arrow towards him. He held his knife in his other hand and swung it fast and hard, cutting the arrow clean in two before it could reach him. Eryka descended down and she held Constantine Damascus like a baton, swinging it towards him, but he stopped her with his knife, a metallic bang resounded from their impact.

"Should've known you would have picked their side, Vasillias." Killian snarled viciously, staring into her blue eyes.

"What can I say? I like fighting for the underdogs." Eryka shrugged, then Killian kicked her in the chest, forcing her back. Killian spun his Knife through his fingers, Eryka noticed the different Dust Cannisters on his belt, alongside magazines with an assortment of dust bullets. "Of course, you have a bland weapon too. Just a pistol? Where's your creativity?" She scoffed as she circled him, and Killian chuckled as he aimed it at her.

"Sometimes the simplest weapon can be the deadliest." He replied, aiming it at her. "I offered you a deal, Vasillias. You should've taken it."

Eryka scoffed. "The Vytal Consensus? Don't make me laugh, you can put all the sugar you want on a turd. It's still a turd."

"Ah there's that classic Eryka Vasillias way of speaking." Killian said with a scoff.

"I don't like to disappoint." Eryka shrugged as she held her bow in one and arrow in the other hand.

"Indeed – but your time for cracking jokes is at an end. I've given you chance after chance… not another." He said to her, and Eryka smirked.

"I was hoping you'd say that. Time for a round two, except no bitching out this time." Eryka said, remembering how he stopped her from fighting him with a trap last time. Killian glared at her and he smirked.

"Don't plan to."

He fired his pistol at her and Eryka ducked, dodging the bullet and she immediately launched an arrow towards Killian. He jumped up and avoided the incoming arrow, firing a Grappling Hook towards her, and he shot forward. He slammed both his feet into Eryka's chest, knocking her backwards. He swung round with his knife and slashed it at her face. It cut through her weak aura, cutting her face but her aura immediately healed the damage. Eryka grit her teeth and she kicked him in his leg, so hard it brought him down to one knee. She then jumped upwards, slamming her knee against his head. She floated up into the air, but as Killian staggered, he grabbed onto her heel, and he slammed her down to the ground. Her blue aura broke but she rolled back, it was already starting to come back, as she ran around him.

She fired her Bow at him over and over, launching arrow after arrow. Killian batted one out of the air with his pistol but the second hit him in the chest. His onyx coloured aura protected him as it collided into his chest, the impact launched him backwards, and he crashed against a boulder with force. He grunted as he hit the wall, and Eryka threw herself towards him, and she pinned him with her bow against the wall. She kneed him in the chest and punched him in the jaw. Killian grunted and Eryka drew her Hunting Knife again and she stabbed it towards his face. He moved his head out of the way and instantly pointed his pistol at her head. Eryka dodged it but Eryka pushed her back and jumped over her head, firing his gun at her over and over.

Killian landed behind her, and he aimed his Grappling Hook on his bracer at her, firing it at her but she ducked down. He shot towards her but Eryka grabbed Killian by the throat. She yanked him away from where the Grappling Hook was taking him, and the hook broke away from the rock. Eryka slammed him down against the ground, and she transformed Constantine Damascus from its Bow Form and into the Shotgun Form. She aimed it at his head and fired, but he lifted his arm, which formed a hexagonal shield of Hardlight Dust, protecting his face from her.

Unlike the rest of his soldiers he was the only one that did not have the Hardlight Shield around his body, he was using his Aura instead. But he still had the Hardlight Dust in places where he needed it. Killian fired his pistol up at Eryka and she gasped, it hit her in the chest and broke her Oceanic Blue Aura once again. It crackled across her back and Killian aimed the Grappling Hook to one of the Floating Islands. He flew away and Eryka pursued her foe, sprinting towards the other floating rocks. She jumped from one to the other, staying on him whilst the rest of her friends battled against the Black Gallows.

Ren sprinted towards the Raven Talon that was carrying Oscar's unconscious body, the soldier turned, and he snarled, dropping Oscar and immediately swinging that blade he extended from his other bracer towards him. Ren slid under the legs of the Raven Talon and he fired his guns towards the generator that charged the Hardlight Dust Shield that surrounded his body. The Raven Talon rolled out of the way and fired his Grappling Hook towards the Kuroyurian, and Ren caught it and yanked it forward. The Black Gallows soldier stabbed his blade into the ground, so hard that the cable tightened and snapped, causing Ren to fall to the ground. The Raven Talon completely detached the cable from his Bracer and aimed his rifle at Ren, firing lethal rounds towards him.

Ren rolled out of the way, just dodging the bullets and he charged towards the Hunter. With the fog cleared, the Huntsmen became the _Hunted_. But Ren jumped towards the Raven Talon and he kicked him in the helmet, causing him to stagger. He then grabbed the arm of the soldier and rolled across his back, to try and shoot him in the back. The Raven Talon swung round and kicked him in the head, knocking him back. The Raven Talon grabbed Ren by the throat and slammed him against the wall. "You and your friends killed my comrades – you're lucky we're even thinking about taking you alive." The Raven Talon snarled behind that Voice Distorter.

Ren glared at him, before he wrapped his legs around the Raven Talon's arm, and he twisted hard, the soldier growled in pain as Ren slammed him down to the ground. Ren sprinted to Oscar, and he aimed his pistols at the soldier. The Raven Talon got back up and went to launch one of those electrified Restrainers, but he already fired it at Oscar. But as Ren protected Oscar, suddenly another one shot towards Ren, and he was not fast enough to avoid it. The cable wrapped around him and he screamed in pain, the electricity broke through the aura and did the same to him as it did to Oscar, the high voltage left him unconscious. Nora turned and her eyes widened.

"REN!" She screamed, the sky darkened, and she blasted towards the Raven Talons, slamming Stormur Skeggox down to the ground.

"No! Don't use the Electrical Cables on her! Her semblance will make her stronger if we electrocute her!" One of the Raven Talons warned.

"Sounds like you boys did your homework." Nora scoffed as she spun her Axe through her fingers.

"Use the Gravity Dust ones on her." The soldier commanded, but they needed someone else for that, these soldiers all had the Electrified ones, and the Shadow Daggers were the ones with the Gravity Dust infused ones. But since they were wiped out in the fog… Nora had the advantage.

But even Nora knew that these guys were not gonna be easy to take down, they learned from their mistakes earlier.

They won't make that mistake again.

Nora looked up and saw Eryka chasing after Killian on the rocks above their heads. Eryka leapt towards him as he landed on another mountain and aimed his gun at her. Eryka wrapped her legs around his neck and she pulled her body down to the ground, launching him across the ground. Killian tumbled and grabbed onto the branch that grew through the edge of the island, swinging round in the low gravity and throwing himself back up. He flipped through the air and threw his Knife towards her. Eryka ducked down and the knife narrowly missed her, cutting a few small strands of blue hair off.

The knife stabbed into the soil behind her, and Eryka gritted her teeth, firing Constantine Damascus up at him in its Shotgun Form. The shrapnel of Arrowheads blasted towards him, but he fired his Grappling Hook to the tree, pulling away from where her shot was fired, and he swung round towards Eryka and kicked her in the chest. He slid across the ground, nearly falling off the edge if not for him firing his Pistol to his side, steadying his balance. Eryka tumbled but she found her footing, just in time to cross her arms over, stopping Killian from stabbing her in the sternum. She held the large knife away from her chest, the very top getting closer to her bosom. Killian glared at her… and there was a look of true madness in his eyes.

This was the monster in him, not the human.

Eryka held him back, straining as he pushed further and further towards her heart, until suddenly Dulcis descended and slashed his talons across Killian's face. He grunted in pain as he staggered away from Eryka, and Dulcis flew back, grabbing onto Killian's wrist that held the knife. His huge wings flapped over and over again, screeching at Killian. The Commander of the Black Gallows snarled and aimed his pistol at the Altum Eagle, until Eryka smashed her fist into Killian's face, so hard it sent him crashing back.

A burning pain grew in his chest, he gasped for air and grabbed the Respirator on his chest, reactivating it so that the device pumps more pain relievers into his system, keeping the Grave Dust inside of him from killing him. He looked forward and saw Eryka sprinting at him again, yelling with rage as she jumped and kicked him in the face. He staggered back and immediately pointed his gun at her, firing it but Eryka slid under the incoming bullets, and she grabbed that hand that held the gun and she swung her head up his jaw. He grunted and staggered backwards.

He ejected the empty magazine and he loaded one of his Dust Mags, using Ice Dust and he shot it into Eryka's leg. Ice froze around her leg and she stared at the ice that surrounded her leg. He switched mags and chose fire straight afterwards. He fired it at her face, but she ducked down and immediately punched the ice, so hard it cracked enough for her to pull her leg from the ice. She rushed Killian again, shoulder charging him. The very action knocked the gun from his hand. He thrusted his knife towards Eryka's neck again, but she punched his hand, knocking the weapon aside.

Killian swiftly responded with his fist into Eryka's stomach, she gasped from the pain and felt his hand grip onto her soft blue hair. He twisted round and smashed her face into the boulder. Her aura broke but it just angered her even more, and she swung her elbow back with great force, smashing it into his face and he staggered back from her. Eryka turned and ran into him, tackling him to the ground. She pummelled his face into the floor over and over again, his Onyx coloured aura crackled with each punch. Killian moved his head aside and he pushed Eryka off his chest, and he slammed his fist down into her gut. She gasped from pain, winded from how hard he hit her. She grabbed her stomach in pain as she laid there, and Killian got back up.

"I never wanted this… all you kids had to do was think about others. To adapt with the tide!" Killian yelled as he stared at Eryka. She pressed her hands against the ground, pushing herself back up.

"Y'know… the deal itself? I may have agreed to it once… but after what you did? What you made Jaymes do? And this? Murdering those people? I don't think so…" Eryka snarled, spitting out blood as she stood tall again.

"I did what was necessary." Killian responded.

"NECESSARY? You turned a kid with a mental illness into a weapon!" Eryka yelled. "How the hell can you look at that and call it necessary?" She questioned.

"Because it got the job done. The first step for proper change can be a terrifying one, but someone has to make the choice. If that monster must be me then I will gladly play the part. Because in the future? The world will thank me for it." Killian said, but Eryka just stared at him and shook her head.

"You're insane… you really are…" Eryka scoffed, and Killian glared at her.

"No, I am a realist… I already told you that." Killian said to her as he cracked his knuckles. "I see the world as it is, not how we want it to be. The real world is cruel, and the only way to make a better world is to tear the old one down." Killian told her as he rolled his shoulder, walking towards her. "And I will not stop until that new world is a reality."

"A world with you at the top? Playing king in your castle of skeletons?" Eryka scoffed.

"Not me… someone else. Someone who can actually protect this world, not feed off it like parasites." Killian said, seeing Salem in his mind, something none of them knew.

Killian stood there, then he pressed something on his wrist and Eryka's eyes widened. "But before that leader arrives? I need to get rid of the parasites… burn them out." Killian snarled, and he hit the button.

Eryka's eyes widened when she stared at the Shadow of Broken Promises… opening fire on them once again.

* * *

**Qrow**

* * *

Before the Shadow of Broken Promises barraged them…

Qrow and Raven both battled against Jackdaw, both of them slashed their swords at Jack and he stopped their attacks with his feathers. His blades pinched onto his scythe and he rolled across Qrow's back, and he launched him across the ground. Qrow tumbled over the bushes and rocks whilst Raven cut across his aura with Omen, swiftly stabbing and slashing at him. But Jackdaw deflected some of her blows with the razor-sharp feathers, sparks flew from each impact of their swords. Jackdaw kicked Raven in the chest, causing her to stagger backwards in pain.

Raven gritted her teeth and she sheathed Omen and swiftly unsheathed it again with a blade coated with fire dust. The burning blade blasted fire towards Jackdaw. He transformed into his Corvid Form and circled around her, before returning back to Human form, slashing down at her and cutting across her aura with the many sharpened feathers. Raven rolled backwards and she fired her sword out from the Scabbard, which slammed against Jackdaw's chest, he staggered back with a growl, before he launched more of his feathers towards her. Raven moved with immense speed, cutting all of them down before they could even get close. She charged forward and slashed her sword against his arms that he used to block her many blows. He then caught the sword and stared right at her with hatred in his red eyes. Raven jumped and dropkicked him with both feet, pushing her hands against the floor so hard she launched herself up in the air. She twirled in the sky and chose her Ice Sword, descending with great speed as she stabbed the ground.

Ice spikes erupted from the ground towards Jackdaw. He rolled backwards over and over again to avoid the spines of ice that came for him. As he turned, he saw Qrow lunging towards him with a furious yell, holding Harbinger back with force, swinging it into his feathers he printed, snapping some of them in the process. Jackdaw ducked under his second attack, then fired both his machine guns at Qrow, sprinting across the area. Jackdaw dropped down and slid underneath a destroyed tree, sliding across the floor and jumping back up. He landed back on both feet, but Qrow and Raven both went after him at once.

Qrow slashed Harbinger in its sword form across where Jackdaw was, but he slid under the attack, and fired his machine gun at his brother. Qrow spun Harbinger, deflecting the bullets and swiftly rushed after him. Qrow kicked Jack in the chest and he staggered backwards, but he still turned and stopped Omen with the blades that extended from his forearm. He kicked Raven in the head and turned around, jumping towards Qrow. He brought one of his arms down, slamming his fist against the ground and grating the blades across Harbinger. Metallic bangs echoed as they battled against each other.

Qrow blocked his strikes and the blade folded down, and he fired, blasting a shell into the side of Jackdaw's head, blowing his hat off. He staggered aside and his aura flickered after that strike, until he lunged forward and grabbed Qrow by the throat. The Ripper smashed his brother down to the ground with immense force whilst Raven thrusted at Jackdaw with a furious yell to run the blade through his back. Jackdaw smacked his blades against the sword and swung round with Qrow still by the throat, throwing him into his sister. Both of them crashed to the ground and Jackdaw repaired his blades, before charging towards them once again.

But just as he went to attack them, he stopped, hearing the sounds of the Shadow of Broken Promises opening fire on them once again. He turned and saw the flashes and heard the whistling of the shells coming for them. Jackdaw vanished just as the shells exploded, shattering the island that they were fighting upon, they did not even notice that Jackdaw turned into his Corvid Form to escape just before they could kill him in the process.

Everyone took cover as the shells came crashing down, exploding against the ground and blowing the islands apart. Trees were thrown up into the sky as the Shadow of Broken Promises continued its furious Broadside Attack. Fire burned from the islands, and the echo of so many explosions travelled for miles. But when it ceased, Qrow groaned, covered in dust and silt, looking around to find Raven. She pushed her sword against the ground, her aura broken just like his. "Where is he?" Qrow yelled, swinging his sword wildly as he tried to find his insane brother.

"He escaped! Just as the attack started…" Raven winced.

"Damn it! We had him!" Qrow yelled as he punched the ground, but as the smoke cleared, their eyes widened as they saw Eryka on her knees with Killian's gun to his head.

"Bastard played dirty again…" Eryka groaned, bruised and beaten from their fight and from the assault. Killian walked around them, and they saw the Black Gallows dragging the unconscious ones and forcing the remaining Hunters to their knees.

"It's over." Killian told them as he stared at each and every one of them… all except for Shay, wherever he was. Ruby scowled at Killian and he looked at her. "And after what you have done? The Malachites and that little fight you started in the streets of Vacuo? You already have bounties on your head for punishment for your actions." Killian explained, and Qrow groaned as he felt a gun push against the back of his head.

"Drop your weapons. I would rather not spill anymore blood than what was necessary." Killian said, and Eryka scoffed as she looked up at him.

"Necessary…" She scoffed.

Qrow looked at his sister, and she sighed, dropping Omen on the ground. Qrow did the same with Harbinger, wincing in pain.

"Crap…"

* * *

**Author Note - I think Qrow put it perfectly, crap.**

**Killian got them right where he wanted them, there was no way out of that fight that could have lead to them escaping. In the middle of a lake, with the Shadow of Broken Promises watching them and more than enough Stockholm Troopers to stop them from escaping.**

**But my god do I love writing Jackdaw's combat style, and Ruby and Yang Vs Jackdaw was so damn awesome to write, showing those two working together against him is always great fun. And Eryka Vs Killian is always a fight I love doing, at least this time Eryka actually got to fight him. One of the reasons I love Killian as a character is his fighting style, I always enjoy writing characters who's fighting style is not as crazy and epic as someone like Ruby or Nora. All he needs is a pistol and a knife, and he can challenge even some of the most skilled Huntsmen or Huntresses. Sometimes all it takes is the right set of skills to be lethal.**

**And the Black Gallows are not to be trifled with, I wanted to make that clear. When they had the fog on their side they could easily take them down, but once that fog was gone? The tables turned, and we saw why they were so deadly. Because they knew how to capture Huntsmen and Huntresses.**

**Next chapter will be interesting, getting to see the Shadow of Broken Promises from the inside. A damn scary ship. (I love the name too)**

**Sorry this took a while to come out. If you have not been reading the Knights of Grimm (which you should, it is a personal favourite :D) then I will repeat it here. I was in the process of moving and having no internet for the past few weeks so I literally could not do a thing. But I can now! So back to the fun!**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**\- Matt**


	36. The Shadow of Broken Promises

**Chapter 35 – The Shadow of Broken Promises**

* * *

**Killian**

* * *

The Black Gallows Wasp shrieked through the sky, smoke trailed from the burning isles of Lake Matsu, most of the large mountains were broken apart by how many shells came crashing down into them. Ruby sat inside of the ship, and so many thoughts were rattling around in her mind.

_No wonder he is such a boring asshole… these things are so uncomfortable._

The interior of the Wasps was very dark and devoid of colour whatsoever, the very thing that held their society together was the focus on colour. It was as if Killian and the Black Gallows were against this whole idea. Even when thinking about his name, it had no reference to colour whatsoever, which truly did surprise them. Very few people were named in such a way, but he was completely devoid of the society they lived in. There were Stockholm Troopers inside as well, and Raven stared at them.

_Damn it… I can't portal out of here, I can't just leave them._

Eryka stared at her bound wrists, her aura was back swiftly and continued to heal her bruises and cuts from her fight against the Commander. She looked at Killian as he stood behind the seat of the pilot, his hand rested on the chair. He stared out the window, and Eryka just scoffed. "How long do you think you can keep all this up, Killian?" Eryka questioned, Nathaniel turned as he heard her voice, and his cold onyx eyes glared at her.

He was legitimately a totally different person than the one that offered the Vytal Consensus. He was far from perfect before, but he had morals, he had an understanding and listened to their reasons. There even seemed to be a hint of remorse for his actions four years ago… but here? That was all gone, he was just like he was four years prior, the Commander that had only one goal and it was to accomplish his mission.

Consequences be damned.

Killian walked past Ren and Oscar as they began to come to, groaning as consciousness returned. "You can't help yourself, can you? You just can't keep your trap shut." Killian sighed, clenching his fist shut, and Qrow glared at him.

"I should've killed you." He said, and Killian looked right at him.

"Uncle Qrow, please stop." Ruby begged, she did not want this to escalate into something worse.

But Killian's dark eyes glared at him. "Yeah, maybe you should've." Killian agreed.

"I won't make that mistake again, buddy. Trust me, next time won't be so lucky." Qrow promised, Killian smirked, and a sinister laugh emerged from him. That might be one of the creepiest things to come from Killian so far, the man rarely ever laughed, and that laugh? It was completely unlike him.

"Luck…" Killian said as he crouched down, glaring right at Qrow's red eyes. "You know, for someone who is cursed with misfortune, you may want to be careful about what you wish for. Lest your wish be granted." He said as he stared at him. "And besides… how do you even know there will even be a _next time_?" Killian asked, suddenly swinging his fist into Qrow's jaw, he grunted and nearly fell from the chair if not for the restraints. Ruby stopped her Uncle from falling with her shoulder, helping right him back up.

"Leave him alone!" Ruby yelled in anger.

"You all knew what you were in for the moment you disobeyed direct orders." Killian said as he walked away from them.

"We're not your little soldiers, buddy." Eryka reminded, he looked at her as he stopped.

"No… but you will be." He promised as he turned back to the cockpit and the Shadow of Broken Promises was right in front of them. The glowing red Hardlight shields that formed in the Hanger Bay Doors lowered, and the Wasp entered the huge Dreadnaught. The black airship decelerated inside, the long wings folded up and the landing gear emerged from the underside of the vessel. It landed down upon the Hanger Deck, and multiple Obsidian Glaives stood at the ready with dust charged Spears held in their hands.

The exit of the Wasp opened, and Killian stood at the very end, and the soldiers all saluted him. They were like machines, more like machines than human now. Killian walked down the ramp and approached Dutch who was at the very bottom. He had his armour on and his arms behind his back, but it was very clear from the look on his face that he did not want things to go down this way. An Ebony Sabre stood beside him, towering above him in the massive jet-black suit of armour, and Killian stopped in front of his Right-Hand Man. "I see you found them."

"You don't sound overly enthused by that, Dutch." Killian commented.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm glad we are able to resolve this whole situation. But I feel that whole operation could have gone smoother." He said.

"How so?" He asked as he walked alongside him, the Black Gallows pushed the Rogues forward, forcing them to walk in a line to where Killian and Dutch were taking them.

"Well we should have sent in the Trojans instead. We lost a lot of men down there; we could have handled it without any casualties… on both sides." Dutch explained as he pondered with his thoughts.

"Sometimes combat scenarios go bad." Killian said, he flinched as he saw them… his comrades bleeding to death on the battlefield. Their blood staining his hands as he tried to save them, the screeches of the Grimm that fed on their guts all around him. And it all lasted for a second, and Dutch did not even notice his cracking back into his Post-Traumatic Stress.

"Were you expecting Jackdaw to show up?" Dutch inquired, and Killian looked at him. He still remembered how he locked up as soon as he saw the killer of his parents.

"No… I didn't even know he was in hiding, waiting for them. But I will admit that his arrival was useful for us in capturing them. Gave us time to attack when they were distracted… but next time we will capture him." Killian assured.

"Always a next time." Dutch sighed as he walked ahead, Killian slowed down as he watched his old friend walk ahead. Killian sighed and he looked back at the Rogues that were being directed behind him.

"Keep moving!" One of the Stockholm Troopers commanded as she slammed her rifle against Yang's back.

"Yeah, yeah, we're moving." Yang replied, walking as close to her baby sister as she possibly could. Ruby looked around at the soldiers as they were taken through the hangers, and they approached the large automatic doors. They opened swiftly, and multiple Stockholm Troopers patrolled the Dreadnaught. There was a deep thrum through the vessel of the powerful core and engines keeping it afloat.

They passed by the Black Gallows soldiers that were training inside of the ship, but the further they moved… they entered the Prison Block… and it was terrifying. Like something out of a nightmare.

There were powerful cranes that lifted up the Black Cells, and from the inside of them they could hear the screams of the prisoners. Cries of horror and pain, the cranes constantly moved the cells around the room, disorientating the prisoners so they felt like they were not alive anymore. Like they were in some kind of hell. The boxes were literally jet-black cubes, on the outside and the inside, with no light or sound, driving the people insane.

"Do you know what this Dreadnaught is?" He asked them all.

"You're gonna tell us." Raven presumed.

Killian scoffed. "It's a Venator-Class Dreadnaught, one of the longest running and biggest ever made. But it was designed specifically for the Black Gallows, a Prison Ship. Where we hold dangerous prisoners, and take them all to our Facility, far beyond the reach of the Governments and their corruption." He explained, and Ruby looked at one of the structures inside.

It was… a stone knight… with his sword stabbed into the ground, it was ancient but not added here. This was inside of the ship when it was built.

This Dreadnaught? It was _very_ old… far older than this society was, perhaps even before the Great War.

Meaning it was over a thousand years old.

_How is that even possible? How could this Dreadnaught still be operational after all these years?_

Yang however caught onto something and she gently bumped Ruby's shoulder. "Correct me if I'm wrong… but doesn't that look scarily similar to the Fountain at Beacon? In the Courtyard?" Yang asked her, Ruby stared at the Knight who had his sword in the ground.

He had a cape and a hood up, and the sword was indeed very similar. The same one Jaune looked up to.

_Thaddeus Rex… The King of Vale?_

_What's he doing here?_

But before they could ponder any further, Killian took them further into the labyrinth of Black Cells. As they passed them, they could hear it all. Crying, vomiting, screaming… even laughing from some of them. This was why the Black Gallows were formed, to make sure the worst people in the world never saw the light of day until they were corrected. Ruby looked at the Stockholm Troopers.

_These Prisoners never really get freed, they just become their soldiers._

Perhaps it was for the best though… some of these people? They were monsters, mass murderers, the worst of the worst.

"By the gods… this is sick…" Nora gasped as she stared at the cells.

"Do not mourn for them, these people in these cells? They're the worst of the worst. People that you would never want to wander the planet after the crimes they have committed." Killian explained as he took them up the steps to the catwalk where their cell was waiting for them. "Murderers, rapists, thieves – and people that learned too much and threatened the peace we enjoy with their ideals."

"Jackdaw was brought here, wasn't he?" Ruby asked and Killian nodded his head.

"He is the only man to ever escape his Black Cell. Twice." Killian explained as he walked. "We won't make that mistake again."

He approached their cell and he stood by the open door, they all looked inside and just saw the darkness. It was utterly terrifying, and Ruby looked at Killian. "Don't do this… please… you're making a mistake. We have to stop Jackdaw." Ruby said.

"_I_ will stop him. _You_ are facing the consequences for your actions." Killian told her. "Now get in the Black Cell."

Ruby stared at it and she swallowed and walked towards the cell before anyone else. Even though she was scared of being put in there… but she did not want to risk their lives. But before she walked inside, her eyes widened as she saw the clean-up crew exiting the cell opposite. They was washing up the blood on the floor and dragged the prisoner from it. He was alive, but he claws his face and his wrists with his nails to the point of which he was bleeding endlessly. She stared at his body as they carried him away to be patched up, and she knew he was going back into the darkness.

She looked at Killian and he just stared back.

There was no humanity in those eyes… she saw more emotion in the eyes of a machine than in his. But Ruby stared at the darkness and she blew out a breath and walked into the Black Cell. She entered the darkness, and it felt as if her aura was being drained as soon as she entered… and it was. The Black Cells were so dark, that their light was taken from them, only when being removed are they truly able to use their aura again. She stood against the wall, pressing her palm against it… it was like stone yet as cold as ice. She looked back and saw Yang walk in behind her, immediately wrapping her arms around her sister. Their arms were still bound but Yang still found a way to hug her baby sister.

Nora and Ren came next, staying close to each other, then Oscar and Qrow.

Then Raven, but before Qrow walked in, he gave Killian one hell of a glare, one that the Commander returned. Eryka was the last but she stopped, and her eyes widened, and she saw Dulcis screeching as some Black Gallows soldiers carried her Eagle away in a cage. He cried out for his mother, looking right at her and she stared at Killian with anger in them. "Get inside the cage, Vasillias." Killian commanded, and she looked away.

She swung round with both bound fists and punched Killian's jaw, causing him to stagger back, and she immediately went to try and free her Eagle. But Killian grabbed her by the hair and threw her to the ground and pointed his pistol at her face. She stared at him with hatred. "Let him go!" She bellowed, and Killian stared at her. As Ruby watched her eyes widened… his finger was on the trigger… he was ready to do it. There was a look in his eyes, one that Eryka saw before – the same look she saw four years ago.

The Monster was out now, not the human being he wanted to be.

"Eryka! Just get in the cell!" Ruby begged, but Eryka glared back at Killian, she knew what he was.

She never forgot.

But Killian lowered the pistol and he fired it past her face, she gasped and flinched, which made the Commander chuckle sinisterly. "And that right there is the reason your kind must be corrected." Killian said as he crouched down and grabbed Eryka by the back of her head. "A true warrior? One who saves lives? They do not flinch at the possibility of their demise; they follow their orders. And once upon a time, the Huntsmen did the same. All this fraternisation and disobeying of commands? It upsets the balance that keeps a military together, and our superiors? They don't like it; we employ you to do what you are told." Killian growled, pushing Eryka into the cell, and slamming his fist against the glowing red button by the Black Cell.

The huge thick black stone door descended, locking the brave men and women away in the silent blindness of their Black Cell. Killian holstered his pistol and watched as the crane descended to carry the Black Cell around the huge ship, just like the others. He smirked, and walked away, not even noticing the silhouette watching from the darkness with a glowing red x-shaped visor.

Killian walked towards the elevator and he held his arms behind his back, and it rose up towards the bridge of the Shadow of Broken Promises. His operators were on board, and he walked onto the main deck. "Are we ready?" Killian asked them all.

"Yes sir." They all responded.

"Good, then prepare us to enter Void Warp. Time to bring our Queen our esteemed guests." Killian said as he smirked villainously.

* * *

**Cinder**

* * *

Back at the Vasillias Cartel…

The Fall Maiden paced back and forth, she bit her nails with anticipation, the Cartel continued about their business, getting shipments ready to be sold off to their many customers. Valravn stood tall, staring off into the distance as per usual, the sound of his semblance filled the air. Vernal watched Cinder pace back and forth and she sighed. "Cinder, will you please just sit down?" Vernal asked.

"No! It's been too long." Cinder replied.

"They probably just ran into some Lancers; they can handle it. Lavinia Vasillias doesn't strike me to be someone to double-"

"Seriously? Do you not remember what happened to the Vacuo Mafia?" Cinder swiftly responded, staring at Vernal who could not even finish her sentence.

"Raven and Qrow said that Amber is fine. We will get her back; we just need some patience." Vernal assured, and Cinder sighed, sitting down on a crate as she buried her face in her hands. Vernal looked at her friend, and even she was amazed at how much Cinder cared for Amber. "It still baffles me… how much you care for Amber. I've never seen you care this much about anyone."

Cinder looked at Vernal. "I care about you." She said with a soft smile, and Vernal chuckled.

"Yeah, but I don't see you pacing around worrying about me. Trust me, I know you love this girl… so for your own sake? Calm the hell down, I know Lavinia is shifty as hell, but she is not one to double cross a deal. Why do you think she sent them out there in the first place? Refined Gravity Dust Crystals are worth a lot, more than Slave Trade could ever give her." Vernal explained, Cinder looked across the road as she saw the Paladins moving more crates of supplies, and then she saw some of the slaves.

Cultivating drugs inside of some houses or building weapons and ammunition, the fact it was for self-defence for the most part clearly meant that something was afoot. Cinder looked at the rest of the tribe, and they were always ready for a fight. But without Shay to keep the Grunts in check, she did have her concerns, they were wild dogs. Once let off the leash they couldn't be stopped until the battle was over.

Cinder looked at the main building, where Lavinia was stood at the window with a glass of whiskey in her grasp, watching the events pass. She exhaled and stood up, Vernal watched as Cinder approached two of the patrolling soldiers. She grabbed one of them and turned him to face her. "Ooh… hey pretty lady. Wanna come with me to my tent? Could make it worth your while." He creepily said, only for Cinder to conjure a Glass knife and press it to his balls. He gasped with horror, and Vernal stood up.

"Cinder!" She yelled.

"I wanna talk with Lavinia Vasillias – now. If you don't, I'll castrate you right here and now." She warned, her eye burned furiously with the Maiden's power.

"S-She isn't taking any visitor's right now." He whimpered.

"Ooh… that's a shame…" She whispered, slowly pushing the sharp tip into his crotch, he winced and desperately started to cry. "Hate to see these gems go to waste." She threatened, until she heard the soldier's radio crackle.

"Nice show, Cinder. But I'd rather you didn't De-Ball my man's nuts. So… get your pretty ass up here. Let's talk." Lavinia said, Cinder stared at the Matriarch of the Vasillias Bloodline, and she stared at the soldier, taking the glass knife from his balls and she collapsed it into ash, walking away from the whimpering man.

Flynt chuckled, sitting next to Vernal.

"Remind me to not get on her bad side." Flynt requested as he scratched his bristly beard.

Cinder walked through Lavinia's building; she was being guided by two soldiers of hers, but she did not need them. She passed by the paintings, glancing at them but she never really knew what she was looking at. Just swirls of colour all over the place, on some of them she pictured an ocean or some mountains.

The soldiers brought Cinder to the red door where Lavinia was waiting for her and they opened it for her. Normally someone would wait a second before they entered, but Cinder was not like most people. She stormed straight in and stared at Lavinia who stood at the window still, staring at her Empire.

An Empire that cost her the love of her family.

"You have a way of getting what you want, don't you Miss Fall? A knife to the nuts, burning down an academy, nearly murdering a seventeen-year-old girl…" Lavinia listed as she turned around, setting her glass down on the table. It was strange… because even though Cinder had the power of the Fall Maiden… Lavinia still had this power about her. Something oddly familiar, not just power in terms of money and confidence… but real power.

Like Cinder.

"If you know all of that then you should be wise not to piss me off." Cinder warned, which just made Lavinia chuckle softly, walking past her table and picking up an apple.

"People can be like apples sometimes, y'know? An apple can look appetising on the outside, look at it. The red skin, the roundness of it, enticing you to bite into it's sweetness. Until you do and find out it's actually rotten on the inside." She said, ripping it in half, and revealing the rotten core, dark brown and almost liquid.

"You a connoisseur of apples or something?" She questioned.

"Yes… more for Wine though. Ever tried the Vasillias Wine brand? It's damn good." Lavinia offered as she opened the bottle on her desk, she already had two glasses out on the table. She filled one up, dark red and the smell reached Cinder's nose. Cinder looked at her and narrowed her amber eye. "Wow, you think I'd poison you? Sweety if I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead." She assured.

"Fine." Cinder agreed, and Lavinia filled her glass up with the wine. Lavinia took hers and sipped it, exhaling with ecstasy.

"Nothing like perfectly poured wine, wouldn't you agree?" She asked.

Cinder drank some of it and she couldn't help but agree. It was damn good, and sweet too – you wouldn't even notice the alcohol in it if you weren't already aware. "Wow… that's good." She agreed.

"As good as what you got working with Torchwick?" She asked her curiously.

"Torchwick? Gods… the dumbass wouldn't be able to tell the difference between wine and grape juice." Cinder stated, which made Lavinia chuckle as she leant against the window.

"So then, Cinder… what brings you up here? What could possibly be so important to stick a knife to a man's balls?" She asked her curiously.

"I imagine you've done the same for less." Cinder stated.

"Worse, but yes." Lavinia agreed, and Cinder swirled her wine as she walked around the room, staring at her.

"Let me see Amber." Cinder demanded, which made Lavinia raise her brows.

"Wow, you really don't mince words, do you? I like that, no wasting time." Lavinia said as she set her glass down on the table. "But… before I decide… what does that girl mean to you?" She asked.

"Excuse me?" Cinder questioned, also setting her wine down on the table next to her.

"Coaster." Lavinia abruptly commanded.

"Huh?"

"Are you a savage? There's a coaster right there, show some respect to the mahogany." Lavinia said as she gestured to the coaster, she put the wine glass next to.

"Oh, fine." Cinder sighed, it reminded her of her home.

Bad memories…

"Now… answer my question. I have heard many stories about you, Cinder Fall. And I have heard many words to describe you with. Sinister, cunning, sexy, bitch… but mother figure? That's a first." Lavinia said as she crossed her arms, and Cinder sighed. Cinder sighed and she walked over to the wall, looking at the photograph of Lavinia holding baby Neptune in her arms, and little Eryka by her side and Roland next to her. There was a time when they were happy… when they loved each other.

Cinder closed her amber eye and sighed. "Your family wasn't always divided, Lavinia. But me? My family despised me… I was the prettiest of the daughters, but I was also the youngest. My father never wanted to give me the inheritance, so he decided to split it amongst my sisters, and left me with nothing. I was nothing more than a servant girl to them." Cinder explained as she stared at the picture.

"Yes… I heard about what happened to your family." Lavinia said, and Cinder looked at her.

"Yeah… I killed them all. I snapped, couldn't bare being looked at as the mistake any longer. So, I took that stupid glass slipper and I killed them all with it. I guess I haven't stopped spilling blood since…" Cinder sighed as she looked down at her hands, seeing the blood.

Cinder looked at Lavinia. "I don't want her to suffer the same fate. I know what you and your Cartel did to her town… her family. You butchered them all, and she was the only survivor. That much pain could turn anyone into a monster, like it did for me. I've done too much evil to be good… but her? I want her to be better than me." Cinder said as she looked at their family picture again.

"Have you ever tried to get away from this life? Start anew?" Lavinia asked her, and Cinder glanced at the Empress of the Vasillias Cartel.

"What? What do you mean?" Cinder questioned.

"People like us… we always think there is nothing else for us to do. We let our ambitions destroy the good in us, for you it's power and for me it is keeping the Cartel alive. It was passed down to me by my father, and I do not want to be remembered as the one who failed that legacy. But I still love my husband and my children – and I want to be with them… but I cannot. But you? Why not just take little Amber, buy some land, and live?" Lavinia asked her, and Cinder fell flat, she did not even have an answer.

"I…" Cinder stammered. "I don't… I can't… Raven, she… she gave me a way out of it all." Cinder said.

"So, you traded killing people for your former master… for killing people for a new one?" Lavinia presumed. Cinder looked at her. "That doesn't sound like much of a deal to me."

"You wouldn't understand." Cinder sighed.

"Oh no, that's where you're wrong, honey. I do understand, because I am the one who lost that chance. But you have not…" Lavinia said as she walked towards Cinder. "Take that little girl and buy some land. A farm, somewhere far away from the Kingdoms. With your powers you can easily defend it from Grimm and even the bandits. Show her a better way… and in doing so? You will teach yourself as well. Be better than your past, and finally live." Lavinia suggested to her, and Cinder narrowed her eyes.

"Why are you saying this?" She asked.

"Because it was never my command for Malachite to give me that little girl. Her mother and father? The rest of that village? They tried to fight my men when they came for payment, one that they could easily afford but chose not to. But she was innocent in all of it, I never wanted to cut off all loose ends. But Malachite? Well she had other plans, and her ambitions became too much for me. I knew she wanted to use that girl as a weapon against me, to have a Fall Maiden lose her mind and destroy us to save her." Lavinia explained and Cinder stared at Lavinia. "So, I intercepted Icarus and commanded he place down that Spider Egg, so then you eliminate Malachite for me."

This revelation shocked Cinder.

_All of this? It wasn't part of some sort of deal? It was just Malachite trying to take Lavinia's place… so Lavinia flipped the script._

_They always said she was clever… but I didn't expect that._

"I do not agree with slavery, in any way. Hell, out of all our incomes that one is the smallest, if I could I would just get rid of it. But that was what Malachite wanted, she wanted to use that against me, turn all the Criminal Gangs against me, start a war that would end in my death. It is the only reason why I keep taking them… to keep the fear level existent." Lavinia explained to her.

"That doesn't make it right." Cinder said.

"No… which is why I am now going to make sure these slaves are paid and fed well and respected. The world will see them as slaves, but in reality, they will simply be employees. I'm tired of it. And selling women to people? That was Malachite's game, not mine." Lavinia explained.

"Yet another fear tactic?" Cinder presumed.

"Fear is the only way to keep the Gangs across Remnant under my thumb. The moment they smell weakness they will turn on me." Lavinia said.

"Why are you telling me all this?" Cinder asked, and Lavinia turned back to the Fall Maiden.

"Because you and I are more alike than you realise." She said, approaching her. "And like me you want out of all this criminal business."

"I do." She agreed.

"Then get out of it, and finally live." Lavinia told her. She then tossed a key to Cinder and she caught it, then she pointed to the door to their left that had a blue door – Neptune's Room when he was a baby. "Your choice, Princess." She said, walking back to her desk and away from Cinder.

Cinder stared at the key and she sighed, looking at the Glass Heels she still wore to this day, as a constant reminder of her rage. She then looked at the door and she held the key tight before she approached it. Cinder lifted the key and it felt like it weighed a tonne, and felt her wrist shaking, but she pushed the key through the lock and opened the door. Sat in the middle of the room, playing with Neptune's old toys was none other than Amber.

The little girl lifted her head and she gasped with joy, and it melted Cinder's cold heart. She immediately dropped down and wrapped her arms around Amber, holding her tight. "Cinder!" Amber gleefully squeaked, and Cinder held her close.

"I'm sorry… I'll never leave you again… I promise." Cinder softly said to her as she looked at her.

"You… you're crying?" Amber softly said, and Cinder gasped as she felt the tears run down her cheek. She smiled and chuckled.

"Yeah… yeah I am kiddo." She replied, hugging her again.

Lavinia smiled as she looked down at the room she always looked after, but then she turned as one of her operatives approached her. "Ma'am?" The Operative said.

"What is it?" Lavinia questioned, returning back to her Cartel Leader personality.

"The team, who went to retrieve the Dust from Lake Matsu? They're all dead, and the Huntsmen you sent to protect them were taken by the Black Gallows." He informed, and Lavinia clenched her hand into a fist.

"How did you find this out?" She asked.

"One survivor was there." The Operator replied, and Lavinia walked to the window and she saw him.

It was Shay.

* * *

**Ruby**

* * *

The darkness of the Black Cell was terrifying, literally nothingness. No sound, no light and the soft movement of the cranes made it feel like you were in space. It was utterly terrifying, but Yang held her baby sister close, keeping each other calm. Whereas Eryka and Oscar was punching and pounding on the cell to try and get out. "You think the other prisoners never tried that?" Qrow sighed as he sat there.

"WE MAY BE THE FIRST!" Eryka shouted back, but as they beat the wall repeatedly, something changed. They all suddenly felt their bodies slide across the smooth floor and bump against the wall. The crane stopped moving them around.

"Whoa… the heck?" Yang questioned with confusion, and then the Black Cell was locked in place, it was brought down for some reason. The only reason the Black Cells would lock back to the ground would be for check ups or to clean up the blood from self harmers. But now they were on the ground, and suddenly light poured inside of the Black Cell. They shielded their eyes as they saw who was on the other side.

They had no idea who it was, it was a Stockholm Trooper by the looks of it, but one with a very unique and familiar helmet. It had a glowing red X-Shaped visor, and their voice was completely distorted. They could not tell if the soldier was a man or a woman, but then they pointed a device at their restraints, and it beeped. The cable that locked together came loose, and the restraints fell from their wrists.

"What? What is this?" Ruby stammered with confusion.

"You're not the alone. You still have friends who remember what the Huntsmen and Huntresses have done for us, and you're getting out of here." The Mysterious Soldier told them all, stepping out of the way so they could come out. They all stayed low to the ground. "Head to the Armoury and retrieve your weapons, then get back to the Hanger and steal a Wasp. The Shadow of Broken Promises is about to enter void warp in at least fifteen minutes. Get the hell out of here, once you're out, get as far from Lake Matsu as you can, and ditch the Wasp and go on foot before Killian figures out you escaped." The soldier ordered.

"Wait, who are you?" Ruby begged the answer.

"I cannot say." The soldier told them. "Now go! You haven't much time!"

They did not argue, they immediately ran ahead, living the X-Shaped Visor Soldier behind, that was how they remembered him. It was his visor, no other Black Gallows soldier had a visor like that, it was always a V-Shaped Visor. Qrow stayed at the front of them and they remained low, avoiding the sight lines of the Black Gallows soldiers that kept their eyes open, marching back and forth.

They saw a Black Cell on the ground, and the soldiers were torturing one of the prisoners, cutting him with knives and burning him. They could hear his agonised wails from inside. "Eryka… do you think you can see through Dulcis' eyes from here? Try and figure out where he is, he must be with our weapons." Qrow whispered to her, Eryka nodded her head and she closed her eyes. When they opened, they shone bright gold, and through her eyes she saw what he could see. Luckily, he was okay, not a mark on him, but there was a soldier in there, checking the weapons.

"All the weapons are there, but there is a soldier. If we take him out quietly, we can slip in and out with our stuff." Eryka assured, and Qrow nodded his head.

"Alright, everyone stay calm and quiet. We need to do as that soldier said. The Armoury is over there, we saw the soldiers taking Dulcis that way earlier." Qrow said as he moved ahead. They all crouched and moved forward, taking care with every step they took. Even the slightest louder noise could get their attention. Eryka turned the corner but she immediately took cover, and all of them did the same. Trojans were onboard, the massive versions of the Atlesian Knights, bulkier and meaner, with huge weapons built into their arms and their shoulders, like missile pods.

They trudged along, acting as constant guards at the Prison Blocks, and there were even airborne trojans too, with large wings and scanners that checked every single Black Cell. That was how they kept an eye on the vitals of their prisoners, they did not want them dead – they wanted them to suffer for their crimes. Onyx Consuls were up on the higher catwalks as well, their long sniper rifles in their grasp as they examined the area. They could tell where they were looking thanks to the beams of red light that shot from their visors.

The second they were clear, they all went for it, quickly sneaking past the Black Gallows defences, and Ruby just avoided the gaze of the Aerial Trojan, taking cover behind some crates as it looked around. There were Paladins loaded up in here too, but luckily nobody was inside of them. They looked even scarier with the Black Gallows colours, completely black with those glowing red optics.

"How close are we?" Yang asked, and Raven peered around the corner, and she could see the Armoury dead ahead. There were hundreds of weapons loaded up but the only ones that they cared about were their personal ones. But as they went through here… a thought entered Ruby's mind that terrified her.

_Is Neo here?_

_We never saw her since… what if Killian already captured her?_

She didn't even realise that she was half right, except Neo was not aboard the Shadow of Broken Promises, she was at their Headquarters in Salem's Sanctum. Hidden from the Bounty Hunters.

Ruby pushed the thought away, and focused back on escaping from this ship. Qrow moved ahead and everyone followed him carefully. Qrow entered the Armoury and he crouched down behind the desk and reached over to grab Eryka's Hunting Knife. He held it tight and rushed up behind the soldier and jammed the long blade through his jugular. The soldier choked in agony, as he drowned in his blood, and Qrow pulled the knife out fast and hard, killing him instantly.

Ruby stared at his body, wide eyed.

"Everyone get your weapons… we need to get off this hunk of crap as fast as we can." Qrow commanded as he grabbed Harbinger. Raven took Omen and her sheath of Dust Blades, Eryka took Constantine Damascus and her knife back from Qrow. Ruby picked up Crescent Rose, Yang Ember Celica, Nora Stormur Skeggox and Ren Stormflower. Oscar grabbed his Chained Hammers and pulled the bracers back onto his arms, they all looked at each other and they were ready to get off this place.

Qrow quickly moved down the stairs, and as they approached the Hanger of Wasps, they heard the sound of the Void Warp Drive engaging. It was a deafening roar, channelling powerful energy through the whole Venator-Class Dreadnaught to open the portal that they always used to go in and out from locations. No wonder they found Lake Matsu as quickly as they did.

"We're running out of time, come on!" Qrow called out, he and Raven sprinted across the hangers towards one of the Wasps and they sprinted towards the Pilot who was unaware they were coming. Qrow and Raven both drove their swords into the soldier, swiftly ending him. They ripped their blades out and kicked his body down the ramp.

"Void Warp engaging in one minute." The automated voice spoke.

Everyone ran inside the Wasp and they locked themselves in, whilst Eryka and Raven got into the pilot seats. "You know how to fly this thing, right?" Raven asked her.

"Uh… define fly? Because Winter and I kinda landed it by flying it into a Goliath last time." Eryka pointed out.

"Oh gods." Raven shuddered.

Qrow and Yang ran up to the cockpit, looking back as the rear end of the Wasp closed up, but the sound of the Void Warp Drive was getting louder and louder. They were out of time, they needed to go.

"Guys! He's launching!" Yang yelled.

"Don't worry, we got this." Raven promised.

"We will be long gone before Killian even realises we're gone!" Qrow promises as he looked around.

"I'm a suckey pilot, let's give it a whirl!" Eryka said, and as soon as they hit the ignition the thrusters roared to life, and the sharp wings folded out from the body. The Wasp lifted off the ground and Yang grinned, slamming her fists together.

"Booyah! That's what I'm talking about!" She cheered.

The Wasp dropped out from the hangers, falling from the sky and engaging the flight thrusters afterwards, spinning through the air. The Shadow of Broken Promises fired the powerful black and white pulse forward, ripping open the air and forming that huge portal. The metallic snarl created even caused the water across Lake Matsu to ripple, and the massive Dreadnaught disappeared through the portal, just as the Rogues escaped in their Wasp.

They were free from Killian, and not a second too soon.

And Killian?

Had nothing to show for it.

* * *

**Killian**

* * *

The other end of the portal opened…

… at Salem's Sanctum.

The Shadow of Broken Promises slowly soared across the dark sky, and the purple crystals glowed beneath them. Killian stood with his head held high, certain that he had something good to bring Salem, completely unaware that they escaped. The elevator opened behind him and Dutch emerged to stand beside his leader. "I'll never get used to this…" Dutch stammered, seeing the horrifying armies of Grimm that swarmed this land. There were so many of them… they had never seen this many of them before.

This was different, Salem was building an army.

"I know…" Killian agreed… the look in his eyes was different now. Not cold and emotionless… it was more like the one that wanted to be good.

Because he was terrified.

Dutch turned his head and held his fingers to his comm link in his ear. "What?" Dutch said to who was speaking to him. "What do you mean two of our men are dead and there was an unauthorised Wasp Launch?" Dutch questioned, Killian turned, wide eyed and he immediately brought up the security drone cameras and he went straight to the cell that the Rogues were in…

… finding it empty.

"No…" Killian stammered with terror. "No… no… NO!" Killian screamed with horror, punching straight through the screen. He pressed his hands to his head, shaking erratically as if he was being frozen in a freezer.

And then…

… black and red smoke swirled up behind him. He could feel his hairs stand on end, and she towered above everyone in the room. All of them knelt down to her, like she was a Goddess. "Nathaniel… do you have something you wish to tell me?" Salem inquired curiously, her eyes burned red, smoke constantly surrounded her body. Killian's teeth chattered, he knew he failed and returned to her empty handed… something that she did not like.

"I…"

It was a side of Killian nobody saw… his fearful side.

Salem had her arms behind her back and head held high, staring down at the commander of the Black Gallows. "I was bringing you… the Rogues… but… b-but they… they escaped…" Killian stammered, and Salem remained silent. All she did was walk towards him, she stood behind him, and his eyes began to tear up in fear.

"Look at me." Salem commanded with her softly spoken voice. Killian turned around slowly, and he looked up at the apparition of Salem. She smiled, as she lifted him off the floor by his throat with her telekinesis, it slowly crushed his throat and he gasped for air. Then, her telekinesis turned off the Respirator that kept him alive, kept the Grave Dust at bay. He panicked and tried to reach for it. Salem stared into his eyes as he felt the agony of that dust slowly beginning to devour him, his skin began to turn pale, the first sign of it killing him.

"What was it I told you would happen if you failed me?" She asked him, and he stammered.

"I… I would… die…" Killian stammered.

"No… I said you would suffer. I still need you, Killian… so I shan't be killing you. Not yet." She assured; the agony though was unbearable. But just before the Grave Dust could literally reduce him to dust on the ground, Salem reactivated it, the magnets pulled the dust right back, and it pumped the drugs back into his body to repair the damage made. Salem dropped him back to the ground. He shook on the floor, terrified of the one he serves.

"I will grant you your desires, but do not return to me empty handed again. Because if you cannot fulfil your task, I will find someone else who can." Salem warned as she stared at him. "You will accomplish your task – either through the Vytal Consensus, or the Inhumane Necessity – your choice. But if you fail in either? Well… I don't think you will know if you should beg for death or life… because both will bring you unending suffering." She assured as she stared down at him.

"Nobody will hear your screams. Nobody will even remember you. All you will know… is agony." Salem assured as she walked away from him. She looked back at him, eyes burning at him.

"So, complete your mission, Nathaniel Killian. Or I will." She warned, before the smoke faded away… and Salem vanished without a trace.

Killian slowly got back up, shaking with fear. He stared at Dutch with rage in his eyes. "Who… let… them out? The door was open." He snarled.

Dutch looked at him and sighed. "I don't know. But it was someone in our ranks." Dutch answered, he clenched his fist as he stood tall.

"Find who it was." Killian ordered, staring at Dutch, who stared right back and nodded his head. "Chart a course to Argus… we will wait for them to come to us." Killian said, looking at his shaking hand with fear.

_Am I a good man?_

_No… I'm a monster._

_Am I a good man?_

_No… I'm a monster._

_Am I a good man?_

_No… I'm a monster._

_Am I a good man?_

_No… I'm a monster._

The question kept repeating over and over in his mind… as his personality started to split again… and again… and again.

The rope that was his sanity was constantly being tugged, and sooner or later… that rope was gonna snap.

* * *

**Author Note - Killian's Split Personality (or Split Morality as I like to call it) is starting to tug, the question is which question will define him in the end?**

**This was a great chapter to write, get some backstory on the Shadow of Broken Promises too! I love that Dreadnaught, not just the name but also it's history and what it is used for. A massive prison ship that holds the worst of the worst, and man is that fate not something you want. The Black Cells are the stuff of nightmares, and based off real things too, just with my own take to work in Ruby.**

**I also love the idea that they are that dark and alien that aura gets drained inside of them, just makes them even creepier**

**Something I love writing about characters, and Killian in particular, is describing the look in their eyes. I tend to describe Ruby as having a soft face, soft eyes and stuff. Cinder tends to be fiery and Ren is focused, etc. And Killian has both cold and warm, to show his dual personality. The Monster (The Commander) and the Human (The Good), it is a little detail that I enjoy a lot.**

**The Cinder and Lavinia talk was cool too, I love showing this side of Cinder, where normally she is really cold and does not talk to the heroes much. But Amber melts her heart, because she gives her the chance to be better. And as Lavinia said - take that chance so you can finally live.**

**And of course... who do you think that soldier was that freed them? Remember the X-Shaped Visor everyone... that soldier will come into play, I promise you that.**

**And it shows, not every Black Gallows soldier is a monster.**

**Salem... god she is so scary. When you think that nothing can break Killian like that, the fact she managed to do that in seconds and nearly kill him all because he showed up empty-handed? Do not get on her bad side. It is really cool to write her as the Main Antagonist again.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**\- Matt**


	37. The Argus Limited

**Chapter 36 – The Argus Limited**

* * *

**Ruby**

* * *

To say that the Stolen Black Gallows Wasp was… _soaring_… through the air was a lie.

It was not smooth, and it looked like it was caught in a storm, even though the winds were completely still in the air. Not a cloud in the sky, no strange activity either, and to make it even odder for the Farmer watching it fly overhead, it was not damaged at all either. Not in any way, so of course, he could not help but wonder…

… what was wrong with that Airship?

Inside the Wasp was the answer.

"I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOU KNEW HOW TO FLY THIS THING!" Raven yelled with panic as Eryka failed miserably at controlling the vehicle.

"Oh gods, I'm gonna be sick." Oscar groaned, retching as he held his dinner in his stomach. Ruby gently patted Oscar's back as they bounced around the interior of the Airship.

"This thing controls weird!" Eryka yelled.

"YOU control it weird!" Raven argued, like a little kid.

"Don't worry! This is one hundred percent under control!" Eryka assured, even though the Black Gallows Wasp was starting to descend and decelerate, beginning to drop to the ground.

"Uh… you know we're dropping, right?" Yang asked, concern ever present in her voice.

"Definitely, don't worry. I'm an _expert_!" Eryka lied.

"I mean the computer is screaming at you, Eryka." Qrow commented, Eryka glanced at the controls and her eyes widened as she saw the warning that was flashing on the scream.

_Pull Up. Pull Up. Pull Up. Pull Up._

Eryka switched the screen off, letting darkness claim it as she sat there, just staring ahead with a smile, winking at Raven. "What does that thing know? It's just Black Gallows tech." Eryka defended, her constant crap was starting to annoy Raven, but Nora was just having fun in the background, finding Eryka's constant responses utterly hilarious.

"Yeah… it's not like the Black Gallows are the MOST ADVANCED MILITARY ON REMNANT!" Ruby argued as she stumbled across the Wasp, bouncing off the wall like a squeaky toy.

"It's okay! I have it under control!" Eryka assured, but the Wasp was just getting closer and closer towards the ground. Raven looked at the controls, and they were slowing down… but there were no controls whatsoever.

"Uh… Eryka… how do we land this thing?" She asked her.

"Um… I landed it pretty easily last time… in the side of a Goliath, remember?" She pointed out, Raven's eye twitched with despair, burying her face in her hands.

"Please tell me we can at least slow it down enough before we hit the ground?" Raven begged, but Qrow was already strapping himself in, since they were getting closer and closer to the ground, and moving too fast for it to be a smooth landing.

"Oh it will slow right down – when we crash." Eryka assured – the first thing that came out of her mouth during that whole argument that wasn't total crap. The Wasp roared down towards the ground and slammed into the grassland, the many wings snapped off like they were made of glass, flames belched from the now damaged fuel cells, and it flipped and tumbled across the ground. The Airship smashed straight through the trees in their path and broke apart against the rocks, until only the compartment that they were all inside of was sliding across the grass.

Pressed up against the cockpit window was Ruby, Yang, Nora, Ren and Oscar, their cheeks and faces smushed up against the pane, softly screaming with terror before the vessel slowed to a halt. Eryka closed her eyes with gritted teeth, whilst Raven's long hair had covered her face completely. Raven sighed as she pushed her hair off her face.

Eryka cheered, throwing her hands up in the air with a bright smile. "YES! I knew it would work! Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah." Eryka softly sung as she danced on the spot.

"I. Am. Never. Letting you fly ever again." Raven sighed, whilst Qrow chuckled, unbuckling himself and standing back up, picking his sword up. The five youngest members groaned as they fell from the window with a thud.

"Ow…" Ruby groaned as she laid there, and Yang landed on her baby sister, breaking her aura in the process.

"Sorry, Rubes." Yang said to her as they both stared at the ceiling.

"Y'know? If you told me, we were gonna be chased around by a crazy dude in charge of Remnant's Boogeymen? I never would have expected this bit." Ruby said as she laid there, Yang's long blonde hair completely smothering her little face.

"Come on, that went off without a hitch." Eryka said as she shrugged her shoulders, glancing at Dulcis who was sat on the floor, staring at her with an annoyed look. Even he did not appreciate her flying there, and he was an Eagle.

"I think I'm gonna barf." Oscar winced.

"Well if you gotta, go ahead." Eryka shrugged as she walked around the pile of young warriors, nearly stepping on Ruby. The Silver Eyed Girl glanced at Oscar and her eyes widened, realising that if he did vomit? It would be all over her face.

"Please don't… not like this." Ruby begged.

"Come on, kids. We need to get out of here." Qrow said, crouching down so that he could help them up. Yang staggered forward, rubbing her temples as she stood there, looking outside the cracked cockpit, not seeing the Shadow of Broken Promises in the sky.

"How long until Killian figures out we escaped?" Yang asked them.

"Not long, hell he may already know." Raven said as she helped Ren and Nora back up to their feet, and them Oscar. The Tribesman rolled his shoulder, picking his Chained Hammers back up and rolling the chains around his wrists. They were quite damaged from the crash, understandably so.

"Then we better get the hell out of dodge, last thing we need is Killian coming back here. He will most likely track the Wasp's last travels… your flying may be the worst I have ever seen, Eryka – but it might have just saved us." Qrow said as he kicked the side door open. He jumped out of the Airship and he looked back at the smoking floating Islands of Lake Matsu. He stared at them and exhaled through his nose, still quite shaken at how Jackdaw found them there. He even looked around, worried that he could still be following them, he escaped – that much was certain.

Ruby wandered out from the airship, sunken eyes as she stood next to her Uncle. They all turned and looked around. They were in the middle of nowhere, but Qrow did not seem overly worried by that. "Uncle Qrow? Are you okay?" She asked him, and he sighed.

"Yeah… just… I didn't expect Jackdaw to actually be there. Not bad kiddo, you and your sister held your own against him. Not many people can do that." Qrow admitted as he held his shaking wrist. He rolled his old aching shoulder, feeling it pop as he walked across the grass. Everyone quickly abandoned the Wasp, leaving it behind as they wandered through the wilds of Anima.

"This is bad, we need to get back to the Vasillias Cartel." Eryka said with a sigh, but Raven came out with something she did not expect."

"No." Raven replied, they all stopped and looked back at Raven.

"What? Why?" Yang asked.

"Yeah, the Tribe is back there." Eryka commented as she walked towards the Chieftess.

"I know… that is why I am worried." Raven said. "Someone knew that we were headed to Lake Matsu and ratted out on us to Killian. I wouldn't be surprised if it was Lavinia Vasillias herself, it wouldn't be the first time."

"No, she wouldn't have. My mother is cunning and not to be trusted, I know that. Trust me, I know that better than most." Eryka said as she looked at Raven.

"Killian could have paid your mother to tell us where we were, Eryka. Criminals can always be bought." Raven said.

"Said the Criminal." Ren commented, but Qrow sighed.

"Face it kids, we're all criminals now." Qrow said as he looked at Harbinger, blood stained on the blade. Yang stared at her hands as well, shaken by the fact she took lives. Ruby was the only one during that battle that did not spill one drop of blood of her enemies, her heart could not bring her to do it. Ren stared at his blades as well, still able to see the eyes of the soldier that he cut down.

None of them said a word, but their eyes said it all.

"Look, I don't understand why my mother would trick us like that. Refined Gravity Dust Crystals are very hard to get a hold of, due to their fragility. There's a reason why perfectly refined crystals sell for so much on the Black Market, and the amount that her people were aiming to get from Lake Matsu? That was not gonna be a mission she would be comfortable with failing." Eryka explained, and Ruby looked at Neptune' Sister as Dulcis landed on her shoulder, ruffling his feathers.

"Well if not her, then who? There were no soldiers in the room with you who could have known, right?" Nora asked Qrow and Raven.

"No, the only people in her office when we discussed the details of the mission were: myself, Qrow, Valravn and Lavinia. Nobody else." Raven explained as she gestured to her brother, and Ruby furrowed her brows.

"Valravn… do you think he would…"

"No, Valravn has always put his family first. It's why he is here." Raven said, and Yang scoffed.

"He's been staring daggers at Ruby for ages now. I don't trust him." Yang said as she cracked her knuckles.

"He doesn't trust the Silver Eyed Warriors, it's ancient history, bad blood between our families. Ones that both sides forgot, except for him of course." Raven explained as she crossed her arms.

"Still, who's to say he wasn't the one who sold us out? To get rid of me? He may not have intended for you two to get captured." Ruby asked, Raven looked at Qrow and he sighed.

"I dunno… he's never struck me as the type to do things that simply. Hell you've heard the way he speaks; he is one of the smartest and most cunning people I have ever known." Qrow said as he looked at the rings on his fingers, and Raven touched her many necklaces. All of them had a part of them, something that was unique to who they were, but all had similarities to their Bloodline.

"Not exactly a great recommendation." Ren scoffed.

"Maybe, but like I said – this isn't Valravn's style." Qrow said.

"Then who else could have done this?" Eryka asked.

"I mean… there's Cinder, but I dunno – she wouldn't risk contacting Killian, would she? She's got a bounty on her head." Ruby said. "Never thought I would ever say that the person who caused the attack on Beacon would be trustworthy."

"What about that douchebag? Shay?" Yang suggested, Raven shook her head.

"Shay? Doubt it, even if he did it wouldn't make sense for him to actually go there. He's an asshole but not an idiot." Raven said. "Although…"

"Although? Although what?" Ren asked.

"Did any of you see what happened to him? He just disappeared when the attack happened." Raven explained, but all of them drew a blank. The problem with Shay was that none of them gave a damn about what happened to him, he had been a trouble for them all the way there.

"I dunno… think he was killed?" Qrow asked Raven.

"No, Shay has this annoying knack for getting out of situations that should have killed him." Raven said, they all started to wonder who it could have been that betrayed them. None of them would expect he would go to Killian though, simply because of one question.

"Why would he? What does he get out of it?" Ruby questioned.

"Just what I was wondering." Eryka agreed. "I can't see what he could possibly get out of this. If this was his plan, then Killian would have simply taken away the very thing that held the tribe together. Give it time and it would all fall apart without you." Eryka said as she looked at Raven. "He's no leader, he may rag on you, but he knows how important you are to the survival of the Tribe. He would have nothing after that."

They all had no idea, all the people that they mentioned were possible subjects:

Lavinia Vasillias, Shay Desmond Mann, Cinder Fall, and finally Valravn Branwen.

And ironically… it was Cinder that was the least likely of all of them.

They all stood there, unsure of what to do next. They all knew that they needed to get to Argus, which in itself was a risk – but it was the best way to get to Atlas, or hopefully beat Jackdaw there. It had to still be his target; Malachite was many things but a liar about paid information? That was not one of them, and they did hold their end of the bargain. She just started to concoct a failed scheme against Lavinia to try and overthrow her.

One that ended with her charred corpse lynched out front of the Hearthstone Chateau.

But there was one thing that they knew… Jackdaw was out there, and closer than they were expecting. He was still ahead of them though. They had to follow his trail of breadcrumbs, breadcrumbs and blood. "So… what do we do now?" Ruby asked as she looked at them. "If we're not going back to the Tribe and the Vasillias Cartel, where do we go?"

"I know where we are, I've seen these very hills and lakes on the ride to Argus once." Ren said, remembering when he went with Nora and Pyrrha to meet Jaune's sister who lived there.

They looked at him. "The Argus Limited comes through here… if we time it right, we could jump onto it. What time is it?" Ren asked curiously, and Nora immediately checked her scroll.

"It's half twelve." She answered.

"It's not gonna be far from here, the Argus Limited runs like clockwork, it's roughly a six-hour journey for the Argus Limited to go through Anima." Ren explained to them.

"Jump… _onto_ the Argus Limited?" Oscar gulped.

"What's wrong, Oscar? Never jumped on a moving train before?" Eryka asked with a scoff.

"No I have, just… not when I feel like I could collapse any second." Oscar explained, his head was still aching, and he felt very sick. He had a concussion from Eryka's _landing_, that much was certain. He was not fit for this kind of mission, not by a long shot.

"Crap… alright, I can open a portal that will take you back to the Tribe. But we need to be ready." Raven said as she looked at the team of them. "Oscar, when you get there, tell Cinder, Vernal and Valravn that the Tribe needs to set up camp nearby and wait until I return. It may be better for us to go it without them, we're too big of a target. Best for the rest of the tribe to lay low for now." Raven explained. She turned and slashed the air and opened a portal. Oscar stood there and he looked at them all, he turned, and he looked at Ruby with a smile.

"Good luck… and I'm sorry." He apologised.

"It's alright." Ruby assured with a sweet smile.

"Anyone else not fit to continue this? Because this is it, if you screw up jumping on this train, you're dead." Raven explained, and Eryka shrugged her shoulders.

"Screw it why not?" Eryka scoffed as she whistled to Dulcis. Oscar walked through the Portal and it closed behind him.

Ruby, Yang, Ren, Nora, Qrow, Raven and Eryka – that was their team, and their next mission may be just as crazy as escaping the Black Gallows Flagship undetected.

* * *

**Cinder**

* * *

She could not spend much more time with Amber, at the end of the day Lavinia still had to maintain her reputation as a woman to be feared. Cinder did not like it, but she understood, it meant a lot to her that Lavinia even allowed her to see the child in the first place. She sat outside with Vernal beside her, and Valravn stood still, whilst they spoke with Shay. He had cuts and bruises, but he was alive, and just told them all what happened at Lake Matsu and that the rest of them have been captured.

"This isn't good." Cinder said as she sat there, staring at her reflection, thinking about what Lavinia said to her, about leaving the life of being a Bandit behind, and living a normal and quiet life. To no longer do the dirty work for others.

"No, it's not." Vernal agreed, cleaning her dual weapons. Both of them stared at Shay as he sat with his men, talking about what happened and how the Black Gallows ambushed them so suddenly and killed their friends. The soldiers who followed the Vasillias Cartel kept their eyes on the Branwen Tribe, as they stood there, the red portal opened up and Oscar emerged from it. Immediately met by the barrels of the soldiers' rifles.

"WHOA! Hold the hell up, what the hell was that?" The soldier yelled with shock, Oscar held his hands above his head, until he vomited all over the soldier. The soldier's eyes widened, and he staggered back. "Oh… gods… what the hell, dude?" The soldier groaned.

"Sorry." Oscar softly winced, wiping the bile from his mouth with his sleeve. Cinder and Vernal stood up and immediately went over to Oscar, making sure he was alright as well.

"Oscar! What happened? I thought you were taken!" Cinder called out, Vernal checked the young man over for any injuries, but his bruises were not seriously bad at all.

"We were, Killian ambushed us…" Oscar paused when he saw Shay sat there. He stared at the young man and he narrowed his eyes.

"You managed to escape the Shadow of Broken Promises? What about the others?" Shay asked.

"They're… not coming back." Oscar began.

"What? Raven's abandoned us?" Flynt snarled with anger as he stood up.

"No, we're simply too big of a target, marching together after Jackdaw the way we are. This was a wakeup call for us, we can't risk the rest of the Tribe on this mission. We're to get Amber back and set up Camp, lay low for the time being until they finish this mission. End of the day, Jackdaw needs to be put down, otherwise he could come back for the Tribe as well." Oscar explained, he even added a few bits to convince them – a good thing too, since it worked. They understood Raven's reasonings pretty much easily, and most of the Non-Combatants were glad because they could finally take a rest, alongside the rest.

Valravn – as always – said nothing, he just stood back up and nodded to Oscar. They turned to see Lavinia… and to their surprise… Amber. Cinder's amber eye widened when she saw the little girl, walking with her hand in Lavinia's. She approached and looked at Oscar. "Well… I see Raven and the others managed to get away from Killian. Not bad, never heard of anyone escaping his ship before." Lavinia said.

Oscar did not say it, but they knew that the only reason they got out of that Black Cell was thanks to the mysterious Stockholm Trooper who was on their side inside of the Shadow of Broken Promises. "We managed." Oscar shrugged as he stood there, and Lavinia chuckled with a smile. She then looked at Amber and gestured to Cinder, the little girl smiled and ran to her. Cinder caught Amber in her arms and looked at Lavinia.

"What is this?" Vernal asked.

"You paid me the agreed amount for the girl, and you went on your way." Lavinia said, and Vernal raised a brow.

"Huh? But we-"

Cinder stopped her from speaking with her hand, and she looked at Lavinia, she had not forgotten what she said about _Appearance_. "I'm giving you a way out. If I were you, I would take it, I won't do it a second time though… call it a mother's promise." Lavinia said as she nodded at Cinder. The Fall Maiden stood tall, and she nodded her head.

"Thank you, Lavinia… I won't forget this." She said.

Lavinia smiled. "Us Maidens should stick together." Lavinia winked, turning and walking away from them, and Cinder looked down at the little girl who hugged her leg. She looked at the rest of the Cartel, and Valravn stood tall, watching Lavinia leave, and he turned to Cinder.

"Fallen leaves drop from the oldest of trees, but no matter the age, all trees die." He said, and once again his cryptic words made very little sense, or at the very least they did not make sense to Cinder.

She only cared for Amber, and she turned to Vernal and Oscar. The three people here that she cared for.

"Come on, let's find somewhere safe to set up camp. We'll have a party for having you back, how does that sound, Amber?" She asked her, and the little girl smiled brightly.

"Yay! A party!" She gleefully giggled, they all walked away from the Cartel, and followed Raven's command.

Leaving the Vasillias Cartel behind.

* * *

**Ruby**

* * *

The winds howled through the mountains of Anima, and Ruby looked around as she stood beside Yang, Ren and Nora. Raven, Qrow and Eryka stood nearby, all of them atop the cliffs that overlooked the tracks that the Argus Limited would come through. It was soon going to come roaring through, and it was their best chance to get aboard the Train. The tunnels howled as the wind came through, and Ruby shuddered.

Ren turned and looked at her. "What's wrong?" Ren asked her.

"Oh, it's nothing. Just reminds me of a bedtime story Dad once told me, you know the spooky kind?" Ruby asked, which made Yang chuckle.

"Oh yeah, I know the one you're talking about." Yang agreed.

"What was it?" Nora asked.

"He said that sometimes, if you listened carefully into the tunnels you could hear ghosts. Of course it wasn't true, but some people used to believe that the sound of wind travelling through a tunnel were the voices of people who died." Ruby explained as she looked down at the tunnels, hearing the howls of the wind. "It reminds me of Mountain Glenn… the sound those tunnels made… to think the Wyvern was living inside that Mountain when we were down there." She shuddered.

"I know, we were lucky we never woke that big bastard up." Yang chuckled, fiddling with her long blonde hair.

They continued to wait for the Argus Limited to arrive, and Nora looked at Ruby curiously. "Hey, Ruby?"

"Yeah?" Ruby replied.

"Who do you think that guy was? The Stockholm Trooper who freed us? He seemed like he knew us… well… we're assuming it's a dude, couldn't really tell with the armour and the Voice Disguiser." Nora explained as she stood there.

"I… I don't know. Whoever it was, they definitely seemed like they believed we were in the right. I can't imagine who, though." Ruby agreed.

"I have been wondering the same thing. When we were in there, we all saw what the Black Cells were like and what they did to people. The Stockholm Troopers are more machine than people now." Ren said. "That didn't make it any easier though…"

Ruby gently squeezed Ren's shoulder. "Are you okay?" She asked him.

"I… I don't know. That was the first time I ever killed anyone… I can't believe how… easy it was." He said with a stammer in his voice. "Those soldiers… they weren't evil… they were corrupted by those cells, converted into soldiers for the Black Gallows. Most of them were monsters, but you heard Killian. He said that some of the people in those cells were simply people who dug too deep into secrets they shouldn't have touched. What if… what if they were once good people? Not maniacs?" Ren shook, but Nora gently held his hand.

It was surprising that Nora was taking this better than he was, but she was still reeling from it as well. She just wanted to make sure that the man that she loved with all her heart was okay. "I'm glad, Ruby… that you didn't have to." Yang said to Ruby, her little sister glanced at her human hand that shook, steadied by the Cybernetic one.

"I… I don't know what to do, guys. When I saw Jackdaw… I wanted to; I really think part of me did. But the moment I had my scythe around his neck… even though his aura was up… I didn't even want to try and do it. I couldn't bring myself to kill those soldiers… is this it? Is this what I need to be now? A murderer? I never became a Huntress to kill people… I wanted to protect people. And sometimes I wish I could just… change, y'know?" Ruby explained.

"No, Ruby… you are good. One of the most perfect and kind things in this world." Yang lovingly said to her sister, holding her hands.

"But I'm a burden, Yang… if I can't even bring myself to kill a man like Jackdaw… it could kill _you_…" Ruby softly said to her.

"You won't have to. Remember, you're not alone." Yang said to her, Ruby turned to Ren and Nora and both of them had smiles on their faces again.

As they stood there, they all felt the rumbling through the ground, they could see the snow fall from the edges of the tunnel entrance and exit, the rails shook as it approached. It was like a howling Beowulf as it got closer and closer. The Argus Limited was incoming, and they all got ready. "Okay, this is it everyone! Get ready to jump onto it!" Raven called out; they all ran across the cliff that overlooked the Argus Limited.

It shot out from the tunnels, moving at incredible speeds, and all of them jumped from the edge of the cliff, and they landed atop the tunnel. They rolled across the titanium roof and dropped down into the supply carriages in the back, just as the ceiling of the tunnel narrowly missed them. Ruby bounced off the ground with a grunt, and Yang tumbled across the floor, whilst Qrow stabbed Harbinger into the floor, slowing himself, and Raven did the same. Ren caught onto one of the crates whilst Nora drove Stormur Skeggox onto the ground, stopping herself. Eryka landed down as well, with Dulcis following the train from above.

They all waited for some sort of defence… but there was nothing, they were not detected. "Huh… that was… easier than I was expecting." Eryka chuckled.

* * *

**Jaune**

* * *

Around five hours later…

Jaune and his friends were still a few hours ahead of them, waiting on the Argus Limited, completely unaware that Killian was not only back on his feet but nearly killed the very people that they were looking for. Jaune sat with Pyrrha at the Station, Winter was still suffering and needed to be brought to the Hospital at Argus as soon as possible. The drugs that were given to her had slowed Tyrian's poison down quite a bit, but it would not stay that way for very long. Sienna paced back and forth whilst Ilia was leant against the wall. Blake and Weiss both looked out the window, watching as the snows flowed through the wind, but also keeping an eye out for the mysterious _Abductor_ Grimm that was following them.

But they had not seen it since, or at the very least they could not remember if they did.

"Gods… how long until the Argus Limited gets here?" Jaune sighed as he wrung his fingers, cold from the snowy climate outside, one of the staff inside looked at him.

"It's inbound, there have been a few Grimm attacking the train recently, it has had to stop and refill ammunition in the turrets a couple times now." The Operator told the Huntsman as they waited. Jaune looked at Sienna as she looked around.

"You can relax, Sienna. I doubt the Feral Ones are here." Jaune assured.

"That's not what's eating me, it's the fact that we don't know where Adam and the rest of them are. They could be attacking the many prisons that Faunus are being held." Sienna explained.

"What kind of Faunus are we talking about?" Pyrrha inquired, her head leant on Jaune's shoulder.

"The Worst Kind. These Faunus are savage, I made sure they were locked away, I even had Adam and some others go on some missions to lock them away. I knew that we needed fear against the Humans to help them understand that we are to be respected – but there was a fine line between fear and full-blown madness. Some of those Faunus will follow Adam immediately when they know he means to either wipe out or enslave Humanity as a whole." Sienna explained. "Trust me, it's worth worrying about."

"Do you really think that is what Adam wants?" Blake asked with concern.

"I know it, I spoke with him quite a few times during the four years he was locked away in the cell at the Mistraalian White Fang Base. I had hoped that our talks would help him heal, become a better person, but I fear it just worsened his insanity, made him want the blood of humanity more and more. I don't think anything will convince him against it anymore, killing him is our only option." Sienna explained, Blake looked out at the wilds, and she sighed.

"To think that there was a time that we thought we could _talk_ our way out of these things." She sighed.

"This peace was never gonna last. Something was gonna break, I just never expected it would be the Faunus-Side of things." Sienna said, scratching her feline ears.

"Nothing lasts forever." Ilia said, and Weiss groaned.

"Gods, must we always be so fatalistic? Things are gonna turn out fine for us, and Ruby's side… at least I hope so. We'll find them at Argus, and we will get them to understand the importance of staying together. Especially after finding out Adam is back with a new army… and that something is happening now, that Salem person." Weiss explained, shuddering at the thought of why in the world she was after Jaune.

"Maybe… I don't know though; they didn't seem to care much about what we thought on the matter back in Vacuo." Jaune sighed.

"That's because we were talking about Killian and the Vytal Consensus. I've had time to think about it, and we'll never convince them on that. And not on Jackdaw either, especially not Ruby or Yang. But… after what we've been through on the way to Argus? I dunno… maybe that will make them listen to us." Weiss suggested, and Ilia looked at the Schnee Heiress.

"Well… let's just hope they don't go to Atlas… I can't go with you there… not after everything that… no I'm sorry, Weiss." Ilia apologised.

"It's okay, I understand. My father… has done some terrible things for the Faunus." Weiss agreed as they waited for the trains, and it was something that Sienna understood very well. That scar over Adam's eye was no coincidence, it was definitely to do with Jacques Schnee.

They heard the bells that signalled the arrival of the Argus Limited, and they could feel the rumbling of the massive vehicle as it approached the Station. The Argus Limited decelerated as it approached, and Jaune pushed his hands against his knees, standing up. "Finally." He sighed with relief, picking up Crocea Mors, bringing it with him. The group all stood there as the Argus Limited locked into the Station. Jaune stood tall, and the doors opened up, so then they could enter.

Jaune looked back at the staff that helped them here, and also allowed them to spend the night here. "Thank you for letting us stay here." Jaune said to them with a smile, and the staff nodded their heads.

"Come on, let's go." Sienna said as she walked inside, and they wheeled Winter inside of the train. It smelt beautiful inside of the Argus Limited, constantly refreshed by the cleaners. It was clear you had to earn your wages to be able to travel on this specific Train. There were other trains that took people to and from Atlas, but this was by far the Highest Class. Which was even more surprising when considering that it had no armed guards.

But then again, it had no need for them, the turrets and automated defences that were implemented into the train made it more than safe against the Grimm that lived in the mountains. That and the train lines had defences in certain areas, turret towers, electrified barriers and firewalls to prevent Grimm from crossing the tracks. Of course that never stopped them from trying, there were Grimm attacks constantly, and the Argus Limited – as the Staff Member mentioned – would have to make regular stops at the nearest Station to reload on ammunition,

Weiss went with Winter, taking her to the Medical Wing of the Argus Limited, whilst Jaune and Pyrrha both walked past the many people sat down. "Do you think they have the meds needed to patch her up?" Pyrrha asked.

"If we're lucky, but I don't know. If anything they could give her some more time to get Tyrian's venom from her system." Jaune assured as they walked together. Sienna and Ilia both sat down by one of the windows, staring out at the view of the Anima Wilds. Even from here, the smoke pillar of the crater where Brunswick Farms used to stand. It still sent shivers down their bodies, remembering what they found there, the horror that was the Apathy and what they did to those poor people.

Yet another consequence of the power that Lavinia Vasillias had in her arsenal, and how paranoia can destroy more than just one life. Maybe ten, maybe twenty… maybe a hundred or even more.

One person's fear can destroy everything.

Jaune and Pyrrha kept walking whilst Blake waited with Weiss, to make sure that Winter was going to be okay. Jaune and Pyrrha walked towards the area where they were going to sit, but before they did, Jaune went to go to the bathroom.

Pyrrha went on ahead, and none of them even noticed that Ruby was in the opposite toilet that Jaune just went into and walked straight past them.

The Rogues AND the Hunters were both on the exact same Train.

And had no idea.

* * *

**Ruby**

* * *

Ruby walked away from the toilets where Jaune was currently relieving himself, so close to each other without even knowing it. Ruby looked up as she heard the sound of the P.A. "All passengers, we are leaving Station Five." And the Argus Limited did not waste any time, for it was immediately setting forth, roaring to life and shooting across the road, yet the Gravity Dust underneath the Train kept everyone from being thrown across the train. Ruby kept walking, moving past the Medical Bay where Weiss and Blake were with Winter, and past Sienna and Ilia, both of which were looking on the window and did not even notice her. Ruby did not see them either, for she was looking at Qrow in the other carriage.

Ruby walked into the next one, and she looked at the rest of their gang. Raven was with Yang, Ren and Nora with Eryka. But Ruby wanted to speak with her Uncle, and she sat down on the other side of the table. She looked at his flask sat there, reeking of alcohol. Qrow was staring out the window, almost distant as he gazed out… showing the thousand-yard stare that those who had seen a lot of terrible things had always seen. "Hey, Uncle Qrow." Ruby softly said, sitting down in her chair, looking at him.

"Hey, pipsqueak." Qrow said with a smirk and a wink, which made Ruby giggle. "Good to see all my time teaching you how to use that little scythe of yours paid off. You really showed Jackdaw what happens when you're pissed." Qrow chuckled, Ruby smiled but there was definitely something on her mind, and after everything? Qrow had a pretty good feeling of what it was that lingered in Ruby's thoughts.

"What's up, Ruby?" He asked her, looking out the window as the Argus Limited shot across Anima's Wildlands.

Ruby sighed as she looked at her Uncle. "Uncle Qrow… what are we doing?" She asked, her voice tender, like she was almost afraid to ask him that question. Qrow glanced at her and gave her a raised eyebrow.

"We're avenging your mother." He quickly replied.

"But… by killing other people?" Ruby stammered.

"They were in our way." Qrow quickly responded.

"But… the Malachites…" Ruby quickly added.

"That was the Tribe, not us. The Black Gallows were different." Qrow pointed out.

"But, Uncle Qrow – Huntsmen and Huntresses are supposed to _protect_ people, not _kill_ them." Ruby argued, but something in Qrow seemed to be cracked when Ruby said that. Qrow looked at her, and he gave her a very cold and hard truth.

"When you go rogue, Ruby, you have to take those gloves off and get blood on your hands. That's how it works, if you don't then your blood will be on someone else's." Qrow explained, and he said it quite hard and harshly, so much so that it made Ruby jump. Ruby sighed and she stared out at the world, until she asked another question, turning to her Uncle.

"Where do we draw the line in this, Uncle?" Ruby asked him.

Qrow stared out at the land… but it looked like he was staring at his own reflection, and not the land. Like he was asking himself the same question, but no matter what the same answer would come out. "You draw the line wherever you need it, Ruby." Qrow told her, and he sighed. "Funnily enough… this may be the one thing I agree with Killian on. Sometimes… you have to go dark to make the enemy scared of the dark. We get dirty, so then the innocents of the world can keep their hands clean and stay safe from the evils of the world, Human, Faunus or Grimm. It doesn't matter – evil is evil – and it must be destroyed, so that the good may survive. That's our duty." Qrow told her, it took a while for Ruby to swallow that very hard and large pill.

She wrung her fingers together as she sat there. "Now if you don't wanna keep doing this then we can do this on our own." Qrow assured, but Ruby stared at him.

"No. My mom deserves to have the justice she deserves." Ruby said, Qrow closed his eyes with grief, then he opened them again with a sigh, staring at himself once again.

Qrow exhaled as he sat there. "Do you remember, what Raven told you? About… what happened to Summer?" Qrow asked curiously, and Ruby looked at him again.

"Yeah… he snapped and killed her, and ever since he went insane." Ruby summed up, and Qrow nodded his head. He looked at his sister as she spoke with her daughter, and he sighed.

"The thing is… she wasn't fully telling the truth." Qrow revealed, and Ruby stared at Qrow first and then at Yang's Mother. That was not what she was expecting Qrow to reveal… and she could not help but remember something that Jackdaw said.

_Trust can be just as fickle as the truth. Who do you truly think you can trust? How many words from the voices of Qrow, Raven and Valravn can you trust? _

_We were raised by bandits, by liars and thieves… we all know how to lie. But I was the one who believed in the truth more than anything. _

_Tell me, how much do you believe what the three of them say? Do you know what Valravn has done? _

_What dear old Uncle Qrow and Mommy Raven have done?_

Ruby pushed the sound of Jackdaw's voice from her mind, remembering that he was simply trying to mess with her head… but… even then, she could not help but notice the similarities between the two. Ruby looked at Qrow and she listened. "Okay… then what really happened?" Ruby asked him, and Qrow looked at her.

"Raven was always closer to our brother than I ever was, before he cracked the two of us always butted heads. I guess maybe I was a brat when I was younger, but he was always the one that was more violent. But Raven always was kind to him, as kind as Raven Branwen could, of course." Qrow scoffed as he picked up his flask, looking at the Branwen Symbol engraved into the wood and the steel cap. He unscrewed it and took a swig, which made Ruby look away, seeing him drink so much always made her uncomfortable.

"I think she still cares about Jackdaw in some way, thinks she can cure his insanity, but I know he is too far gone. He always was – and just like always, she softened the story. Maybe for you or maybe for Jackdaw. But the truth? He knew exactly what he was doing when he killed Summer, she always said that he looked confused when he stood over her body. Covered in her blood – but I saw his face. He killed her because he blamed me for the death of his team, and finally used my love for Summer to try and tear me apart. I guess… in a way he did… I've been drinking ever since." Qrow said as he stared at that flask.

"You mean… he did it pre-meditatively? That he is pure evil?" Ruby questioned, and Qrow nodded his head.

"Sometimes people are just evil at heart Ruby, but my sister always hoped that there was still good in him. When the time comes, to finally put that son of a bitch in the ground? Remember what I told you… and you won't hesitate this time. People like him? They're worse than Grimm, they're true monsters." Qrow assured.

Ruby stared at him, but she jolted when she heard the P.A again, she never noticed how much time had passed.

"Approaching City of Argus. Welcome to the Sleeping Angel of Remnant."

Ruby looked out the window with Yang next to her, and Qrow slowly stood up, looking at the city approaching them in the distance.

Massive stone walls surrounded the Harbour City of Argus, and the ocean seemed to glow as the sun shined upon the apparent infinite pool of life. The rail connected to the city, where they could see Airships coming in and out, shipping people and supplies to and from Atlas, and to other locations. "Whoa…" Yang gasped as she gazed at its splendour.

The Argus Limited entered the city, bending around the city blocks, showing them the stunning architecture.

Until the glowing green beam of light suddenly carved clean through one of the supports, creating a massive explosion that made the Monorail System collapse, throwing the Argus Limited into the streets. Ruby screamed as the sudden impact threw her straight through the glass, and crashing down into the streets, damaging her aura in the process. Ruby groaned as she landed, Crescent Rose sliding across the ground.

Ruby coughed in pain, looking back at the others as they started to get back up, but the rest of the train crashed into the buildings, smoke and flames rose high in the air. But before Ruby could even try and help the innocents?

Jackdaw Branwen's boot stepped upon Crescent Rose, his hands behind his back like a Corvid Bird. He stared down at her, fierce red eyes glaring at her. "Well, well… long time no see… for both of you, am I right?" Jackdaw asked her as he tilted his top hat to her. Ruby winced in pain.

"For… both of us?" Ruby groaned, she turned, and her eyes widened when she heard her voice.

The one that caused the accident.

"R-Ruby?" The distorted and broken voice of Penny Polendina whimpered.

* * *

**Author Note - THE TWISTS KEEP COMING!**

**Penny Polendina is... alive... but something is very. VERY. Wrong. I bet you weren't expecting such a calm chapter to end so shockingly with that crash and Jackdaw's return so soon after his last arrival. He went from being missing for thirty chapters to literally not being in one and back in the other XD**

**I like staying unpredictable as best I can XD**

**This was quite a fun chapter to write, quite peaceful for a while, and quite comical too. The whole start with Eryka's top notch landing strategy and Ruby and Jaune literally being right next to each other and not even knowing it XD. I love stuff like that, where they are so close and don't even know it.**

**Who do you think was the rat? The one who ratted out on them to Killian, because someone must have told Killian how to find them. The question is who? Is it Cinder, Lavinia, Shay or Valravn?**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**\- Matt**


	38. A Shocking Return

**Chapter 37 – A Shocking Return**

* * *

**Qrow**

* * *

It was her… there was no doubt in Ruby's mind…

It was Penny.

She was alive, but not herself. Ruby could see the weld marks where they put her back together, like they were scars after Pyrrha ripped her apart – by accident. But her eyes were the first thing that Ruby noticed was wrong, they were not green. But it was not like they physically changed her eyes, because she could see a flicker of green still in there. But as she stood there, it was like her head twitched in pain, struggling to maintain her focus. And then… she fell silent again, not saying a word as Jackdaw stood next to the Android.

"Penny? W-What are you… how is…" Ruby had so many questions, but she could not even complete a sentence from how shocked she felt. That was the best that Ruby could come up with really, for how she felt deep down. She almost felt sick from how shocked she felt, she was both scared and heartbroken, angry and happy… but mainly confused and shocked. But before she could complete one of her questions, Jackdaw crouched down as he looked at Ruby Rose, lifting her head up so her silver eyes would look up at his red ones.

"Questions, questions… tis a funny story, though." He said with a smile on his voice, scratching his chin. Ruby glared at him, but then she pulled her head away from where his sharp feather held her. "You see, I have made a few friends around the world ever since… well… you know." He said with a smirk on his face, rising back up. "Ever since my little massacre from Beacon Academy, and your mother… to now. I have met countless interesting folk, but this one? Well… he got me some _very_ interesting information." Jackdaw said, crossing his arms behind his back.

"W-Who?" Ruby questioned, and Jackdaw smiled at her.

"In time." He assured. "But he directed me to the man who retrieved Penny's body – paid me a great deal of money to get her from Amity Arena. With all those corpses and Grimm lurking in that giant floating Tomb?" Jackdaw described as he walked around Ruby, looking at Penny, who was completely back under his control. Yang groaned, and stared at Penny as well, noticing how unnaturally silent Penny was. No emotion whatsoever, more like a machine than any of them had ever seen.

But as Ruby stared at Penny… her eyes widened.

Because her Pupils were gone – replaced by a Black Queen.

The same one she saw appear on the television screens when Cinder hacked into the system, the very same virus that took over the Atlesian Knights the very same night. It was the Black Queen Virus, which meant one thing.

This was linked to Salem… somehow… it had something to do with this mysterious Dark Queen.

"It made for sense for him to hire me… few would have the skill or the courage to go on a suicide mission like that. Me? I have the skill… and the madness… to go there." Jackdaw explained to Ruby as he circled her, before he approached Yang who started to get back up, slamming her fist against the ground. "I don't overly know what my friend did when I brought him the body… what was left of it… but she has been _very _useful ever since." Jackdaw explained as he walked back to her.

"Not perfect – but very useful indeed." Jackdaw explained.

"I thought you did things by yourself?" Nora questioned.

"I do, most of the time. But she has more little tricks up her sleeves than you realise." Jackdaw explained as he walked around Penny, forming more Fatal Feathers, forged from hardened Grave Dust. "And besides… I have a little mission of my own, covering my end of the bargain we struck." Jackdaw said.

"Getting Penny off the Amity Arena wasn't enough?" Eryka winced, turning to see Dulcis slowly getting back up, his aura keeping him from any real harm. Jackdaw smirked, and Penny's Floating Array of swords opened up from her back, spinning round and round.

"Not yet." Jackdaw answered, putting his Top Hat back on his head, smiling sadistically.

Their aura surrounded their bodies, and they all grabbed their weapons, some of which were buried under the rubble from the crash of the Argus Limited.

Jackdaw and Penny both stood at the ready… and it hurt Ruby deeply…

… because she was going to have to fight Penny Polendina.

Jackdaw shot forward, a smirk gritted with teeth, until Qrow and Raven both stopped his bladed feathers with Omen and Harbinger. Both of them stared into the eyes of their brother, and he growled with a sinister laugh, grinding the blades of his Fatal Feathers against their swords. "Let's carry on what we started earlier, shall we?" He asked them, before he twisted his feathers against their swords, and he jumped up in the air, kicking them both in the head extremely hard. Qrow crashed to the ground and Raven staggered back, Jackdaw swung his arm round and launched three of his Fatal Feathers towards her, they shattered against her aura protected chest, and the impact threw her backwards, only for her to transform into her Raven form in mid-air. Jackdaw grabbed onto the back of Qrow's neck, and he swung the man round and threw him with all his might, roaring with rage as he did it. Qrow yelled, crashing into the side of a parked bus. The impact itself tipped the large vehicle over, and Jackdaw blasted himself towards his brother, smashing his knee against his throat, pinning him there.

Qrow grunted and groaned as Jackdaw held him there, and he pointed the long barrel of his 3-D Printed gun against the Branwen Brother's forehead. "Always fighting for the losing side, lying to the ones you hold dearest. You will never change, will you?" Jackdaw growled with fury, about to pull the trigger until the Corvid Form of Raven Branwen banked around one of the buildings and dove towards him. She erupted from a cloud of black smoke, returning back to her human form with Omen in her grasp, the long blade of Electricity Dust crackling from the hilt.

She slashed through the Bus and hit Jackdaw, only for him to stop the long deadly blade with his cybernetic arm. A loud metallic bang erupted from the two of them, then Jackdaw grabbed her by the throat and twisted round, pummelling her down into the tarmac with all his might. Raven grunted, glaring up at him as he forced her down. "How long do you think you will keep the favour you have with you daughter? Do you really think a Mother's Late Love with stop the pain you will suffer from her learning the truth? After what you did?" Jackdaw snarled with rage in his voice, and Raven glared at him.

"Shut up!" Raven yelled, kicking Jackdaw in the chest with both feet. The Older Brother staggered back but he immediately launched his blades towards her. Raven jumped up and she deflected the incoming Fatal Feathers, stopping them from harming her aura. They fractured against Omen as she slashed it back and forth, then she clicked a button on her large complex scabbard, firing the sword hilt first towards Jackdaw, which cracked against his head. Jackdaw staggered back, knocking his Top Hat off his head.

He sighed, kicking it up in the air and putting it back on his head, with style. Qrow groaned with disgust, transforming Harbinger into its Scythe Form. "You and that fricking hat." Qrow groaned, and Jackdaw shrugged his shoulders.

"What can I say? I'm a man with style." Jackdaw said, winking at his arch enemies, then the two Branwens rushed towards him. Jackdaw launched more of his Fatal Feathers from his right arm, before forming a large shield where they once were. Qrow ducked down whilst Raven cut the feathers clean in half with Omen, and Qrow launched himself at Jackdaw. He spun through the air like a blur with Harbinger, slashing across Jackdaw's aura protected body. Jackdaw hopped back, lifting his right arm with his shield formed, blocking the slices from the Scythe, cutting across the shield. Jackdaw swung the shield against Qrow, knocking him up in the air, only for Qrow to rest Harbinger over his shoulders, and spinning through the air, slamming the huge curved blade down onto the shield. It hit so hard that the shield shattered, and the Grave Dust returned back into his arms.

Qrow swung Harbinger upwards, narrowly missing Jackdaw's chin and taking his hat off his head again, frustrating Jackdaw in the process. "Argh! Stop hitting my hat! It's an antique!" Jackdaw yelled, catching the handle of Harbinger, and booting Qrow in the chest. He staggered backwards, staring back at Jackdaw before he launched towards him again, only for Jackdaw to grab him by the throat and punch him in the face. He formed the Grave Dust Fatal Feathers and he pinned him against the wall by them as they pressed against his forearm. Qrow grunted as Jackdaw forced him there, and he took his fist and punched him through the wall.

Qrow grunted as the whole wall exploded around them, plaster and cinderblocks blown to pieces around him as he tumbled inside of… the school. Children screamed with horror and fear as the Huntsman fell inside of the classroom where the kids were hiding underneath their tables after hearing the accident. "Everyone! Leave the room!" The teacher yelled, and Qrow groaned as he got up.

"Yeah… good idea." He groaned, rubbing the side of his head.

Jackdaw jumped inside with a smirk on his face, looking at the kids as they left, then at Qrow again. "This brings back memories." Jackdaw sadistically smirked as he stared at his brother, noticing the shadow on the wall behind his brother. Raven was coming for him too, blasting through the open wall behind him, slashing the long red blade of Omen towards him. He spun round and pinched his Fatal Feathers together like Scissors, catching the blade of Omen there.

Jackdaw dropped to the ground and he yanked the sword from her hand, launching it towards the children being guided out the room. It just missed one of them, impaled into the wall as they screamed. "Whoops, it slipped." Jackdaw chuckled monstrously as he rose back up to his feet.

"You're a monster! They're kids!" Qrow yelled, and Jackdaw glared at his brother with hatred in his eyes.

"So were the ones you killed." Jackdaw reminded, and it seemed to horrify both Raven and Qrow. Jackdaw was not lying, the two of them had indeed done something in their past… something terrible. "Judge me for what you have made me become all you want – but at least I own up to my crimes… unlike _you_." Jackdaw growled as he slashed his fatal feathers against one another, over and over again in order to sharpen the blades more with every single strike made.

Sparks shot off from the contact of the metallic hardened dust blades, hitting the floor as Jackdaw stood tall, in between his two younger siblings. "Why the hell are you doing this? We know you're helping her, as soon as I saw Penny's eyes! What could she have possibly promised you to gain your favour?" Raven questioned as she held her fists up, she could still fight without Omen.

"So I may get to the centre of it all." Jackdaw cryptically answered.

"Centre of what?" Raven questioned.

"The Truth, in the end the truth is all that matters. And I will never stop until I show it to them, the truth – uncoloured, and clear." Jackdaw explained as he stood there.

"The Truth? How can the truth of what happened be so damn important? How could that possibly be worth all this death and destruction?" Qrow yelled with fury in his voice, seeing the faces of all the people that Jackdaw had killed. And it enraged Qrow to the point of attacking him. Qrow blasted towards Jackdaw and Raven sprinted forward, and Jackdaw swung at them as well.

* * *

**Ruby**

* * *

Ruby on the other hand, was still outside, Crescent Rose in hand as her red cape blew in the wind, the rest of the team stood with her – Yang slammed her fists together as she stared at Penny. She was pushing her friendship aside, because the eyes alone were enough reason to fight her. But for Ruby? It was not so simple – she still saw her Android Friend in Penny, even despite how messed up she was.

"Penny? It's me… Ruby… I… please don't make me do this. I don't want to fight you, and I know it is still you in there." Ruby begged, still struggling to believe the fact that Penny was somehow back. Ruby stared at Penny, and it shocked her… because Penny glared at her with… no emotion whatsoever. She just formed her swords from her back… the Floating Array was different. It was Grave Dust, just like Jackdaw's blades, just like the stuff that was killing Killian, and made by the very same man – Arthur Watts. They may not know these factors yet, but this was a plain fact.

Penny was linked to Arthur Watts.

Eryka drew Constantine Damascus, keeping her eye on Penny Polendina as she stood there, the chess piece in her eye stared right back. Nora called Stormur Skeggox back to her palm, erupting from the pile of rubble and debris on the ground. Ren drew Stormflower as well, aiming them at Penny who stood still. "Penny! Please… just say something!" Ruby begged her, but Yang stood close to her sister.

"Ruby… I don't think she's in there… whatever that thing is? It isn't her… not anymore. Look at her eyes." Yang said as she pointed at Penny, cocking Ember Celica. Tears welled up in Ruby's eyes, it hurt, she did not want to have to fight her friend, but she had no other choice. The Floating Array of Grave Dust swords stopped and suddenly pointed towards them, and Penny gritted her teeth.

"Uh-Oh." Eryka grumbled.

Penny launched towards them with her eight swords, slashing them towards Ruby and Yang first, Ruby blocked the swords with Crescent Rose, until Penny spun round and slashed the rest of them across Ruby's aura protected body. Ruby grunted, knocked to the ground by Penny, and the Android reached out for Ruby with great speed, until Nora suddenly launched towards her. She slammed Stormur Skeggox into her chest, but she still had her Glowing Green Aura, which meant that part of Penny was still in there. Lifeless machines could never have an aura… but Penny still had one. So that meant one thing – that Penny was being controlled by the Black Queen, they did not replace her with some kind of new version of her.

Nora held Penny down, but she blasted a pulse of green energy against Nora, throwing her up in the air, and the Android caught Nora by the heel, and swung her down against the ground with all her might. The ground shattered as the strong, yet short Huntress hit the ground. Penny stabbed her swords down at Nora, but the Valkyrie rolled out of the way, narrowly avoiding the Floating Array from skewering her to the ground. Nora jumped back up to her feet and launched Stormur Skeggox at Penny, hitting her in the chest. The Robotic Girl grunted, launched across the street and crashing through one of the buildings as the rocket powered Axe carried her off.

Until Penny crashed against one of the buildings, pinned by the long handle, Ruby shot up to her in a flurry of petals, grabbing Penny by her shoulders. "Penny! It's me! Please, can you hear me! You can fight whatever is happening to you!" Ruby begged as she held her by her shoulders.

"It's me! Your friend…" Ruby begged her over and over, but Penny, glared at her… and for a moment… she saw the green eyes flicker in and out from the Black Queen that was controlling her.

"R-Ruby? H-Help… stop me!" Penny begged, she sounded like she was in agony from the Black Queen, but then she fell silent again as the Black Queen took control again. Penny grabbed Ruby by the throat, so tight and hard that Ruby could not breathe. Powerful thrusters folded out from her heels and from her palms. Only one of them was in action but she managed to slam her shoulder against Stormur Skeggox so hard it prized the axe free from the building. It dropped down to the ground with a metallic clang, and Penny lifted Ruby over her head, and she threw her down towards the ground. Ruby fell and she gritted her teeth, knowing that she had to fight her close friend – to try and save her from the Black Queen that was possessing her.

Ruby fired Crescent Rose downwards and rose the recoil so then she would fly back up towards Penny. She tackled Penny out of the sky, and both of them flew through the air. Penny swung and punched at Ruby, over and over again. The glowing green thrusters built into this new body of Penny's shrieked like a Nevermore, and they both crashed through a Church Tower, knocking the bell from the steeple. It gonged loudly as it crashed down to the ground, and both of them slammed down to the ground. Ruby dug Crescent Rose into the road, glaring at Penny with fiery silver eyes.

She stood back up, with her swords floating around her back, and Ruby spun Crescent Rose through her fingers. "Forgive me, Penny. But I need you back, and if I have to fight you to try and stop the Black Queen? Then I will." Ruby said to the Android, blasting towards her friend, slashing Crescent Rose across her aura. She twirled to perform a second strike until Penny caught Crescent Rose in her hand. She held the weapon tight and proceeded to punch Ruby in the gut extremely hard. Ruby gasped in pain, hunching forward from the hit, then Penny brought her elbow down into Ruby's back, knocking her to the ground.

"OW! Penny come on! That's not fair!" Ruby yelled at her, Penny stood over her, but then the Black Queen flickered in and out again. She grabbed her head from the pain she felt, falling to one knee.

"I'm… I'm sorry… I ca-can't stop!" Penny strained as she tried to fight the Black Queen as hard as she could. Ruby stared at Penny and her eyes widened, noticing that on the side of her head there was a strange welding mark.

_Wait a minute… when Penny died, it was her body that got chopped up, not her head._

_Why would someone have repaired a part of her head… unless… that was how they managed to plant this weird virus in her head?_

That's it – that must be where the Black Queen Virus was implanted.

"Penny… under different circumstances I would be jumping with joy… and probably crying right now. But I will make it right, I won't be too late again… you will not die a second time. I promise, so why don't you just let me win?" Ruby suggested, until Penny held her hands forward, and the many Grave Dust formed swords began to spin around, forming the green energy beam that was about to fire on her. Ruby sighed and her eyes sunk as she stared at her old friend. "Guess not!"

Ruby dashed out of the way as the powerful beam of green energy carved through some of the buildings, spreading destructing and annihilation like a disease. Ruby blasted herself towards Penny and slammed her shoulder into the Android. Penny staggered back with a grunt, and immediately slashed all her swords towards her, but Ruby deflected the incoming blows with Crescent Rose. But even then, she was still no match for Penny Polendina and her advanced fighting style. Just as Ruby deflected the swords from dealing any real damage, Penny instantly returned the blow towards Ruby, blasting her across the ground, but Ruby stopped suddenly, caught in her big sister's arms.

Ruby gasped a smile as she looked at her big sister, then she turned and saw Nora and Ren jump down together, and Dulcis shrieked as he flew in the air. All of them stood together against Penny. "Ruby? Are you alright?" Yang asked her, since Ruby literally got carried off by Penny in that fight.

"Yeah… but listen, I think I know how we can help her. There's something very wrong with her, every now and then she has been able to snap back into who she usually was. But then the Black Queen takes control!" Ruby explained as she spun Crescent Rose through her fingers. Penny paced back and forth, burning red eyes staring straight into their eyes.

"So she's been hacked, or something?" Nora asked.

"It looks like it, and there's a mark on the side of her head. A panel that was welded back on." Ruby explained.

"Uh… okay? Wasn't she blown to pieces though? During the Vytal Festival?" Eryka inquired.

"Yes, but her head was completely intact. I remember very well, she was cut to pieces by Pyrrha, but it was only her arm, body and legs that were severed. Her head was completely untouched." Ruby explained, Yang looked at her sister and Ren looked at Nora.

"So… somebody managed to put something in there? Maybe the same _somebody_ that Jackdaw mentioned." Yang suggested and Ruby nodded her head in agreement.

"Exactly what I was thinking. If we can get into her head and find something out of the ordinary, then maybe we can stop the Virus from controlling her. Whatever it was, it must have been put in there quickly, since Penny keeps coming back every few seconds." Ruby explained, and Ren nodded his head in agreement.

"Like some kind of an override." Ren said as they all got ready to fight her.

"Yeah! From how much she keeps snapping back and forth though? It must have been roughly added, which should make it stand out." Ruby said as they all stood there, staring at Penny. Nora scoffed as she listened to Penny – since she was dead silent.

"Huh… this is pretty spooky; I'm not used to Penny being so quiet." Nora stated.

"Yeah, can we get adorable bubbly Penny back, please?" Yang asked as she cocked Ember Celica, raising her fists to be ready. Penny's Floating Array swirled behind her back, then the Android swiftly moved her arm forward, launching the swords towards Ruby and Yang. Yang pushed Ruby out of the way and crossed her arms over, blocking the incoming sword. It exploded against her arms, the impact threw the Huntress backwards, she flipped through the air and pressed her feet against the face of a wall, blasting Ember Celica as she shot towards Penny. Yang yelled, her fist pulled back as she went to knock Penny to the ground, until Penny caught Yang by her fist. She glared straight into Yang's eyes, emotionless and cold all the way through, tightening her grip. Yang strained as she grabbed Penny's wrist, then she wrapped her legs around Penny's neck, and she dropped down to the ground, slamming Penny to the floor.

Penny crashed into the ground with great force. Penny jumped up into the air and she launched her swords towards Yang, who rolled out of the way of her blades. They stabbed into the tarmac, and Penny landed on top of the Monorail Bridge that was still standing. Her swords floated around her back whilst the Hunters all stood together. "We need to be careful; Penny can still beat all of us with ease. She was designed to be a powerhouse by Ironwood, remember?" Ruby said as she aimed Crescent Rose at her.

"So remember… do not underestimate her."

Penny launched herself towards the Rogues beneath her, eyes blood red and dead inside, and the brave Hunters launched themselves back up at her, ready to continue their bout.

* * *

**Qrow**

* * *

Both Qrow and Raven were a force to be reckoned with, some of the best trained Warriors in the world – and yet even they had their work cut out for them against Jackdaw. Their older brother was extremely skilled, but he had something that they did not.

Madness.

Just like Tyrian, as soon as they dealt one blow, he would return the favour three more times, and three times as hard. Jackdaw blocked the curved Scythe of Harbinger with his arms, long bladed feathers stopped the blade, he then kicked Qrow in the chest so hard that he was thrown into the Black Board on the Class Room wall. The black board snapped in half, and the chalk sticks shattered into powder. Jackdaw ducked down and caught Raven's fist, slamming her down to the ground with all his might, but as Qrow got back up, he saw Omen still impaled into the wall.

Jackdaw grabbed Raven by the back of her head and lifted her off the floor, and punched her up into her stomach, which slammed her against the ceiling. The lights shattered and sparks fell from the destroyed bulbs, hitting the tables on the ground beneath her. She winced as she rolled off the broken table, her eyes widened, and she rolled out of the way just in time to avoid his boot. He stamped down and crushed the piece of wood beneath her. Jackdaw gritted his teeth as he stared at where she was.

"Raven!" Qrow called out, launching Omen blade first towards Jackdaw. The Ripper's eyes widened, and he rolled out of the way, and the sword passed by Raven just enough so then she could catch the hilt of her Odachi. She sheathed the red blade and selected the Fire Dust Sword instead, swinging the sword towards Jackdaw with all her might, launching an arc of fire towards him and cutting one of the tables clean in half. The metal legs melted from the high temperatures of the fire sword. Jackdaw grunted, crashing against the wall from the fiery blast from the sword. Raven immediately thrusted towards Jackdaw and ran the blade forward, nearly puncturing him to the wall like a pin.

Jackdaw stepped aside and smashed his cybernetic fist into the side of Raven's, making her grunt from the pain. She staggered backwards but immediately swung round and slashed the sword downwards at him. Jackdaw blocked the incoming strike with his Grave Dust Feathers, they broke off and shattered, but crumbled back into their Dust Form, returning back into his arms. As Jackdaw staggered back, he gritted his teeth with rage and printed more bullets into his guns and fired them both towards his sister. Raven gasped and she slashed her sword so fast that she moved like a blur, blocking every single bullet fired towards her.

Jackdaw glanced over his shoulder as Qrow sprinted towards him, Harbinger in his grasp. Jackdaw swiftly printed the blades from his arm, and he grinned maniacally as his two siblings jumped towards him. He caught and pinched the blades onto the long blade of Omen, holding Raven in place. Jackdaw brought his boot down onto Raven's knee with great force, knocking her down, giving him a chance to slash his arm of blades downwards against the Scythe of Harbinger. Sparks shot off from the impact of all those blades, before he rolled towards his brother, Raven still holding onto her stuck sword, and Jackdaw launched her towards Qrow. Both of them collided and fell to the floor, but Qrow dug Harbinger down to the ground, and sprinted towards his brother.

Jackdaw aimed both his guns at him as he ran round the room, and Qrow spun the Scythe with great speed, blocking and deflecting the bullets from hitting him and his aura. Qrow yelled with fury, tackling Jackdaw through the wall, and both of them suddenly fell from the room, and entered the Gymnasium. The children were all taken there to hide from the potential danger, that was now inside. Jackdaw crashed to the ground but rolled back to his feet, whilst Raven flew inside in her Corvid Bird Form. She exited and landed underneath one of the Basketball Courts.

Jackdaw looked around and stared at the children. "Is it fate? Or it is just bad timing? I guess we will see." Jackdaw hissed as he stared at them with gritted teeth, smirking sadistically at the kids.

"Leave them be!" Qrow yelled as he got back up to his feet.

Jackdaw spun around with a bewildered look. "What do you take me for? A lunatic?"

Everyone stared at him in silence, and even Jackdaw shrugged his shoulders. "Alright, fair enough." Jackdaw admitted.

"Teachers, get the children out of here!" Raven commanded, whilst Jackdaw walked around the large room, looking to the weights in the corner for the older students. He picked up the long pole with dumbbells still slit onto them.

"Hoo, boy… this is gonna get fun. Remember the old days? You kids could never match me in sets." Jackdaw reminded, and they both stared at him.

"Only because you cheated." Raven commented.

"Hey, I never claimed I played fair. Of course I used the lighter weights." Jackdaw chuckled, but he lifted the pole of dumbbells up with ease, and Qrow launched towards him with a furious yell, but Jackdaw swung the weights round and smashed them into his younger brother's chest with shocking force. They rung out at an extremely loud boom, throwing Qrow across the room and crashing into the wall. Qrow bounced off the wall and he ground, looking up to see Jackdaw throwing it towards him with perfect accuracy. Qrow rolled out of the way and picked up Harbinger, transforming Harbinger back into its sword form, and firing the Shotgun towards him.

The Shrapnel flew towards his brother, but Jackdaw slashed the blades that grew from his arms towards the ammunition that burned so hot. Sparks rebounded from the Grave Dust blades. Raven and Qrow both sprinted towards Jackdaw and Raven fired Omen towards him, bouncing off the side of his head and returning back into her hand. She jumped and swung the sword towards him with great force, leaving a long trail of red behind her ever movement. Jackdaw ducked under her sword and slid out of Qrow's path as he swung Harbinger downwards at him, the curved blade of his Scythe sliced through the slippery wooden floor with no trouble whatsoever. Jackdaw roundhouse kicked Raven across the side of her head, staggering her, but she sheathed Omen and drew her Ice Blade, stabbing it down into the ground, blasting spikes of ice up from the ground, shattering the wooden floor with great ease.

The ice spikes impacted Jackdaw's chest, throwing him backwards, and straight into Qrow's Scythe. He slashed across his body, knocking him out of the air, but Jackdaw rolled across the ground and fired his Machine Guns at them. The powerful bullets flew through the air and shot through the walls, and then he fired Fatal Feathers towards his brother. Qrow jumped in the air, flipping round and cutting them out of the air. He brought his Scythe down with great force, slashing it down Jackdaw's chest, dealing some damage to his aura.

Jackdaw slid back with gritted teeth, staring at the two Branwens as they continued to rush towards him, he smirked and jumped up, pushing his feet off the wall, and grabbing Qrow by his throat. Jack the Ripper threw him up in the air and his blades extended from his cybernetic arms, and as he fell from the air, he slashed across his body over and over again before he even hit the ground, moving at the speed of light. He was like a blur as he attacked him, nearly breaking his aura with that one extremely dangerous attack. He then kicked Qrow in the stomach as he plummeted, sending him crashing into one of the Basketball Hoops.

"Ha! Score." Jackdaw fist pumped with a smirk on his face.

Raven groaned with disgust. "I'm gonna kill you just for the crap that comes out of your mouth, in a minute." Raven said with a sigh, Jackdaw turned and tipped his top hat to her.

"Do give it your best." Jackdaw challenged as he extended those feathers from his arms again. Raven sheathed her sword and narrowed her red eyes with anger, before she blasted towards her brother. She slashed Omen with great speed, over and over again she cut the air and across his aura. Jackdaw slid backwards across the wooden floor, before he fired forward and slashed his blades downwards, then he formed a shield on his other arm. The shield smashed up against Raven, pushing her backwards, and he immediately fired more Fatal Feathers towards her. But Raven moved faster than they did, cutting them all down, before she selected her Wind Sword, slashing it towards him and blasting an unstoppable gust of wind that pushed Jackdaw back, even as he fired both machine guns at her.

The cyclone of wind held the bullets in the air, and Raven smirked, rolling out of the way of the incoming bullets, immediately choosing her Fire Sword afterwards. She jumped up in the air and brought the sword down with great force, launching an arc of fire towards him, one of which that he dodged by rolling out of the way of. Jackdaw sprinted towards her, transforming into his Jackdaw Form, cawing as he flew towards her. Raven did the same, the two birds shot forward, and then they exited their Corvid Bodies, and Jackdaw grabbed Raven by the throat, smashing her up against the high wall, pushing her head towards the spinning fan blades behind her.

"Ooh… would you look at this? You're about to get a neat little haircut, lil sis!" Jackdaw laughed as he pushed her head closer and closer towards the fan blades.

"Don't you remember what I did to Tai when he snuck up on me and did that?" Raven questioned, and Jackdaw raised a brow. "I kicked his ASS!" Raven suddenly drew her Electricity Dust Sword and slashed it cross Jackdaw's chest. He roared with pain as the electricity coursed through his body, Raven grabbed him and threw him down towards the ground with great force. The wood splintered and broke apart around his body, but Jackdaw rolled away just as Raven dove down and stabbed Omen down at where his head was. As Jackdaw got back up, he turned and his eyes widened as Qrow fired Harbinger at his brother, blasting the powerful shotgun shells into his chest.

Jackdaw grunted, bouncing across the room from the impact. Qrow groaned as he got back up, his aura was not yet broken – but he was in worse condition than his sister was.

Jackdaw stared at the two of them with rage, and the twins sighed. "Oh no… not again… don't you dare send us through the wall again." Qrow groaned, but Jackdaw roared with undying fury, blasting towards them.

"HERE WE GO!" Raven yelled, as Jackdaw grabbed both of them by the throat.

And all three went straight through the wall.

Again.

* * *

**Ruby**

* * *

Outside of the school, the battle against Penny Polendina continued…

Ruby and Nora both blasted up towards her, but she blasted down at them as well, grabbing Ruby by her throat and pummelling her into the ground with great force. Penny pinned the Silver Eyed Girl down to the ground with great force with her foot, holding her there so then she could not try and fight back. But as Penny held her down, Nora launched herself towards the Android and swung Stormur Skeggox towards her, slamming it against her neck, her green aura prevented any real damage from being made and she hooked the blade of the axe onto her neck, throwing her off her friend. Penny flipped through the air, activating her thrusters, and then her hands opened, and the palms formed small openings that glowed bright green.

She blasted powerful beams of green energy down towards them, creating fiery explosions that shattered the tarmac beneath them. Nora rolled out of the way whilst Ren jumped over the exploding road. He aimed both Stormflowers and fired them up at Penny, the glowing green bullets shot up towards Penny as she floated above him, she used her swords to block and deflect the bullets. They ricocheted off the sharp blades as she hovered above them, then she turned and gasped as Dulcis suddenly flew towards the Android, slashing his talons across Penny's face, flapping his wings in her face to try and disorientate her.

Penny growled as she slashed her swords at the Altum Eagle, but he dodged the many blades, diving down and flying around the sky. Penny turned as she heard the whistling sound of an arrow fired towards her, she turned and saw the Dust Charged arrow from Eryka Vasillias. Electricity coursed across the arrow and she caught it, but it electrocuted her, stunning her and causing some of her systems to malfunction. For a few brief moments her eyes glowed green, and she screamed in the voice that they could recognise. Penny spiralled out of control and crashed down to the ground with great force. But not very long afterwards, the Black Queen Virus managed to take control of her once again.

The Chess Piece and red irises fought against the green eyes of the Penny Polendina that they knew her for. She stared at them with anger in her eyes, and she blasted towards them all, slashing her swords towards Eryka. She rolled backwards and drew her Bow and fired three arrows at once at the Android, but she slashed them out of the air with her Floating Array of Grave Dust Swords. They came apart, then she launched the swords forward, hitting Eryka in the chest so hard that it broke her aura, but luckily did not impale her. The sword broke apart from the impact, but the Grave Dust quickly hardened back into the form of the blade.

Penny glared at Eryka but turned when she heard the explosive roar of both Nora and Yang launching themselves towards her. She stared at them and growled, blasting her beam of green power towards the two of them. Yang gasped and she blasted out of the path of the beam, but Nora couldn't. She gasped and the entire beam collided into her, knocking her out of the sky and breaking her aura in the process. She crashed to the ground, groaning in pain from the feeling of that hot beam carving her aura to pieces. Ren gasped; eyes wide as he sprinted to her side.

"Nora!" He screamed.

Yang landed beside Ruby, staring at Penny. But as the Android stood there, they saw the wall of the school explode and the Branwens crashed down into the road. Jackdaw dragged Raven across the road and twisted round, throwing her into the oncoming traffic, and she hit an Atlesian Truck that roared round the bend. It broke her aura instantly, even knocking her unconscious. The Atlesian Soldiers jumped out from the truck, rifles in hand as they ran and aimed their guns at the Rogues, Penny and Jackdaw.

"Rogue Huntsmen and Huntresses! Stand down!" The Atlesians commanded, Jackdaw had his blades at Qrow's throat, he could end him right now… but he then lifted his head and his eyes widened when he saw how many Atlesian Airships surrounded them. He stared back at Qrow… and he nearly slit his throat there and then, but he stood tall once more, towering above his younger brother.

Jackdaw looked at Penny and saw the Black Queen Chess Piece disappear from her eyes and the red turned green. She gasped with horror, looking around and at Ruby. "Ruby? Wh-What's going on? Where am I?" She whimpered with fear, wrapping her arms around her body, looking at the welding scars that held her body together after she was repaired.

"Stand down!" The voice of a familiar voice commanded, Winter stood there, weak with her hand on her side but she had enough strength to stand, with the help of Sienna holding her. Eryka gasped with concern for her girlfriend, but also out of fear… because she turned on her.

Ruby stood back up and felt the cold blade of Crocea Mors touch the side of her neck, she turned and saw Jaune staring at her.

"It's over." Jaune told her, and Ruby squeezed her eyes shut with grief. "Congrats, Ruby. You're a criminal now."

There was so much hurt in his voice, and it cut deep for her.

Jackdaw stood in the centre of the town as the Atlesians surrounded him, and he glanced at them all. He could still take them on, Ruby knew it – and Qrow did as well. He was a force to be reckoned with, he could take down an entire army if it forced him to.

But he didn't.

He ejected the blades from his arms and the Grave Dust returned to him, but he never used them, and the barrels of his guns folded back into the arms. He held his cybernetic arms behind his head, a smirk on his face as he stood there, kneeling as the Atlesians surrounded him.

Ruby knew…

_This was not over…_

_… Jackdaw is up to something._

* * *

**Author Note - I don't know if I have already said it... but I love writing Jackdaw in every single way, his combat style is so unique and fun to do, and it was great being able to focus on Jackdaw Vs Qrow and Raven, and he has said some rather worrying things about them - you have to wonder, who is telling the truth about what happened that day?**

**We have heard Raven's Truth, and now we have Qrow's Truth...**

**... what is THE TRUTH?**

**Writing Penny this way was... so weird... but in a good way, because of how the Black Queen virus turned her into what you would expect from a machine. But now they have all been caught by the Atlesians of Argus, which means that Killian and the Black Gallows will not be far behind**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**\- Matt**


	39. Cypher's Ridge

**Chapter 38 – Cypher's Ridge**

* * *

**Ruby**

* * *

The large Armoured Atlesian Transport drove through the streets of Argus, many ambulances and fire trucks were roaring past them to get to where the crashed Argus Limited was located, alongside Police Officers who were maintaining the scene, getting the passengers out of their. Luckily there were no casualties, only a couple of major injuries and mostly hurt men, women and children. It was very close though, many more people could have been killed during the battle that just took place, especially when Jackdaw was on the loose.

And yet now, the infamous Jack the Ripper… the man who had been evading capture by the authorities for years and managed to escape a Black Cell on the Shadow of Broken Promises without help… has been arrested… on his own accord. Ruby stared at the lunatic who was bound by massive restraints, the cuffs were like blocks with currents of electricity inside of them, stopping him from using his Cybernetic arms in any way. But Jackdaw did not seem concerned by that in any way whatsoever, he was actually tapping his feet on the floor with… glee.

Ruby looked at her sister as they sat there, then they looked at Nora who had her teeth into the cable around her wrists, yanking it with all her might to try and break it. Her cyan eyes were wide as she kept on trying, whilst Ren just sighed and shook his head, letting the Feral Nora Valkyrie keep trying. Qrow and Raven were also sat down with their arms bound, and Qrow kept his eyes on Jackdaw as well – if anyone would be more dangerous in restraints than out of them, it would be their older brother.

"I'm getting really tired of being captured, honestly." Yang sighed as she shook her arms to try and get free, only to no avail.

Jackdaw chuckled sinisterly as he sat there, in front of him there were multiple Atlesian Soldiers that had their guns aimed at his head, ready to fire if he even tried to escape. But Jackdaw was not trying anything, he just did one of the many things he was very good at.

Talking.

"Oh darling… when you go rogue you should just accept the fact; you'll get captured a couple times at some point." Jackdaw assured, Eryka scoffed as she looked at Dulcis in yet another cage.

"Tell me about it." Eryka sighed. Nora ceased her animalistic attempts to break the restraints and she sighed, leaning back and resting her head up against the glass. She glanced out the window and she saw the Atlesian Military Base that they were being brought.

"Ugh… looks like we're being taken to that ugly Shoe Place." Nora groaned; Yang raised a brow.

"Klopperoonies?" Yang asked with confusion – Klopperoonies was a Shop in Vale that sold some of the worst quality footwear the gang had ever seen. Yang's comment made both Ruby and Ren chuckle.

"No… that nasty mountainy thingy at the very end of the city, where the Atlesians hang out." Nora commented.

"Cypher's Ridge." Jackdaw answered for them, all of them stared at him when he answered that statement.

"It has a name?" Ren questioned.

"Well yeah, how many places have you been to that don't have a name?" Jackdaw replied.

"No, I mean that I thought it was just called the Argus Base." Ren stated.

"To the uneducated yes, but that place has a bit of intriguing history… and irony." Jackdaw said, looking over his shoulder at the team of Rogues behind him, raising one his brows. "Would you like to have a bit of exposition from good ol' Uncle Jack?"

Ruby glared at him with anger, but she sighed, rolling her silver eyes before she looked out the window to see the base itself.

Cypher's Ridge.

Jackdaw began to tell the history of Argus and more specifically – the base itself. "You see back in the day, during the Great War? This entire place was once a giant cliff face, absolutely gigantic one too – discovered by a man named Cypher Lazuli. People came together to start building their own kingdom, and it was prospering, a Kingdom that had no part in the Great War. They just wanted to live a peaceful life, far away from the conflict that was raging around them." Jackdaw explained, and Ren looked at Jackdaw with confusion.

"But… it's a Cove now." Ren said.

"Good eyes there, son." Jackdaw said. "They lasted through most of the Great War, since the Four Kingdoms never really needed much reason to go to their location. So Argus survived through roughly… four hundred years of warfare, completely unscathed. Until of course the Atlesian Pagans decided that they needed some more land to build their bases, claiming land. And sadly… Argus lacked the proper defences; they lacked the military to defend themselves." Jackdaw stared at the Atlesians, they were no longer Pagans who drank the blood of their enemies and worshipped the moon as a monstrous god – but they were still from the same past.

Even some of these soldiers looked… almost guilty… from this dark part of their history. "The Pagans massacred and enslaved the people of Argus, fed on them, drank their blood, sacrificed them to their God that they would die for. This beautiful city was once hell on Earth for these people. But the people of Argus were on Anima, land of which the Mistraalian Immortals could not stand for." Jackdaw explained as they drove past some old ruins that were being maintained and looked after – so that the History of Remnant could never be forgotten.

Old buildings, ones where battles took place, people lived… or where the Atlesian Pagans slaughtered men women and children like livestock for their god. "What happened?" Eryka asked the madman, who was more knowledgeable than they were expecting.

"The Immortals sent their army there, the same one that would later battle against the Spartans of Nikolaos. They swarmed towards the gates and immediately sacked the entire city, Pagan and Argus Citizens alike. Until there was nothing left, and they dropped bombs on the city, nearly wiping it off the face of Remnant. The cliff face became extremely damaged and collapsed into the sea… except for once chunk of it left standing." Jackdaw glanced at Cypher's Ridge, staring at the tall chunk of the Cliff that was still standing after all these years.

Jackdaw scoffed. "Isn't it ironic? A city and all its people massacred by the Mistraalians and the Atlesians… now the city was rebuilt and owned by both sides. And the Atlesians turned the only remnant of their genocidal campaign of war… into a Military Base." Jackdaw laughed at the irony, but nobody else was laughing. The Atlesian Soldiers looked incredibly hurt to hear that tale once again…

… the Great War was a horrific time… and all of them felt glad to have never seen it.

Ruby stared at the city, and after hearing what Jackdaw just told them, it was maddening to know that this place was once a ruin, engulfed in flames from a war that they wanted no part in. And even now, they still never got what they wanted, they were a conjoined city controlled by the two Kingdoms that brought about their destruction centuries ago. Perhaps it was guilt on their part, or they just wanted to try and cover up the past – but nothing can hide the truth forever.

Ruby looked away from Cypher's Ridge and she stared at Jackdaw again, and she could still just see him. The horrifying view that Summer must have had before she died… seeing those insane eyes staring down at her before he finished her off. "Why her?" Ruby questioned, and Jackdaw glanced at her.

"Why who?" Jackdaw asked her, and Ruby gritted her teeth in anger, but before she could even yell at him, he already knew. "I'm just messing with you, little one."

"Why? She was kind, loving and good – and they told me that you were friends with her! Why would you kill her? Just because my Uncle… had feelings for her?" Yang questioned with anger and disgust in her voice.

"You're asking the wrong questions there, Goldilocks." Jackdaw sung with a sing-song voice, smiling away as he looked at the two women. "You keep asking me why _I_ did what I did… but have you ever wondered if others could have played a part in her demise?" Jackdaw asked, glancing at Raven and Qrow.

"We know about what happened to your team… Qrow's Bad Luck Charm got them all killed… but that was not his fault, and you know it!" Ruby argued, and Jackdaw chuckled with amusement.

"Look around, Ruby. Remember what I told you? About how Atlas and Mistral attempted to cover up what they did all those years ago? Was it guilt or was it fear? Tell me… you have no reason to trust a monster like me… but are you certain I am the only one?" Jackdaw asked her as he sat there. Ruby glanced at Qrow and Raven…

… they were sweating.

There was no confusion of it anymore, the two of them were definitely hiding something, something that Jackdaw knew. And not only that, Qrow was the one claiming that Raven's explanation of what Jackdaw did was not correct – but what if even he was lying? Ruby was about to ask them what he was talking about, until they heard the voice of an Atlesian interrupt them through the intercom.

"Identification Confirmed, welcome back Orange Squad." The Woman on the other end said, which made Jackdaw laugh, actually guffaw.

"ORANGE SQUAD? HA! What's next? Banana Team? Watermelon Platoon?" Jackdaw was laughing like a child as the door opened up and they guided him with chains, pulling him towards the doors. The rear end of the doors of their truck opened and the light nearly blinded them. Stood there was both Winter Schnee and Sienna Khan, and Eryka groaned – knowing she was in for some serious shit.

"Too bright!" Ruby groaned.

"Shut it, come on. Time to face the music." Winter said as she stepped aside, letting them all walk out from the truck. It was Ruby, Yang, Nora, Ren, Raven, Qrow and Eryka who walked out. As Winter walked out, she saw one of the soldiers take Dulcis, but Winter grabbed the cage instead – Eryka felt more comfortable with that, and Winter knew she would.

"So… how pissed are you at me, by the way?" Eryka asked, but Winter winced as she held her side, Sienna helped keep her standing, but she was doing much better now. She had already been given some better medication on the Argus Limited. Luckily, she did not even need to go to the Hospital, the Train had the stuff they needed in stock – Anti-Venom for Grimm Stingers.

The fact it worked on Tyrian's Venom was… quite concerning.

Winter glared at Eryka as she held the bandage around her core. "Whoa, what the hell?" Eryka immediately began to worry about her Girlfriend but Winter shoved her forward to keep it moving.

"We will talk about it later… and to answer your question? On a scale of one to ten? I'd say a nine." Winter answered.

"Oh gods…" Eryka groaned, squeezing her eyes shut.

Ruby stared up at the huge piece of rock that remained from Cypher's Ridge, now covered with Atlesian Military Equipment, she sighed as she kept walking towards the doors. Massive Atlesian Paladins marched across the area, armed to the teeth and with soldiers absolutely everywhere. Airships came in and landed on the pads to deliver goods into the city, and she looked past the base and saw the expanse of ocean. That was what they needed to cross in order to get to Atlas – and going on a boat would not just take too long, but the Grimm that lurk in those waters would kill them all in seconds.

They needed an airship… but the odds of getting one now were slim to none.

When they entered, it was far warmer than the cold Northern Anima Air that they felt outside, and it smelt so clean. To the Schnees this was expected, and as they turned the corner, they saw Weiss and Jaune stood in front of them, with a rather short elderly woman clad in High Ranking Atlesian Clothing. Ruby looked at where Jackdaw was being taken and she stared at them. "Where are you taking him?" She asked them, since she knew that they were all in danger with him in cuffs like that.

He had a plan; she knew it in her bones.

Jackdaw was not the only one being taken down below, the same was happening for Penny as well. Ruby looked at her and she looked so frightened, looking at Ruby for help as they forced her down the stairs. "And Penny? Where are you taking her?" She asked the three of them.

"The same place that we should be taking you, for psychological evaluation and to be sent to the highest security prison. But I have been given many requests to not do that to you… yet." She said to them all, Ruby looked at Weiss and Jaune and she could tell that they must have played a part in that, to make sure their punishment was softened.

"Guys, this is General Caroline Cordovin, she is the leader of Cypher's Ridge and all the military here." Weiss introduced, and they saw that Blake and Ilia were stood to a distance, they felt uncomfortable being in such high presence of Atlesians, given the treatment of the Faunus up North.

"I assume we're under arrest?" Ruby said, Cordovin scoffed.

"Arrest? Heh, that's funny. You've broken more rules in the book than any Huntress in recent years, Miss Rose. You're lucky you haven't already been sent to the nearest prison." Cordovin said as she walked ahead of them. "Your weapons and that Eagle will be held in lockup; we'll be sure to send you a receipt for them."

"AGAIN? He's an Eagle not a gun!" Eryka argued and Winter sighed, walking over to Cordovin and she whispered in her ear.

"Surely we can spare the Eagle? She's really attached to it and not being able to see him safe could make her harder to work with. And like she said… he's an eagle, not much he could do in here." Winter said, still standing by and supporting her Girlfriend even after everything that has happened. Cordovin looked at Dulcis who screeched at her and Cordovin stepped back, scowling at the creature.

"Fine, just keep the beast away from our operations." She sighed, and she walked over to Eryka and stared at her.

"Keep him well behaved, for both your sakes." Winter requested, they all walked inside of the large Office where Jaune and Pyrrha were inside. Jaune had his scroll up to his ear, speaking to someone in particular.

"Yeah, they're here now, can you stop pestering me on this, Killian?" Jaune requested, which made them all scoff. They could not hear Killian on the other side but judging by Jaune's frustrated face and rolling his eyes, he must have been going on about the same stuff they were expecting. "Consequences? Oh you'll bet there'll be consequences for this." Jaune added as he walked towards them. "Well duh, I just said it. Go ahead, quote me on it, whatever. Are we done?" Jaune asked, hanging up on the Commander before he could even finish what he was saying.

"Take it he's still bitter?" Ruby assumed.

"Killian wants all of you prosecuted for what you've done, I'm trying to convince him to soften the punishment. But you guys have not been making it easy, running amok the way you have been." Jaune said to them as he walked towards them.

"So… I'm not getting Crescent Rose back?" Ruby asked them.

"Technically it belongs to the Council now." Weiss said as she walked past her friends.

"That's cold." Qrow scoffed.

"Warmer than a Black Cell." Jaune responded, that was when they realised though… Killian didn't tell them about that. He did not even tell them that he launched a full-on assault on them at Lake Matsu and held them in Black Cells. Somehow… that was more surprising. The soldiers guided the Rogues and split them apart into separate Cells.

Ruby and Yang in one, Nora and Ren in another, Qrow and Raven in another and Eryka with Dulcis in the next. These Cells were very different in comparison to the Black Cells, they were made out of Bullet-Proof and Sound-Proof Glass, with a table and comfortable office chairs inside where they could sit down. The soldier set the cage with Dulcis down on the table and all the soldiers unlocked their restraints, leaving them in their cells for the time being.

Cells… they were more like fancy Offices.

Ruby sat down in their Office with Yang, but as they sat, someone walked in and closed the door behind them. "Hello Ruby Rose. Yang Xiao Long." She spoke, they lifted their gaze and saw her stood there – it was not who they thought it was gonna be.

It was Veronica… Killian's Girlfriend.

Both of the sisters stared at Veronica as she walked in, she was still wearing rather casual clothing, but she had a holstered pistol on her too and had some tactical gear on underneath her hoodie. "Wasn't expecting to see you here." Ruby said, and Veronica nodded her head, leaning against the glass with her arms crossed.

"Ah, so you're a blonde like me." Yang said, Veronica raised a brow in confusion.

"Come again?" She asked.

"Your hair, I can see the blonde roots coming back." Yang commented, and Veronica touched her head where the light blonde was returning. Veronica chuckled, closing her violet eyes and softly scratching her tanned skin.

"Oh yeah, gods I need to remember to fix that. Blonde never really worked for me really. Looks great for you though, Miss Xiao Long." Veronica said as she stood there.

"So… why are you here?" Ruby asked curiously, Veronica immediately furrowed her brows.

"You're… not pissed at me? I mean… I'm Killian's girlfriend." She commented.

"We know, but you weren't the one who did the things that he has done. And… in a way I do get why you hate us." She said with a sigh.

"I don't hate you… I don't hate any of you… I just feel that maybe some things can be improved. I just want the truth, and I want everyone to be treated equally. I may not agree with some of Nathan's methods but… he wants the same thing." Veronica said, but that made the two sisters scoff.

"Yeah keep telling yourself that." Yang scoffed.

"I know you don't trust him, what he did at Beacon was wrong and terrible… and definitely rash. I admire him for actually telling me the truth on that, to be honest. But his motivation is for Remnant to be united and safe." Veronica said, and Ruby looked at her.

"Oh yeah? Tell me did he tell you he attacked us and destroyed Lake Matsu to try and kill us before he decided to lock us in Black Cells?" Ruby asked her, and from the look of shock on Veronica's face? That was all they needed to know; Killian never even told her about ambushing them at Lake Matsu. "I know you care you about him, Veronica – but I do not trust him. A man with all that power and arrogance? There's only one thing he wants, whether he chooses to admit it or not. And that's power and control." She explained as she stared at her hands.

She opened and closed her fists over and over again, so anxious, waiting for something to go wrong. She looked around and saw Blake and Weiss talking nearby, but they could not hear a thing. "But… Killian isn't what scares me right now." She said, Veronica looked at her with confusion.

"What is?" She asked her.

"Jackdaw… he gave himself up. Let's be real here, he could have easily taken all those soldiers out, but he put his hands behind his head with a smirk on his face. He has a plan, and it's gonna go wrong. We cannot risk losing sight of him for a moment and right now? I have no clue where he is." Ruby explained, Veronica looked at her and she walked across the room to her scroll.

"I would like to clarify something. I have never been against you or the rest of the Huntsmen and Huntresses. I have not forgotten the things you have done for us, the amount of lives you have saved… all of you in particular. It's why I was here." Veronica revealed, Yang's eyes widened, and she looked at Veronica.

"Wait… were you one of the other people that made sure our punishment was softened?" Yang asked and Veronica smiled, nodding her head.

"Like I said – I do not want the Huntsmen and Huntresses gone or even on a leash – I just want everyone to be happy and safe. And of course – I want to know the truth." Veronica said, she then held her scroll behind her back and clicked a button, and the screens in their room turned on, showing both Jackdaw and Penny's cells. They were being interviewed by people and she unmuted it so then they could hear what they were talking about.

Both of them looked at Veronica and she winked at them with a smile. The glass was sound proof so nobody could be suspicious of what they were doing in there. Everyone outside was watching the same feed and listening to the talk between the Interrogator and Penny.

"Tell me, what do you remember? Who is your father?" The Interrogator asked, with quite a strong voice.

"Pietro Polendina." Penny answered, she was so scared, and it upset Ruby deeply.

"Very good – tell me why did you do the things you did today? Were you angry? Angry at the Atlesians for what happened at Beacon Academy four years ago?" The Interrogator asked her.

"N-No… I… I don't know what happened… I could see everything, but I could not stop my body. Something was in me…" Penny whimpered with grief in her voice. "Where is my friend? Where is Ruby?"

"She is nearby, safe. Do not worry." The Interrogator assured; Ruby looked at Yang.

"How come none of these Atlesians are shocked that she's alive? We all saw what happened in the Vytal Festival." Ruby stated.

"Yeah… do you think they knew?" Yang asked.

"I think they had her rebuilt but never told you." Veronica said, they both looked at her and judging by her face she was just as in the dark as the rest of them were.

"Why would they do that?" Ruby asked her.

"Well… did the Atlesians want to keep Penny under their thumb constantly? Keep her away from other people? From you?" Veronica asked her, and Ruby thought back, remembering all the times that Penny said that she could not speak with Ruby. The Atlesian Soldiers that chased them… she was not allowed to talk to anybody and go alone in a strange city.

"Actually come to think of it, yeah… Atlesian Soldiers were always with her… Ironwood always had her close." Ruby remembered and Veronica sighed.

"For every answer we get ten more questions." Veronica said, making both the sisters scoff in agreement.

"Story of our lives." Yang answered.

"She could have been rebuilt literally a few months after… and nobody ever told me? She was my friend… she _is_ my friend." Ruby sadly said, and Veronica gently squeezed her shoulder.

"Don't worry, this will work out." Veronica assured and Ruby smiled, staring back at the screen again.

"I hope so."

They continued to watch the feed… but Ruby knew… something was gonna happen.

* * *

**Jaune**

* * *

He and Pyrrha both walked towards the room where Ren and Nora were being held, and just as they expected, Nora was sat on the floor rolling around out of complete boredom was Ren was just sat down with his eyes closed. Jaune opened the door as he looked at them and then at the comfortable chairs. "Something wrong with the chairs?" Jaune asked.

"No, Ren was meditating, and I thought I'd give it a go." Nora said as she rolled around, and Ren sighed.

"As you can tell it went well." Ren replied, opening one eye at the two of them. Pyrrha closed the door behind them and they both walked inside of the cell. They both pulled out their chairs and they sat down; arms crossed as they looked at them. Nora scoffed, glancing at Ren.

"Uh-Oh… I think we're in trouble." Nora joked, but neither Jaune nor Pyrrha were in a joking mood.

"This isn't a joke, Nora. There will be a trial for this, we've tried our best to soften the punishment you'll be getting but it will be prison time." Jaune explained to them, and they both sighed.

"Oh no, we'll be in prison. As if Beacon Academy and all the other Academies won't be in the same boat a few years later." Nora said as she stood back up, planting her hands on her hips, staring at Jaune with daggers in her eyes.

"It won't be like that; the Consensus just says that we will have to report back and follow missions ordered by the Government. It's more like a job that way." Jaune said.

"That's the point though, Jaune! It goes against everything Huntsmen and Huntresses do! We're freelancers, we don't work for someone higher up than us. We help people on our terms, not a bunch of pencil pushing douches." Nora argued, but Ren calmed her as she sat on the floor next to him.

"It's a document, they're amendable. Things will get better once the P.R fires are put out." Jaune said.

"Or they'll get worse. Did you forget what happened four years ago? What Killian did? I haven't! The man's insane and will do anything to get what he wants and that is _control_. Over everything and everyone." Nora stated, and Ren nodded his head.

"There have been men and women like him for years, he's no different to the rest. The only difference is that he has the power to do whatever he wants without consequence." Ren explained.

"Not true, the Black Gallows may be step above the other Militaries, but they all answer to the Council of Remnant. Any action they take has to be okayed by them, not even Killian can stop that." Pyrrha explained as she gestured her hands around as she spoke.

"Really, so did he tell you that he attacked us at Lake Matsu? Do you really think the Council would sanction him to destroy a Historical Site like that?" Nora questioned.

"And don't even get me started on locking us in Black Cells immediately without even contacting the Council. He's not playing by their rules, Jaune, he's playing by his own ones." Ren said as he stared right back. But Jaune and Pyrrha both had no idea about that whole thing either, something that was very clear from the looks on their faces.

"Yeah… just as I thought." Nora sighed, resting her head on Ren's shoulder. Jaune stood up from his chair and he paced around the room.

"Well… if the council find out about that then there will be consequences." Jaune said, what none of them knew was how much Killian had actually kept from the Council. Not even just about Salem either.

There was a lot of things that he kept from them… things that could even put him in a Black Cell.

"But that doesn't change your circumstances. There was a crisis at Beacon, and you disobeyed the Council and ran off. You joined the Branwen Tribe, Qrow stabbed Killian – a Military Commander, slaughtered Malachite and her Little Spiders and probably a hell of a lot more." Jaune explained to them, grabbing the back of his chair.

"We did not kill one person at Malachite's… that was the Tribe." Ren immediately defended – he nearly told Jaune about the Black Gallows soldiers that they killed but he chose to keep that at bay. He did not know if they could even trust him with such information.

"Well you still ran with them and it won't matter to the Council and their judges. You'll be put in prison for damn long time… and gods… do you know what we went through to try and catch you here?" Jaune asked them, the two of them looked at each other – since they had one hell of a journey too.

"Uh… what happened? We saw a bandage around Winter." Nora commented.

"Yeah… well… remember that thing that Ironwood told us about at Beacon? Salem? And that big thing tried to capture me during the battle?" Jaune asked them.

"The Praetorian Knight?" Ren asked.

"Yeah… well on our way to find you, two more came after me. Adam Taurus got free with this other guy – Hazel Rainart I think his name was. And they tried to take me and kill Blake. Then we got ambushed by this lunatic called Tyrian… and two old friends of ours were with him." Jaune explained.

"Emerald and Mercury." Pyrrha told them, their eyes widened.

"They're still alive? Qrow went searching for those two ages ago, when Beacon was still being patched up." Ren gasped with his eyes wide.

"Yep – Winter got stung by his Scorpion Tail, only just managed to patch her up on the Argus Limited." Jaune explained, the two of their eyes widened.

"Wait... you were on the Argus Limited the same time as us?" Nora gasped.

Silence filled the room out of realisation…

"Oh gods… we're so stupid… how did we never notice that?" Pyrrha groaned as she facepalmed.

As the moment of realisation passed, Pyrrha remembered the horrors they saw out there in the wilds. Jvaani and Brunswick Farms. "The Grimm too… we saw some terrible things out there. Something new was pursuing us and we encountered the Apathy."

"Gods…" Ren softly said.

"So do you see what I'm saying? Ironwood said this Salem Person is the one responsible for the Grimm and she commands them. Things are getting worse out there and for whatever reason she is sending people to try and capture me. I don't know why or how but they are. You need to give up this whole thing about Jackdaw and agree to help me and the rest of us go after Salem. It's our best chance – we have to find out who she is and where she is and how to stop her. Because we need you…" Jaune begged them as he crouched down, the two of them looked at each other as they thought about it.

"It's not us you'll have to convince, Jaune. It's Ruby and Yang." Nora said as she looked at him. "You don't know what it's like… to have your parents die, knowing what did it and knowing you could never avenge them. Ruby is set on avenging her mother and we cannot let her do it alone." Nora said.

Jaune sighed, standing back up. "And besides – this isn't over. Jackdaw gave himself up… we've all seen what he is capable of in the battlefield, he did not need to give himself up. Why do you think he did it?" Ren asked Jaune as he walked away.

Jaune stopped and stared at the feed where Jackdaw was waiting to be interrogated, smiling away in the chair he was restrained onto.

Jaune closed his eyes…

… because he knew they were right in that regard.

* * *

**Eryka**

* * *

"SUCK MY BUTT YOU ASSHOLES!" Eryka yelled over and over again at the many Atlesians that were working hard, yelling all forms of obscenities at them through the glass. But it was soundproof, so they could only see her shouting at them but could not hear a word. She stopped when she heard the sound of the door knocking and she turned to see Winter on the other side with a crutch.

Eryka gulped, and she walked over to the table, wringing her hands together as she looked at her girlfriend as she opened the door and walked inside. "Ow…" Winter groaned as she held her side. Eryka immediately walked up t0o her and checked over her, making sure she was okay.

"What the hell happened? Who did this to you, are you okay?" Her worrying was appreciated by Winter, and under the circumstances it was as if nothing had really changed between them.

"I'm fine – it was one of Salem's Minions." Winter told her, and Eryka's eyes widened as she stayed close to her.

"Salem? She's still got pawns?" Eryka asked and Winter sat down with a grunt.

"Yep… a lunatic called Tyrian did this to me… a Scorpion Faunus." Winter told Eryka, the Vasillias' eyes widened, since she had never met a Scorpion Faunus before, unaware of the dark history behind why there were none of them left bar one Madman. "Only recently got me the antidote for it… so it still hurts pretty bad." Winter said, before she then noticed the bandaging around Eryka's torso. "Wait what happened to you?" She asked.

"Oh this? Got slashed by the sharp wings of some lunatic in the mountains. Had a grudge against Ren and his dad." Eryka answered, and Winter looked totally surprised by that.

"Wait, his dad is alive?" She asked.

"Yeah… long story… basically he survived and accidentally made an enemy in the process who has no jaw and has really cool wings." Eryka explained, making Winter chuckle.

"I've missed how you summarise things." Winter giggled, making Eryka blush… but then things went from cute to pretty tense again.

"So… how much of a yelling at am I gonna get for… helping them?" Eryka winced as she stood there, and Winter sighed.

"I'm not gonna yell at you – I just wished you could have trusted me a bit more. Waking up and finding you weren't next to me in bed? It hurt… just having you ditch me like that?" Winter softly said with what nearly looked like tears in her eyes.

"I do trust you… I love you and you know that. But it wasn't you I had trust issues with… it is Killian." Eryka said.

"You think I trust him? After what we uncovered?" Winter scoffed.

"No, but you never disobey an order. And with Ironwood gone… Killian basically takes his place." Eryka explained, but Winter shook her head.

"I would _never_ work for that man. The man is dangerous, he may have Remnant's Best Interests at heart but we both know what he really is. Eryka you know don't you that if you actually talked to me about this, I would have gone with you, right? I know that Weiss and Blake would have." Winter explained.

"But not Jaune and Pyrrha?" Eryka asked her.

"Maybe…they probably would need more convincing. They don't know what its like, they both came from families who loved them unconditionally. Weiss and I know what it's like to live in a family that's on the edge of destruction. Blake has a damn psychopath coming after her. But Jaune and Pyrrha have each other – they don't want to lose each other again." Winter explained and Eryka nodded her head.

"They'd rather stick their heads in the sand and wait it out." Eryka scoffed.

"No… I dunno it's hard to explain and in a way, I get it. They like to find the good in things, and it's the same with the Consensus. And don't get me wrong I can see the good in it too – more of a structure. Honestly if it was headed by someone, I trust I think I would go for it." Winter admitted as she shrugged her shoulders.

Eryka's answer surprised her. "Same here." Eryka said. "We all know why Ruby and Yang can't let this go… I just wish we had more time." Eryka said as she sat down next to Winter.

"Look, Jaune has a plan. He and Killian have gained quite a good rep with each other, and he wants to try and convince him to let all of you help us go after Salem and her followers. She's up to something, sending assassins to try and kidnap him. The Grimm are getting worse in the wilds, entire villages of people vanishing in minutes from some new Grimm that wipes your memory as soon as you look away." Winter explained and Eryka looked at Dulcis who walked around the table.

"That's new." Eryka said with worry in her voice.

"Exactly. Whatever she is up to, we need to be ready to fight it. We need to find her – if he can, will you please stand with me this time?" Winter begged her, and Eryka gently held her hand.

"I will. But… Winter… if he can't… or if something happens… I have to help them. Ruby and Yang deserve to know the truth." Eryka said to her and Winter sighed.

"I know they do." Winter said as they both sat there, looking at the Operations Centre.

Eryka closed her eyes with a sigh. "I… saw my mom." She revealed, Winter's eyes widened, and she looked at her.

"Lavinia?"

"Yep… we had to go to the Vasillias Cartel to save this little girl and so then we could try and catch the Argus Limited. But… things went wrong." Eryka looked right at Winter. "Tell me – did he tell you that he was gonna ambush us and destroy Lake Matsu's Floating Islands to try and kill us?" Eryka asked her, and the eyes were the answer. They were wide with disbelief.

"He did what?" She gasped.

"Just as I thought…" Eryka sighed. "In a weird way… I was hoping it was sanctioned." Eryka said.

"Wait, what? Why?" Winter asked.

"Because at least then we knew he was following the proper channels to conduct his business. But it seems he's just as unpredictable and corrupt as my mother." Eryka said with a sigh. But as they sat there, their eyes widened as they saw the doors open and they both stood tall.

"Speak of the Devil… and he shall appear." They both said at the same time as they saw Nathaniel Killian and Dutch enter the building with some of his Black Gallows soldiers behind him.

Which meant the Shadow of Broken Promises was here as well.

* * *

**Killian**

* * *

The Commander of the Black Gallows stood defiantly as he entered, and it was like he had an aura of fear that followed him no matter where he went. He walked with Dutch through the Operations Room, passing by the men and women who were working hard, and his eyes fell upon Eryka and Winter who stared at him from the cell. Killian narrowed his eyes at them, like daggers – they were the two that posed the biggest threat against his mission.

"Well – this is quite the unfortunate event." Dutch sighed.

"Don't be so fatalistic, Dutch. All the Rogues are right here under our roof." Killian explained as he looked at them all.

"What about the train crash?" Dutch asked him with concern.

"There were no casualties, just a few destroyed buildings, and some bruises. The Atlesian and Mistraalian Government will be able to cover the cost for repairs relatively fast." Killian assured as he walked through the room, noticing that Veronica was in the cell with Ruby and Yang still, speaking with them both. "Veronica?"

"NATHANIEL KILLIAN!" Cordovin suddenly yelled, appearing right in front of him with her two soldiers stood beside her. Killian's eyes widened with shock as Cordovin practically shoved him into his place, yelling at him. The Rogues and Hunters alike started to giggle as they saw Killian actually begin to sweat from how uncomfortable he was. "You dare enter my city and my base without my authority? You are not in your precious Shadow of Broken Promises you pompous prick! Here you will address me as General and will do exactly as I say! Now are you here to interrogate Jackdaw Branwen or not. SPEAK MAN!" Cordovin exploded at him.

Dutch gave Killian a napkin so then Killian could wipe the sweat from his brow, he cleared his throat and finally spoke. "Y-Yes, Ma'am." Killian replied.

"GENERAL!" Cordovin yelled.

"G-General! Yes. I am." He stammered.

"Good! Now get to work." Cordovin commanded as she walked away and Killian sighed.

"I've never seen you get that uncomfortable, boss." Dutch commented.

"I see she hasn't changed a bit." Killian said. "She was my Drill Sergeant in training – seems age has made her mellow out."

Killian looked at the cell where the two Branwens were in, and they were both conversing, and he clenched his hand into a fist. "Keep an eye on the situation up here. I'll be back soon… time to have a chat with an old friend." Killian said as he walked away to the stairs…

… to speak with Jackdaw Branwen.

* * *

**Author Note - About time someone made Killian feel awkward XD**

**This was a cool chapter to write, the history of Argus and Cypher's Ridge was really interesting and fun to play around with. The Great War in the Eclipse Universe is one of my favourite areas to play around with in the case of Worldbuilding. So much cool and fascinating things can be done in the thousand year long war.**

**And the gang... man they have some proper issues to sort out with each other. Funny that Eryka and Winter were probably the two who handled it the best, whilst J.N.P.R and not at a great place right now. And Veronica, I love her... Killian doesn't deserve her XD**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**\- Matt**


	40. Confession

**Chapter 39 – Confession**

* * *

**Killian**

* * *

He stood at the door where Jackdaw was being held, Atlesian Soldiers stood with their rifles in their hands, he had the most security of the two prisoners being held. Simply because they all knew that Jackdaw was one of the most dangerous people in the entire world, and that the threat he posed was never going to be contained. Not by any prison cell, and not by any defences. One way or another he would find a way out of there, and the moment he did?

It would be chaos… a massacre.

Jackdaw Branwen was essentially a human time bomb, and at any second he was gonna blow. Killian stared at him through the bullet proof glass, staring straight at him with that sinister smirk on his face. Killian felt his hard thumping, pounding over and over again. Jack the Ripper, the monster that murdered his mother and father when he was a child, the very event that triggered it all – his distrust of the Huntsman Academies, and his distrust in the Unified Governments of Remnant.

_The UGR let this madman live for too long… I should just put a bullet in his head right now._

_But if I do that, then I will be seen as a monster, and the whole plan will fall apart. Whether I agree with it or not, she needs Jackdaw to complete his mission._

_She never should have dealt with a man like this, he is only out for himself, not the future she intends to create._

_Not the future that will save this world._

"Commander?" One of the Atlesian Soldiers asked, since Killian was just stood there. He stopped his shaking wrist, staring at his hand and he closed his onyx eyes. He turned to the soldier. "Are you okay?" He asked him.

"Yeah… I'm fine son. Open the door. It's time to talk." Killian said, and the soldier nodded his head. The soldiers turned to the large wheel that closed the ten-inch-thick steel locks, opening up the Vault-Grade Prison Door. There was no longer anything between him and Jackdaw. The restraints that he was bound by were impressive, one massive block that shut off the cybernetic arms and made the Grave Dust loaded in his arms completely useless. But it was all still there.

Jackdaw chuckled softly as Killian approached him, and the door closed behind him. The two villains stared at one another, and Jackdaw leant his head up against the back of his chair that he was bound to. "Well, well… if it isn't the King of the Shadows himself." Jackdaw greeted with a smirk. "You got here fast, since Lake Matsu." He said, and Killian glanced at the cameras, and he stared at them. He knew that Cordovin was watching them… but the light was off. He had no idea that someone had managed to turn the camera in there off, which meant one thing.

The only people that could hear their discussion were the two men in that room. "What were you thinking? I always assumed that out of all your little queen's minions that you had your head screwed on straight. Maybe not… maybe you're like me." Jackdaw said, but Killian replied to him by clenching his fist and punching Jackdaw square in the jaw. Jack laughed from how hard he punched him, rolling his neck round and creating a soft popping sound. "Damn, boy… you got a hell of a right hook, you know that?"

"I'm not like you." Killian snarled as he walked around him. "You're a monster, who murdered those girls' mother callously. You know if it wasn't for Salem and the world we want to create? I would honestly let them go after you, because I would do the same." Killian growled, revealing a side of himself that none of them actually realised existed.

"Then why don't you? Why continue to chase after them? Why not just let me play my games with them?" Jackdaw asked, Killian narrowed his eyes.

"Well that is one reason, a small one to be honest, but a reason. I know how you intend this story for those two to end, the same way for their mother. And then you'll do the same to your brother and sister… maybe even your Uncle." Killian said, but instead he got an ice-cold glare from Jackdaw, one that cut deep.

"You make it sound like that monster is a good man… he is the one of the most dangerous people in the world." Jackdaw warned.

"Sounds like Remnant is filling up with them." Killian stated, crossing his arms as he leant against the wall.

"Tell me, how long do we have? With the cameras being messed with?" Jackdaw asked him, since he also knew that someone was helping them out.

"Cordovin has no idea that our mutual ally is using his virus to create false footage. It won't fool her for long, that is of course if we keep this quick and he can turn it back to normal live footage. So… let's keep this brief, huh?" Killian asked him as he crouched forward, staring at Jackdaw.

"Then you should know that you're on the wrong side. Do you really believe that this Dark Queen of yours wants to save world?" Jackdaw asked him curiously.

"Yes, I do. She knows more about Remnant than anyone on the planet… bar Ozpin of course." Killian answered.

"So… the fact that she commands the very forces of death and destruction doesn't raise any alarm bells? You know for a man who manipulates the truth all the time, you can be fooled pretty easily, huh?" Jackdaw scoffed and Killian narrowed his eyes.

"And for a madman you are wiser than you let on." Killian admitted. "But you're wrong, Salem wants what is rightfully hers and that is control over the people of Remnant. That power was taken from her, and she wants it back. Look around you, all the corruption from the U.G.R? All those damned Councillors only have one thing that they care about, and it is how far they can fill their pockets." Killian explained to Jackdaw, which made Jackdaw nod his head.

"Indeed they do… but the world is happy. Partially thanks to the Black Gallows hiding the worst of the worst away in a place they can never locate… but also because they managed to end the Great War." Jackdaw replied.

"Well that's another point you have wrong – the U.G.R enjoy re-telling history with their own fictions. If you actually knew the truth them, you would know the real reason behind the formation of the U.G.R… because they did not want to relinquish their individual powers. Mistral, Atlas, Vacuo and Vale? They're all the same… and Salem offered a new way… one leader, who looks after everyone. Someone who can and will protect them all… and when there is peace the Grimm will no longer be feral. But no… they all wanted their own power and leadership – and our Queen would not let them retain that strength. So they banded together… and fought against her." Killian explained, and Jackdaw smirked at him, chuckling.

"I would clap… you know you really should have been a History Teacher." Jackdaw jeered.

"In another life maybe." Killian responded, shrugging his shoulders.

"So your precious Queen becomes the ruler of Remnant… how? You think the U.G.R will just give up to her?" Jackdaw asked him.

"They will be given a choice. There does not need to be unnecessary bloodshed, but necessary blood will be. If they force our hand." Killian explained.

"And that is what you are trying to avoid, huh? With the Vytal Consensus? Unnecessary Bloodshed? Did you really think that every single Huntsman and Huntress in all of Remnant would go for such a deal? Whether what happened to Summer happened or not… they would never have done it. Not after what you did four years ago." Jackdaw said, and Killian sighed.

"That… I admit… was rash of me. I thought it was the best move to make, to have Beacon Academy fall, so then with Ozpin gone and most of the Huntresses and Huntsmen dead it would make it easier. But if I had not saved Vale during that battle then I would definitely be in a Black Cell now." Killian admitted, and Jackdaw shook his head.

"You know, at least I admit I am a piece of dirt. A murderous scumbag who should be killed… but you? You really tell yourself a lot of lies to believe you're a good man, don't you? It's what I like about Tyrian, he knows what he is and does not hide it. You can always trust a lunatic to be honest with you – what have we got to fear?" Jackdaw said as he looked around the room.

Killian sighed, shaking his head as he walked around the room, hearing those little questions in the back of his mind.

_Am I a good man? What am I? Am I a monster?_

_Monster or Good?_

_Good or Monster?_

_Who will I be when my story ends?_

"Can always trust a madman to be a madman." Jackdaw said with a smirk on his face, and Killian stared at him.

"Why did you do it?" Killian asked him.

"Do what? I've done a lot of things. To a lot of people." Jackdaw answered.

"Kill my parents that day?" Killian questioned, and Jackdaw stared at him and he raised his brow.

"I did? When?" Jackdaw asked, and Killian closed his hand into a tight fist.

"Thirty-Eight Years Ago." Killian answered with furious eyes. "You broke into their house when you went on that killing spree, and you chopped them… chopped them to pieces." Killian choked up, then he felt the agony of the grave dust afflicting him again, grabbing the respiration device on his sternum, twisting the handle that pulled the dust away from his organs, keeping him alive.

"Huh… funny I barely remember them. Must not have had very recognisable faces." Jackdaw joked, and it set Killian off. The Commander of the Black Gallows suddenly pressed the barrel of his chrome pistol against Jackdaw's forehead. Jackdaw did not even flinch, he just stared right back at him, that deranged smirk on his face as he pushed his head against the barrel, not afraid of death one bit. "Go on… you know you want to. Avenge them, Killie-Boy." Jackdaw whispered as he winked his red eye at him. Killian's hand shook… even with Jackdaw at his mercy, he still trembled in fear of him.

Killian glared right at him, finger on the trigger to kill him, but then he lowered the gun and holstered it, walking away from him. Jackdaw chuckled as he sat there, watching the Commander pace around the room. "I see now… the Dark Queen didn't choose you because you are a good man… it's because deep down you are a monster, but you can't accept it. So you continue to tell yourself a lie… over and over… believing you're good… but deep down you know it's false. No matter how hard you try – you are a monster. Just. Like. Me." Jackdaw told him, and Killian stared at him and he clenched his hands into fists over and over again.

He spun round and shot Jackdaw straight through the head, splattering his brains across the floor in a sudden moment of fury.

At least that's what he wanted to do, seeing flashing images of him doing it in his own head. But he refused to do what his mind, and he took his hand away from his pistol, refusing to even face the madman who stared at him with that same smile on his face. Killian turned and glared at him. "I'm nothing like you."

Jackdaw smiled. "More lies…" Jackdaw responded.

Killian stood there and he heard the voice of Arthur Watts patch through his earpiece. "You have ten seconds; I recommend you move the discussion to something more believable. The false footage needs to blend with real to never be noticed." Watts explained to him and Killian nodded his head, looking back at Jackdaw. And judging by his face, he must have heard Watts' voice and what he said, and he was already onboard for the lie.

Killian stood tall and he hid the pain in his eyes from what Jackdaw said to him, but it still lingered.

"Why did you assault Beacon Academy?"

* * *

**Sienna**

* * *

The High Leader of the White Fang and Ilia Amitola waited outside of Cordovin's Office, at the very top of Cypher's Ridge. There were many officers inside, just leaving after a meeting they had regarding the situation with Jackdaw Branwen and Penny Polendina. From what they overheard, they intended to lock Jackdaw away and fully reset Penny, which would completely erase her memories.

The Officers and High-Ranking Military Soldiers left the building together, one by one they left, and some of the Atlesian Humans gave some rather nasty looks to the two Faunus waiting to speak with the General of the facility. Sienna gave them glares right back; she did not back down from their racist stares. She simply shot them right back.

They both stood up when the Soldiers left the room where Cordovin was waiting for them, and the two of them walked inside. The short elderly human stood at the large window that has a gorgeous view of Argus. She turned and she slid her hand across the side of her chair, walking over to it. "Welcome, Sienna Khan. I expect you are here to talk about what you sent me that message about?" Cordovin asked.

"Yes. You have some big friends in the U.G.R, and we need some help from them. Have you heard about what happened in Vacuo? With Adam Taurus?" Sienna asked as she touched her stomach, the same spot where her scar from being stabbed by Wilt and Blush left behind before she resurrected thanks to her Nine Lives Semblance.

"The Unified Governments of Remnant have already sent some rather disturbing reports. They also intend to speak with Killian, at least the four head representatives of each Kingdom do." Cordovin explained as she looked at her, and Sienna took a seat whilst Ilia stood up. She looked very uncomfortable being here, and Cordovin gave rather similar looks that the other Atlesians showed. It was not as direct, but it was still there, the Atlesians had quite the resentment towards their kind… for a reason none of them really understood. The Faunus only became a problem for them due to what they did to them in the first place, creating the White Fang that would later cause trouble by raiding their shipments.

"How many Prisons have been hit? Worldwide?" Sienna asked.

"Sixteen." She answered, their eyes widened with horror.

"H-How is that even possible? It has not been that long since we saw Adam and the Feral Ones in Vacuo." Ilia stated with disbelief.

"He must have more allies out there than either of us realised." Sienna said as she fiddled with the Cerberus Whip around her arm. "How many of those prisons had the Faunus Prisoners I mentioned? The really dangerous ones I locked away who joined the White Fang all to just cause chaos for their own enjoyment?" She asked.

"All of them. And any human prisoners that were in there? Either beaten near to death… or were murdered. Total death count is roughly in the thousands for humans right now." Cordovin explained. "Best we can tell though, they are moving north. Headed for the Obsidian Tower in Atlas, and the Schnee Dust Company Mines. Lots of angry Faunus in both, enough to make one hell of an army."

"Gods… if Adam is able to open the Obsidian Tower and unleash some of the prisoners in there? It would be a massacre." Ilia said with horror in her voice. "So what do we do to stop him?"

"That's a difficult question. At the end of the day we do not know where he is, but I expect that Argus will be his next target. It is the fastest way to Atlas and there is a prison here as well with quite a few notable prisoners that nobody wants released to the world." Cordovin explained.

"And then Atlas will be all that remains, he would have covered the entire planet's prisons and would have one hell of an army. I need to prepare the White Fang… we may be facing a whole new conflict. One against our own kind, not Humanity anymore." Sienna explained, and Cordovin nodded her head with a heavy sigh.

"Things are only getting more frightening in the world." Cordovin said.

But Cordovin truly had no idea of how terrifying.

* * *

**Yang**

* * *

They both watched Killian interrogate Jackdaw, and they could hear the rest of the conversation. The footage that Watts invented was impressively convincing, and nobody noticed that it was false whatsoever. Watts managed to take the sound of their voices and invent their own dialogues to match what he needed to maintain a low profile. Which meant that Watts was here, he was here in Argus – which meant that Tyrian, Hazel and Adam must be as well.

Most likely maintaining a low profile.

"Why did you assault Beacon Academy?" Killian questioned, both the sisters watched the feed and Yang had her elbow rested against the table, head supported on her hand as she stared at the television.

"Assault? That's a fancy word. I like to think of it more as a Massacre. Sounds better that way… _The Ripper Massacre_." Jackdaw joked, which made Ruby angry to just hear him making jokes about the deaths of so many friends. Yatsu, Peony, Ironwood and Glynda… so many good people died that day and died deaths that none of them ever deserved.

"You seem to enjoy making jokes at the expense of other's suffering, don't you?" Killian scoffed.

"Yes I do." Jackdaw answered with that big smile on his face.

"Who do you seriously hate more? Jackdaw or Killian?" Ruby asked her big sister.

"Honestly? I really don't know… if there is one thing I can admire Jackdaw for it would be his honesty, unlike Killian. But Killian isn't a psychopath who murders people for the heck of it." Yang explained, scoffing as she shook her head. "Look at us, looking for the good in two people we despise."

"I know… what's the world coming to? We're just collecting so many enemies now." Ruby said as she watched the feed next to her sister.

"So… what's the plan? How do we get to the Atlesian Wildlands from here? This is the fastest way to Atlas but we're… well… kinda arrested in a Maximum-Security Military Base." Yang said as she gestured to their surroundings. Ruby sighed, pushing her hands through her black and red hair.

"Uh… not a clue, right now if I'm gonna be honest. I highly doubt we will be able to leave this place with ease now." Ruby said as she looked at the feed with Killian. "And besides… Jackdaw is captured… I'm not really sure what to do now. What's the point in going to Atlas now that our target is right there?"

"I don't know. To be honest I don't really know why he let himself be captured, or why he even attacked us in the first place. Doesn't make sense, he was constantly ahead of us before Lake Matsu, headed straight for Atlas like he was on a mission, but then he attacked us out of nowhere, both at Matsu and now here. Now he let himself be captured? It doesn't make sense." Yang said as she watched the feed, before she turned and looked at Ruby.

"Yeah… he's got a plan, I know it." Ruby said as she stared at Jackdaw on the feed as he sat there, listening to Killian's questions but not answering them… not in a helpful way at least. Just jokes and wry comments.

Ruby turned when she heard the sound of someone approaching them, and so did Yang. Their blood ran cold because they knew this was going to be a very difficult conversation to have.

It was Weiss and Blake.

Stood at the glass door, they both opened it and walked inside, looking at the two of them as the door closed behind them. Ruby sighed as she buried her head into her hands, and Weiss crossed her arms whilst Blake sat down, staring at them. Yang glanced at Blake, but she closed her eyes with a sigh.

_This is gonna suck_.

"What the hell are you two doing? Seriously?" Weiss scoffed as she glared at the two of them. "I mean really? The things you have done, the people you have sided with for this journey for… what? Revenge? What will it solve? Will it bring your mother back?" Weiss asked them as she stood there, Ruby looked at her.

"He murdered her; she needs justice." Ruby said, and Weiss scoffed.

"And betraying everyone who cared about you? Breaking the law with every step that you take? How does that honour her?" Weiss questioned as she stood there.

Ruby stared at Weiss but then she just shook her head, sighing as she sat there. Weiss looked at Blake and she just calmed herself down. Exploding at them like that was never going to help them see the potential error in their ways. Team R.W.B.Y had never felt so divided, and the core reason behind it was all in one room – Nathaniel Killian and Jackdaw Branwen.

"Do you know… what's happening out there? Either of you?" Blake asked them both, Yang looked at Blake and she raised a brow.

"What do you mean?" Yang asked.

"The Grimm. It's getting worse with every day that passes. We came across this village on our way here… after… after what happened in Vacuo."

"Vacuo? What happened in Vacuo?" Ruby asked Blake, stopping her story.

"I…" She paused and looked at Yang. "After we came across what was left of the Spiders and Lil Miss Malachite… we were ambushed. By Adam." Blake revealed, and the colour drained from Yang's face and she felt her heart skip a beat from the fear of hearing that name. And in that moment, at the mere mention of his name, she saw the markings of his mask flash before her eyes. Her stump that her cybernetic arm was fused to pulsed with pain, it was not as bad as it used to be, but the Phantom Pains were still there, and could simply be triggered by things that linked to her Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Ruby looked at Yang, seeing her hand shaking. "He's back?" She whimpered.

"Yeah… and he is with some extremely dangerous people. They're… working for _her_." Blake told them, and Ruby's eyes widened.

"Salem?" Ruby asked her.

"Yeah. One of her Assassin's pretty much confirmed it in that town we came across." Weiss agreed, which helped them get back to the topic.

"Instead of risking air travel we went on foot to get to the Argus Limited in Northern Anima, but on our way there we found this town called Jvaani. We've never seen anything like it." Blake explained, and Ruby sighed.

"Grimm?" She assumed.

"Yes but trust me there was something really off about that place. There was some damage, but no Grimm caused it. It was caused by the Assassins to lure us into a trap, but the village? It was like everyone packed up and left five minutes before we even got there. The food was still hot." Blake explained to the two of them, and their eyes were wide with disbelief.

"Grimm that can take people without causing chaos? That's new." Yang scoffed.

"Worse. We came across a Scroll on the ground, someone was recording some kind of advert for the town to send to Mistral. During that recording, he screamed in terror, but then immediately calmed down and completely forgot what he saw. And then it went silent… and whatever it was that took those people? It was following us on our journey across Northern Anima." Blake explained, both Ruby and Yang were silent with that realisation.

"A Grimm… that can erase memories? And hang on, you said it also calmed him down?" Ruby questioned.

"Yeah… it goes against everything we know about Grimm. It didn't care for Negative Emotions whatsoever." Weiss answered as she nodded her head.

"We fought those assassins… two of them… were Mercury and Emerald." Blake told them.

"Those bastards are still out there?" Yang growled with anger; her cybernetic hand clenched into a fist. She still had a score to settle with them both, Mercury for the fight and framing her, and Emerald for being able to get in her head and play with what she saw like she was putty.

"Yeah, and their leader was a crazy Scorpion Faunus." Weiss added as she looked at them.

"That's rare, hell I've never heard of Faunus with that trait." Ruby said.

"Nobody has…" Weiss decided to not tell them about what Sienna told them about the history of what the White Fang did to the Bloodline of the Scorpion. It simply was not important, not like what happened at Brunswick Farms.

"We found a farm after we escaped… my sister was badly hurt, stung by his tail. The place was just as bad as Jvaani. Everyone was dead, died in their sleep. Killed by a Grimm Type called the Apathy. Another one that is becoming more and more prevalent, and the creature was still following us there. We only lost it thanks to the Argus Limited." Blake explained as she sat there.

"Gods…" Ruby gasped as she listened to their story.

"The Grimm are getting more unique, harder to fight and far more dangerous. And Salem is sending these people to try and take Jaune." Weiss added.

"Jaune?" Yang questioned. "What could she possibly want with him? I mean he's our friend and we all love the dude but… I can't see why she would keep sending so many people for him. He's just a normal guy."

"That's the same thing he said, honestly. Believe me, we really are scared of what is going on… and that is what brings us to our point." Weiss said, leaning forward. "Jaune has a plan. Out of all of us, Jaune has managed to earn a pretty strong rapport with Killian, and he wants to try and convince him to let all of you off this. So then you can help us track down these assassin's and get a lead on Salem." Weiss explained.

Yang looked at Ruby, but neither of them really knew what to think of this. Ruby sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Only if we let Jackdaw go…" Ruby said as she sighed. "And then we work for the very son of a bitch who tried to kill all of us four years ago?"

"Ruby…"

"No, have you all forgotten? Forgotten what Killian did to us after the Battle of Beacon? We were trying to recover and rebuild and then he turned up and started stirring so much trouble. He turned Jaymes into a living weapon." Ruby explained. "And you really think we would work for him?"

"Not for him. We'd be following Jaune, he simply wants to get the okay to do it." Blake said as she clarified the situation. "You cannot possibly tell us that this is not more important? Than just this personal vendetta you have against Jackdaw."

"_Some Personal Vendetta_?" Both Ruby and Yang questioned.

"N-No, that's not what I meant." Blake said.

"Then what did you mean, Blake?" Ruby questioned.

"Ruby, stop being so hostile." Weiss begged.

"NO! You don't get it! Both of you don't! You both had big families with lots of money!" Ruby argued, and Weiss stared at her, her eye twitched, but Ruby continued. "Yang and my Dad are the only people I can say who raised me, and Yang's mother was never there. Summer was the only mom we ever had, and that _monster_ took her from us both!" Ruby argued, Yang looked at Ruby and she gently touched her hand to try and calm her down.

Ruby stared at them both. "Don't ever think that this is something I can just let go. He took her from me… destroyed our family… I can't let that go."

"_I_ had a family?" Weiss questioned, and Blake looked at the Schnee Heiress. "Oh yeah… I really had a big wonderful family, didn't I? Little princess who had everything! Everything but… a stable family. I have a little brother who hates me. A father who only cares about his ambition and hurts me, my sister, my brother and my mother whatever chance he has! And my mother was always too busy drinking in the gardens! Winter was the only family I ever had… before… I met all of you." Weiss choked up, her voice broke as she spoke, tears welled up in her eyes as she spoke.

Weiss stared at Ruby and she wiped the tears away. "I… do… understand your anger, Ruby. I hate my father for how he destroyed the Schnee Family after my Grandfather passed away. And if you had just talked to us… asked us to go with you… we would have. It wouldn't have been the first time; we broke the rules once and I would have done it again. But you didn't trust us… neither of you did!" Weiss argued, and she looked at both Blake and Yang, and neither could bare to even look at each other.

"I…" Ruby stammered. "I do… do trust you…" Ruby said.

"If you did… then why are we in this situation?" Weiss questioned. A silence filled the office, one that hurt to experience. These four people who once could trust each partner with their lives… were more divided than ever before. Weiss shook her head. "No matter how hard I try… as soon as I find a family I truly love. It always falls apart… I guess I'm just cursed, huh?" Weiss tearfully said, turning away from them as she opened the door and walked away. Blake stood up and she looked back at Yang, who still could not look at her best friend. Blake wiped the tear from her eye and she immediately walked away, closing the door behind them.

Yang wiped her tears from her eyes and Ruby stood up and she threw a folder against the window, hard. "Ruby… stop." Yang requested as she sighed.

"I don't know what to believe anymore… how can they possibly think that Killian is in the right after what happened?" Ruby questioned.

"They don't… they just think the Consensus is the best way forward." Yang said, Ruby looked at her and she sighed. Ruby sat down and she buried her head in her hands.

"Gods… what kind of leader am I? All I can do apparently is tear people apart." She sniffled, and Yang turned to her baby sister and she gently caressed her head of hair to calm her.

"Hey… shh… it's okay." Yang assured, but Ruby stood up from her chair suddenly.

"How could I let this happen? I'm our leader, I should have trusted them! They're right! I'm a damn failure… mom… she would be so disappointed in me." She sniffled, but Yang stood up and held Ruby, hugging her tight.

"Shut up… you know that's not true. She could never be disappointed in you, she loved us both. And I love you… you're my sister… my baby sister… and I will _always_ have your back, sis." Yang promised as she smiled at her, kissing the top of her head. She looked outside the window and she gasped… seeing Blake crying in the corner as well, and Weiss just walked away on her own.

Yang closed her eyes and tears streamed down her eyes, letting Ruby go and looking away from Blake. Ruby looked at her and then at Blake, noticing something was there. She stared at her big sister and she gently held her shoulder. "Yang? Are you okay? What's wrong?" Ruby asked her. Yang wiped the tears from her eyes. "Is it Blake?"

Yang chuckled. "You've always been able to figure me out, Rubes." She said to her, and Ruby sat down with her. "I never did tell you… I guess I just hoped it would just… disappear. But they never did."

"Disappear? What are you talking about?" Ruby asked her.

"I have a confession to make, Ruby. There was… a reason… why I couldn't look Blake in the eye the whole time. I didn't know it was there, not for a while, we were always close but…" Yang stammered, and Ruby began to piece it together as Yang fumbled her words. "… it was when you all came to visit me four years ago. When I lost my arm, and I was in a really dark place. Blake sat with me and she talked to me, she helped me find the strength I needed to put this arm on and face my fears. And… that was when I first felt it click." Yang explained as she looked at Blake again, watching her wipe the tears from her eyes.

Yang's heart ached, and Ruby figured it out. "How did I never figure it out…" Ruby sighed, shaking her head.

"Ever since then… there's always been this little feeling in my heart… and I have always fought it. I never wanted to admit that I liked her that way… because she has Sun. And I didn't even know if she liked girls, I still don't, really. I've never told anyone… because I don't wanna get in their way." Yang explained as she looked at Ruby. "I… I just want her to be happy. And seeing her like this… because we turned our backs on them? Because we left them in the middle of the night the way we did? It hurts… it hurts so much Ruby." Yang told her, and Ruby returned the favour by hugging her.

"It's okay, Yang… it's okay. And don't worry… like you said. I'm gonna stand by your side to the bitter end. You're my sister, and we will always have each other's backs."

"Always."

* * *

**Author Note - Things are just not great for the heroes right now.**

**Both Ruby and Yang have sides of things that pull them away from their goal, one is Ruby feeling like she failed her team and mother by allowing this division to happen. I love writing characters like these, because it is honestly quite challenging too. I have always been so used to writing Team R.W.B.Y always being on the same side and being best friends, so writing them at odds is almost heartbreaking to do. Also love Yang's little reason, the fact that she has feelings for Blake, feelings she regrets having due to the fact Blake is with Sun, but they are still there. Which means that this division is really hard for her too.**

**Things are just getting worse in the world too, with the Feral Ones attacking prisons everywhere and gaining more and more followers every single hour. Salem's reach is growing and growing like a sickness.**

**And of course... my favourite part of the whole chapter - Killian and Jackdaw.**

**I love writing parts where two villains are essentially facing off, and those two definitely have quite an interesting dynamic, the murderer of the man's parents, who would later become a monster because of that very event.**

**I love writing Killian's moments of madness, like when he imagined blowing Jackdaw's head off. Love that kind of stuff in shows and films.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Sorry it was a bit shorter, it simply didn't require that much to flow well. Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**\- Matt**


	41. Sins of the Past

**Chapter 40 – Sins of the Past**

* * *

**Qrow**

* * *

Qrow stood in front of the bullet-proof glass with his arms crossed, staring at the screens where the two Interrogations were going on. Veronica had left Ruby and Yang's office a while ago, and it looked like she was getting ready to go and speak with Penny. Qrow touched the rings on his fingers as he watched the Atlesians walk around the room, working hard to keep this operation continuing.

"For years you have murdered people, Mr Branwen. Do you feel any remorse?" The Interrogator asked him, Killian had left the room since he had his time to speak with the madman.

"Remorse? Nah… what's the point? I am what I am." Jackdaw shrugged his shoulders with that sadistic grin on his face.

Qrow sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he paced back and forth, crossing his arms behind his back. Raven watched her brother as he paced, and she sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Will you calm down?" Raven asked her brother as she rested one of her arms on the table. Qrow turned and looked at her.

"How can I be calm, Raven? He's in there… and Killian's here, and we're captured by the Atlesians. Ironwood's gone and… well I can't even imagine the shitshow that's going down in the U.G.R with him dead. The Atlesians were always paranoid, especially after the Battle of Beacon. But Ironwood managed to stoke those flames… I don't know what to expect now that he's gone." Qrow sighed, looking at the office that Ruby and Yang were both inside of. "This is a mess."

"Yeah… it is." Raven agreed sadly as she nodded her head. She looked at her reflection in the window, and then she glanced at her brother. She started to chuckle, and it surprised him when he looked at her. "Although… this does take me back." Raven said.

"Back? Back to when?" Qrow asked her curiously.

"The amount of times you and I were in detention, thanks to Old Man Oz." Raven chuckled, and Qrow scoffed.

"Which time? We were quite the rebellious kids back in the day." Qrow chuckled, making her laugh as well.

"It's in our blood I suppose." Raven said. "Remember that one time we were put in detention because we started that fight against the girl who was picking on Summer?" Raven asked curiously with a smile, and Qrow chuckled.

"Oh yeah… my hand hurt for a week after I punched him." Qrow said, grasping his right hand.

"It was one hell of a punch." Raven congratulated, and Qrow smirked and gave her the thumbs up. "I'll never forget sitting in his office, he went to go get himself a coffee – and I heard the sound of Tai and Summer arguing outside the window. They managed to climb up Beacon Tower and opened the window to free us. All four of us managed to get out, and I wish we could have seen the look on Oz's face."

"That was one hell of a rescue mission, not the last either. Summer always had some pretty ingenious plans. Although we probably should have stopped getting into trouble." Qrow said, leaning against the glass with his arms crossed.

"The amount of ridiculous ideas she would come up with… gods I'm pretty sure that Tai lost three pounds from how much he would sweat with anticipation of what her plan was gonna be. I can definitely see where Ruby gets her creativity from." Raven said as she looked at her nails.

"Definitely. Ruby's strategy sometimes goes like this – it's a plan that's so childish and stupid that nobody would ever expect it." Qrow said with a laugh, making Raven laugh too.

"Yep, that sounds like Summer." Raven agreed as she played with her long black hair.

"I'm sitting here… sometimes I expect to see her stupid little face poke out from round the corner to free us." Raven chuckled, before she wiped the tear from her eye. Qrow looked at her and they both were inside in total silence with pain in their eyes. But as they stood there, they turned and heard the sound of someone approaching. They turned and saw him, and it was Dutch. He knocked on the window and he had three cups of coffee for them, which was not what they were expecting. Qrow opened the glass door, they didn't bother locking those doors because there was no need.

If anyone dared to try and escape, they would not get very far due to how many forces were inside of this base, and the Rogues were far from stupid. They knew that running would be suicide.

"I imagine it's been a while since you had a nice coffee, huh?" Dutch asked the Branwens curiously, handing one of them to Qrow. He accepted it and Dutch walked over to Raven with a smile, offering her the cup. She took it and he sat down whilst Qrow stayed standing.

"The Black Gallows Dude With A Heart." Qrow said, that was always the title that came with Dutch, since he was practically the polar opposite of Killian.

"Heh, sounds like the title of a novel, doesn't it?" Dutch chuckled as he looked at the two of them.

"So, what is it you wanna talk about? I can't imagine you came here to chat about friendly shit, are ya?" Raven questioned, resting her legs on the table, crossing them over one another.

"Come on, don't be so hostile." Dutch said to her.

"No offence, but your boss tried to kill us literally today." Qrow commented as he took a sip from his coffee. Dutch nodded his head as he sat there, crossing is fingers for a moment, and then he turned to Qrow.

"I do not condone Killian's decisions, I tried to caution him against the action but… sometimes his condition makes him choose… dangerous and rash decisions. Like Beacon." Dutch explained as he crossed his arms.

"Condition? What? Has he got eczema?" Qrow scoffed.

"No… well not that I know of." Dutch chuckled. "But… I fear his past has created damage that may be irreparable. I may be wrong, maybe he could improve and help himself, but you have to understand that Killian has seen some of the worst things imaginable. Things that would make most people off themselves." Dutch explained, his wrist shook as he remembered some of those terrifying stories from back then.

Both of them stood there and they bowed their heads, they were not stupid and ignorant. "I get that… sometimes the things you see can change you. Not everyone can be as lucky as people like Yang. She managed to walk away as the same person she was, but even now… she's different. But that does not excuse the crimes that Killian has committed." Qrow explained and Dutch nodded his head.

"I agree with you, he has done terrible things. But you also must remember that he has done a lot of good, and I still believe that there is… still good in there." Dutch explained. "I just hope he can find it. Killian has to sides to himself, some people like to call it a Split Personality, or a Split Morality. One side that focuses on one thing only and that is the end goal, no matter who or what stands in his path. And the other judges every single factor, and the lives of the people he swore to protect." Dutch explained.

He then looked at them. "Sound familiar?" He asked them, and they looked at each other.

"Yeah… it does." Qrow agreed. "Jack used to be like that… he used to have a good side, but his bad side was terrifying even when we were kids."

"So you understand? Nothing is as black and white as good and evil. Every side has their own tale, a tale of good and bad. Mistakes and Achievements. Killian is the same in that regard, I know he has done terrible things and I do not believe he was right to do those things. But neither does he – Killian – he is a man who needs help. Guidance to the better path." Dutch explained to him.

"And you think you can grant him that?" Raven asked him curiously.

"I hope so. Because if Killian continues to make these dark choices… if he continues to make these calls like at Lake Matsu and Beacon Academy? The Unified Governments of Remnant will judge him, and they will lock him away." Dutch explained.

"You make it sound like that's a bad thing." Qrow scoffed.

"And who do they put in place to replace him? It won't be me; he and I are old friends and for that reason alone they could look at me as an Accomplice. What if they put someone else in charge and they are the polar opposite of Killian?" Dutch asked the two of them with concern in his voice.

"Again, you make it sound like a problem." Qrow repeated.

"No, we do not want someone in charge of the Black Gallows who is the polar opposite of Killian. If you take away his condition, and the choices he made for Matsu and Beacon? The choices he made were necessary, locking away the most dangerous men and women that have ever walked the Earth." Dutch explained, he stood up from his chair and he looked out the window. "The previous Leader of the Black Gallows was a woman named Anarietta Silvers. She did not have the stomach that Killian has, she would think too much about the choices she had to make. Weighing the consequences to the point where she ran out of time to make the choice. Too many dangerous criminals were allowed to roam free. The innocents suffered too much under her rule, she let some of them off the hook with warnings and threats. Missions failed because she could not sacrifice one hundred lives to save one million. And this was why so many people died during the Faunus Rebellion."

"The Faunus Rebellion?" Qrow questioned.

"The Black Gallows were supposed to end the conflict by arresting both leaders, to be the terrifying boogeymen that we were set up to be. To stop wars before they became out of hand, like the Great War." Dutch explained. "She could not bring herself to kill these leaders, or even to arrest them. She wanted to understand both sides, she wanted to save _everyone_. But no war is won or ended without sacrifices. The question is how many die."

Raven looked at him and she sighed. "The Ruthless Calculus of war." Raven stated as she stared at him.

"When she stood down, it was because she could not try and make those choices anymore. And as soon as Killian took control, thousands of dangerous people were put in prison. Humans, Faunus, Huntsmen, Huntresses… it did not matter. People who were causing chaos, murderers, thieves, abusers… he captured all of them and locked them away in the Black Cells. He stopped conflicts before they could start, wars between Faunus and Humans that could have been triggered, but the people who tried to ignite said war disappeared." Dutch explained, he turned to face them.

"Killian is not a perfect man… but he is necessary. Just like the Black Gallows. Because without us? There would be more Monsters out there… more than the Grimm." Dutch explained as he looked at the two of them. Dutch's story about the history of the Black Gallows was very surprising, they did not expect to hear such a story, they assumed that kind of information would be classified.

"So… what? How do you help a man like him? Don't misunderstand me here, I get what you're saying. The world needs to have a devil to stop other bad things from hurting the good people. But like you said… there comes a time where a person has been forced to do so many evil things that it starts to mould them into the embodiment of their decisions." Qrow explained with his arms still crossed over each other.

"Yes… but what if Killian still has a chance? A chance to make things, right? I still believe that he could still be brought back from that darkness." Dutch said, sounding extremely hopeful. But neither Branwens did not know.

"I don't know… look at Jackdaw. Can a man truly come back?" Qrow asked him, and Dutch looked at the feed with Jackdaw's monstrous smile.

"I hope so." Dutch said.

The way Dutch said that though… it was unclear if he was talking about Killian… or himself for being his right-hand man for the amount of time he has.

* * *

**Eryka**

* * *

She sat at the table with Winter next to her, things were nowhere near as tense between them as in comparison to Teams R.W.B.Y and J.N.P.R. They both sat there, and they gently leant their heads against each other, neither side were mad at each other for the sides they chose, because they understood. The only thing that upset each other was the fact that they had to be divided in the first place, but that fissure was quickly healing.

But as they sat there, the door opened, and they didn't even turn. They both assumed it was an Atlesian Interrogator. "How touching." Killian greeted, and they both swiftly stood up and held their fists up, even Winter did. Just because she was on the side of her sister, it did not mean she trusted or even remotely wanted to be on the same side as Killian. Both of them glared at him, and Eryka had far more fire in her eyes than her girlfriend. Killian chuckled as he walked inside of the office with his arms behind his back.

His onyx eyes met their blue ones. "Watch it, asshole." Eryka snarled. "I haven't forgotten what you did. That stunt you pulled at Lake Matsu."

"Clearly not… but speaking of clarity, that was what I wanted to talk to the two of you about. I assume Eryka has told you about Lake Matsu?" Killian presumed as he looked at Winter.

"Yeah she did – you took the law into your own hands and tried to kill them. Kill my girlfriend." Winter snarled with anger, staring Killian down.

"Well, as I said – I want to clear things up." He said as he walked around the table, sliding his fingers across the face of the table.

"You attacked us, that makes things pretty clear. You're our enemy." Eryka growled, tightening her scarred fists.

"That was the intention. I could have killed every single one you at the Floating Islands, but I didn't." Killian said.

"And here we are… chatting once more in an office." Eryka scoffed, it felt like a joke. After she just tried to kill this very individual a few hours ago.

"Funny how history tends to repeat itself, huh?" Killian said, clasping his hands together.

"Oh and that excuses it? What you did? It was beyond illegal, you worked outside of the parameters set by the U.G.R. Which… forgive me if I'm wrong… is also what you criticise US for doing as Huntsmen and Huntresses!" Winter yelled with anger, and pretty quickly it was becoming clear that her belief in the Vytal Consensus was falling apart by the second. It showed Killian for what he was – a hypocrite.

"Perhaps. But at the end of the day, my mission was to bring all of you in for your crimes. The U.G.R rarely ever bothers to look at the details of the work I conduct, simply because they are too afraid to. Too afraid of the real dangerous things that exist in the world that we make sure stay under our gaze… and under our control." Killian explained as he walked around the table, unholstering his Chrome Pistol and his Advanced Combat Dagger, setting both down on tip of a filing cabinet.

"But… as you can see… I do not want any trouble. Just to talk." He said, holding his hands up in the air before he pulled out one of the chairs and he sat down. Eryka and Winter glanced at one another before they both lowered their fists and sat down as well.

"Alright… fine… what the hell do you wanna talk about?" Eryka questioned, keeping her eyes narrowed whilst Dulcis sat inside his cage, staring at Killian with angry eyes.

"I –"

Dulcis suddenly screeched at him extremely loudly, causing him to jolt and roll his eyes. He stared at the Altum Eagle who smugly stared back. Killian turned to Eryka and Winter and he went to speak again. "I wanted to –"

_SCREECH!_

"I swear to the Brothers Grimm I will shoot that thing." Killian warned, and Eryka chuckled, before she whistled to Dulcis and he stayed quiet.

"Alright fine, get on with it." Eryka sighed, rolling her eyes at him.

"What happened at Lake Matsu, things could have been handled better, I admit." Killian said, then Eryka scoffed again.

"That sentence could sum up your career." Eryka replied.

Killian stared at her but then he continued. "I did not want there to be any bloodshed, and I apologise for what happened." What he said there… Eryka and Winter both had never looked so bewildered from hearing a man lie like that before.

"Did you hit your head or something?" Eryka questioned. "I saw you fighting with your soldiers. If it was just your soldiers then maybe I would believe that, but I watched you kill multiple Cartel and Tribe Members with that gun and weird super knife of yours." Eryka said, gesturing to the knife on the filing cabinet.

"But sometimes must be spilled. The people who you were with? They were criminals, killers and thieves… some of them were worse than that." Killian explained, and Eryka sighed. That was finally something they agreed on – the Branwen Tribe were not saints, not by any means.

"I am not excusing the things that the Branwen Tribe did, but what you did? Like Winter said, it was beyond breaking the rules. You pretty much went behind the backs of the Council, when they learn about this, they will not stand for any of it." Eryka explained as she leant forward.

"And they will understand." Killian said, which just made Eryka scoff again.

"I admire your confidence, hate to say that I don't share it, pal." Eryka shrugged. "And besides, the people are starting to speak out against you. You continuously lie to the world, bend history to your favour – and you continue to claim you do not want to be some kind of dictator or control people… but you are a man who wants nothing more than control." Eryka assured as she stared at him, and Killian smirked as he looked at her, rolling his arm.

"I thought you were a Huntress, not a lawyer." Killian pointed out. But as always, Eryka was instantly on him with a counterattack.

"You're the town drunk, who tears up the lawn and yells at the kids when they play outside. Nothing more than that." Eryka assured, but that smirk did not disappear from her enemy's face.

"Didn't you ever misjudge someone?" He asked her. "I know you encountered that man – Icarus. And that you and him were once old friends, and you never even suspected that he was trying to kill the man that was mentoring you on how to be better? And yet even when you knew the truth, you still tried to help him, and I admire that. Restitution for your own lack of insight. For failing to see the devil beside you." Killian said, staring directly into Eryka's eyes, but the Falconess glared right back.

"Oh I see him alright." Eryka promised, staring at him.

Killian's laugh was very sinister, it sounded both tyrannical but somehow very gentle, like that of a friend. His smile was so charming, which made him all the more terrifying. He stared at her for a couple seconds, before he suddenly drummed his hands on the table with a smile. "I brought whiskey!" He laughed, standing up from the table and walking over to his bag where the gun and knife were next to on the cabinet. He rooted through the bag and he pulled out the large bottle of alcohol, and she set it down on the table. Inside of the room were some tumbler glasses and he set them down on their table. "Either of you drink?"

"Sure." Eryka said, but Winter pressed her palm over the rim of her glass and pushed it away.

"Ah… my apologies." Killian said as he poured some into Eryka's tumbler. "I forgot about Willow." He said, and Winter stayed rather quiet about the personal subject about her mother and family. He filled his tumbler and he picked it up, sipping some of it. "It's funny… how alcohol can sometimes help someone relax… or can kill them. It all depends on the volume of it, wouldn't you agree?" Killian asked them.

"I rather not touch the stuff. I've seen what it to my mom, and I don't want it to happen to me." Winter said, Eryka paused and she looked at the glass, and then she set it down and pushed it away – for her girlfriend's sake

Killian looked at them and he drank it and stared at it. "Sometimes… when the nightmares and the hallucinations get really bad this stuff helps. It shouldn't, hell I wish I never touch the shit sometimes. But… it helps me sleep." Killian said as he stared at it. Both Eryka and Winter were far from heartless, and even though they hated his guts, they couldn't help but feel for him. He was a monster deep down, but there was a human suffering inside of there somewhere. One that was being tortured by his past and his memories.

"It's like a poison." Winter stated as she stared at the bottle, remembering how many of them she would find in her mother's bedroom.

"Isn't it just?" Killian agreed, setting his tumbler down on the table. The subject returned to what they were talking about. "The Vytal Consensus will help things, and I do not want to see anymore innocents die for something they never were a part of in the first place. I care about those people and I never take the deaths of innocents lightly and I know you don't either." Killian explained.

"Then stop forcing your beliefs on everyone. You could end up starting a war of beliefs." Eryka said. "And leave us alone, while you're at it."

"Well now, that would be an even bigger failure." Killian said, drinking more of the Whiskey. "You disobeyed me and the U.G.R, you shot up Vacuo's Market Street, butchered the Spiders. If I let that threat persist, then I look weak, and then the whole thing crumbles. The Vytal Consensus is necessary to prevent unnecessary bloodshed." Killian explained.

"You don't know that Killian, nobody knows how the dice are gonna roll." Winter said as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Now isn't that why we're here? The future… as you said none of us know what the future has in store for us. We don't know how many people may die… or how many will live. All we know is what we can build to ensure that we can save as many as we possibly can. And whether you like it or not, the Vytal Consensus will do that." Killian explained. "But if you continue to stand against me, against the U.G.R and the Consensus? You may end up triggering the conflict and getting hundreds… maybe thousands killed from some… kind of _Inhumane_ outcome."

Killian shuddered; it was so faint that neither Eryka nor Winter noticed… but in his head? Killian was terrified of it.

_The Inhumane Necessity… I cannot let it happen._

_So many people will die… people who do not deserve it. I need this to work or she… Salem… will kill them all._

Both Winter and Eryka looked at each other, and they knew he was right. The signs were already there. There were the people who defended the Huntsman Academies and were against the Consensus, whereas there were the Puritan Followers who believed in what Killian wanted. And they simply wanted better security against the Creatures of Grimm and any other potential threats.

Even now… the Battle of Beacon was scarring everything around them.

Killian leant back into his chair and he sighed, he was tired of talking about the Vytal Consensus so much. It felt like he was just an echo at this point, constantly saying the same thing over and over and over again. So… he decided to talk about something else… something Eryka and Winter were not expecting.

"I don't think I ever told you, about what happened to my mother and father." Killian said, both of them looked at him. "Did you know that when Jackdaw got the name – Jack the Ripper – my parents were some of the victims? I was only a kid, at school, when it happened. I didn't have any other family, and I was put into an orphanage for a few years before my Foster Family accepted me."

"I'm sorry." Winter apologised.

"Thanks… my Foster Mother, her name was Alba, was loving and very accepting to me. She was gentle and wanted to make sure I was comfortable living with a new family before she started to get closer to me." Killian explained.

"What about your Foster Father?" Eryka asked.

"He was… an asshole. Not abusive, mind you, just a dick. He was racist and pretty homophobic, something that I always hated about the man. When I was nineteen, she was pregnant with a little girl. I was twenty when she was born. I wanted to make sure that she was safe, playing the big brother to her, even though we weren't related by blood." Killian explained as he remembered that. "Even when I joined the military… I always made sure I read every letter that they sent me. They were the ones that helped me through the dark days."

"How is she? Alba?" Eryka asked him, and he squeezed his eyes shut.

"When the father ran off with some woman a few years after my sister was born, we basically shared the work. And when I moved away, I tried to help Alba as much as I could. It was hard, trying to balance both a personal connection to my family, and having to make the inhuman choices I made to make sure the Black Gallows kept the world safe." Killian explained. "Alba always went to the same Bakery every single week to buy the same cakes and cookies. She had one hell of a sweet-tooth."

The three of them chuckled. "Until four years ago… I was at work. Interrogating these teenagers who were trespassing in the ruins of a battle from the Great War. Some of those places are off limits simply because of how many Grimm lurk out there, so we basically scared them to never go back. Otherwise they would die." Killian explained, they remembered those lands – they were utterly terrifying. Scarred from the war, and the Grimm owned it now – known as the No Man's Lands.

"After we sorted that situation was sorted out… I had a call on my scroll. There was an attack in Vale, from the Grimm. A train erupted from the ground, and Grimm flooded the streets… Team R.W.B.Y tried to stop it but unfortunately there wasn't much they could do to stop a train that size. And… Alba was there… buying things from the Bakery. When a King Taijitu crushed it with her inside, burying her." Killian explained, flinching as he remembered the call.

"_Sorry Commander Killian, we did everything we could_." Killian reminisced. "She survived, but… she was never the same. She could not move at all, trapped in a vegetative state, and still is to this day. Her daughter still believes that she can still recover from her condition but… I know that we will never hear her voice again." Killian said as he sat there, with the thousand-yard stare. He then snapped his fingers. "Gone. It was inevitable, nobody's fault. Of all the things I blame the Academies for this was not one of those events. Yes Ruby shouldn't have hidden that information about where Roman could have been… but they stumbled on his base through sheer luck. An army would have done the same, but never would have been able to stop that train." Killian explained.

This was very surprising.

"But that didn't stop me from asking myself the same questions… _what if I was there? What if I could have stopped it somehow? Would she still be able to speak and walk around and… live… if I had just called her to make sure she was okay? Maybe it would have stopped her long enough to have not been inside of that bakery?_ The questions never stopped." Killian sighed as he sat there, then he leant forward and looked at them.

It was Eryka who spoke, and what she said surprised Killian most of all.

"Sometimes… we can't save everyone." She said, taking a sip of the whiskey, simply to honour Alba.

They may have hated him… but they still understood that pain.

Because they all felt the same thing at many points in their lives.

* * *

**Jaune**

* * *

He sat there and he stared at his fists, before he looked up at the office where Ruby and Yang were. He got up and walked towards the room and he pushed the door open and he looked at them there. They both looked at him and Ruby sighed, knowing this was gonna be an interesting conversation.

A Leader and a Leader.

Yang stayed out of this discussion, since Ruby wanted to handle this on her own. From one leader to another, and Ruby leant back into her chair as Jaune walked inside. He had something tucked under his arm, and he set it down on the table. Ruby's eyebrow raised at Jaune when she saw it was the Vytal Consensus. "Lemme guess, Killian gave you that thing?" Ruby questioned with a sigh.

"No actually, I saw it sat there so I wanted to bring it in here. Also, that thing is _really_ heavy. I feel bad for the poor bastard who had to make this thing." Jaune said as he slapped the cover.

"It's a beefy boy, that's to be sure." Ruby said, sighing as she looked at it. This was one of the main things that divided their family, a big book. That was it, a book that covered things that she did not agree with. "So… why did you bring it in here? You know you can't change my mind on this thing, right?"

"Well… I don't know. I think that maybe I can." Jaune said as he looked at it, which made Ruby scoff.

"Good luck with that, pal." Ruby said as she looked at him.

"Will you please just hear me out?" Jaune begged, and Ruby groaned.

"Alright fine, go ahead." She gave in, sat upright now and she crossed her arms.

"The Vytal Consensus is still only in the Draft Stage, which means that things can change. Most importantly some of the things, like who we answer to. I heard about what happened at Lake Matsu, and what he did was wrong and directly went against the U.G.R and the Landmark Restoration Society's rules. He attacked and nearly destroyed the entire location, a place that has been there for centuries, maybe more than that." Jaune explained as he sat there. "He won't be able to explain away this one, not like Beacon with all those lies."

"Good, I always hated that Killian never got punished for turning Jaymes into a weapon." Ruby explained whilst Yang listened.

"So did I, trust me it really angered me." Jaune said. "But the thing is, I read through the Consensus and it cleared up some details. One of the things you really did not agree with was having to answer directly to Killian, but in fact you need to answer to the U.G.R, and all they ask for is a debrief of the mission that they give us. We don't answer to _him_, we answer to the Government. All they want is stability, but they will allow us to carry out our missions however we see fit. They simply expect us to follow the missions that they will assign us. Therefore every single team and solitary hunter is assigned to an area, and every single contract can be carried out at once, helping more people. Because funnily enough the amount of times multiple teams go to help a tiny mission before this? Well… it was astronomical." Jaune said with amazement.

"How many?" Yang asked curiously.

"Well, it was a mixed bag, but the worst one I saw was twelve Huntsmen and Huntresses who went to clear out a pack of Beowulves attacking a town. And because of that? There was another town too far away from other Hunters and was wiped out because of it." Jaune explained, and Ruby sighed. She did start to understand the importance of it.

"Okay… I guess I'm starting to understand it. But why is Killian gunning for this so hard? He's made it very clear that he hates the U.G.R." Ruby said.

"He believes that this will be better, and he wants to replace the Corrupt Politicians with those that are better." Jaune clarified.

"Who the hell is he to make that decision?" Ruby asked.

"Well he isn't the only one. Trust me I'm with you on that, I want Killian as far away from the Vytal Consensus as possible." Jaune explained, and Ruby sighed. "But this wasn't all I wanted to try and talk to you about. I know that Blake and Weiss mentioned it, but I wanted to fully explain what I have planned." Jaune explained.

"About… Salem? They told us about those people that came after you. Do you have any idea of why she would send these assassins for you?" Ruby inquired.

"Not a clue. I always assumed I was a nobody… but maybe I'm not. Not sure if I should be humbled or terrified by that." Jaune said as he sat down next to Ruby.

"Eh, how about Humbly Terrified?" She suggested.

"That sounds about right." Jaune laughed, and Ruby giggled.

"So… what do you want to do?" Ruby asked him.

"Well, when we were working with him back in Vacuo, and here, me and Killian have a bit of respect for each other. I know that Salem was the one who sent those people after us, and now that… Adam… is out and building an army of lunatics, we need to be ready. It's making me remember what Torchwick did, but we saw that thing she sent – the Praetorian Knight. That was completely different to anything we have ever seen." Jaune explained.

"And that thing was trying to capture you as well." Ruby commented.

"Yeah, I have no idea why she wants me, but if I'm being honest, I would rather find her before she finds me. And we need you… all of you. If I can convince Killian to give us the okay to follow their trail and try and take down Salem, he will let you go. But you have to let this go. Jackdaw is arrested, and he can't get out… we can fix this. All our problems and mistakes? Nothing has happened yet that cannot be undone. So if you just sign it… we can make the last few days legit and none of you have to be locked away in the Black Cells." Jaune explained.

Ruby looked at the Vytal Consensus and she closed her eyes, thinking of Weiss and Blake… and how she does not want to fail her team. She stood up and walked over to the book and she opened it and she saw their signatures. And the blank spaces where they needed to sign. She picked up the pen and looked at it. "I'm not saying it would be impossible but… there would have to be safeguards. Especially in case Killian tries something." Ruby explained.

Excitement was in Jaune's face, because all he wanted was for their family to be reunited. "Sure, once all this is sorted out and Jackdaw is locked away for what he did to your mom, the document can be amended to make things easier for all of us. It's happened countless times for so many documents like this. We'll have our mission put in place and Raven will serve time, then we will take down Salem as planned." Jaune explained, but both Ruby and Yang caught onto something that Jaune said.

"Raven?" They both questioned, he paused and stared at them.

"Uh… yeah? She's a killer. And the Chieftess of a Tribe of Bandits." Raven commented.

"Oh come on, Jaune!" Yang scoffed as she stood up, pacing back and forth. "The second, the second we start to see things on an equal level…"

"Raven lead her people and murdered lots of people, burned a house down and hanged the body of Lil Miss Malachite over the balcony like a message. And they have done much worse over the years, Yang." Jaune explained.

"And so have we, Jaune. I have killed people now, so have Nora and Ren." Yang stated.

"Under your mother's orders." Jaune stated.

"Killian left us no other choice." Yang argued.

"You're seriously defending her? Your own mother never gave a damn about you, she just abandoned you for a tribe of killers!" Jaune argued right back.

"SHE'S MY MOM!" Yang yelled furiously, her eyes glowed red at him and Jaune yelled right back.

"GIVE ME A BREAK!" Jaune bellowed, jolting both Ruby and Yang, they never heard him that angry before. "I'm trying to end this, before it triggers something worse."

Yang scoffed as she stood there, taking the pen from Ruby's hand. "You keep telling yourself that." Yang snarled, snapping the pen in half and dropping it on the floor. Jaune growled with anger, grabbing the Vytal Consensus and storming off, slamming the door behind him so hard that the bullet proof glass cracked.

Jaune slammed the Vytal Consensus down on one of the tables and he walked past Killian who stopped, looking back at him. "Jaune? What's wrong?" He asked him, but Jaune glared at him with anger in his eyes.

"Keep walking." He growled, before he stormed off, leaving Killian on his own. Jaune may have believed in the Consensus… but Killian played a massive part in the Divide. Jaune continued to walk until he bumped into Pyrrha.

"Oh! I'm sorry, Jaune… are you okay?" She asked him, noticing the tears that streamed from his eyes.

"I… I need to get out of this building for a while…" Jaune stammered, stressed from all the arguing he has had to go through. Pyrrha smiled as she caressed his cheek.

"Come on… let's go." She affectionately said to him, leaving Cypher's Ridge together.

* * *

**Pyrrha**

* * *

"Ha! You won!" Pyrrha cheered as she threw her fist in the air, a loving smile grew on her face. Jaune picked up the giant plushie teddy bear that he won from the airsoft gun shooting gallery. It was nearly as big as he was, swallowing him up in softness as he held onto it.

"Man… this thing looked a lot smaller hanging from the ceiling." Jaune chuckled as he hauled the giant bear over and he walked next to her. She held his hand as they walked.

"Gods… I've really missed this place. It's not perfect but it is beautiful, and the people are so welcoming." Pyrrha said as she looked around with that beautiful smile on her face.

"Yeah – I can see why they call it the Sleeping Angel of Remnant." Jaune said as they both walked together. But Jaune still looked quite sad, but some fresh air definitely helped him, alongside walking it off.

"Hey. How're you feeling?" Pyrrha asked him.

He sighed through his nose. "Uh… a bit better, just tired of all the shouting and arguing with people who are our family." Jaune said as he walked with her.

"They'll come around; I know it." Pyrrha promised, but he slowed down as he held the huge teddy bear. She looked at him and walked over to him, gently holding his hand. "Hey…"

"Pyrrha… do you think… that they're right? That we're just clinging to this… hope? This dream?" He asked her with concern.

"Jaune…" She gently said as she walked over to him, caressing his cheek. "Nobody is right or wrong, you have to understand that Ruby and Yang? They've always operated more on emotion than anything else… especially Yang. She's spent more time with her mother, finding out she was gonna lose her again? I am not surprised that she reacted the way she did, I don't agree with it, but I get it." Pyrrha assured as she stood there. "But don't focus on that, you are not wrong for believing that something good can come from this."

"I guess… I just wish that it didn't come to this." Jaune sighed, the two of them continued to walk together.

"They want to punish Jackdaw for what he did. But they are pushing us away to focus on that mission, and they can't see past it to see the real danger." She said as they walked together.

"I know." Jaune agreed, but as they walked, he slowed, and he stared at something in the distance. "What's that?" He asked and Pyrrha turned.

"Oh gods." Pyrrha tried to hide her face behind her steaming cup of coffee. They walked towards the large statue forged from Atlesian and Mistraalian Gold, one that was based off her form. A statue with a beautiful plaque.

_Pyrrha Nikos_

_Our beautiful angel who always fought for us, and continues to do so_

"I didn't know they made a statue of you." Jaune chuckled. "You think it was Pumpkin Pete's?" Jaune asked her curiously.

"Oh gods, you're probably right. I mean… I'm honoured but… ugh." Pyrrha groaned, hiding behind the cup.

"The Teddy likes it." Jaune joked, and Pyrrha shrank into her shoulders.

"This is too much, it's too much! I-I'm just a person, I don't need - or want - a gigantic gold - oh my gods, it's gold! Urgh." Pyrrha blushed, throwing her head back. "I'm just Pyrrha. Or that's all I want to be. Is that so much to ask?"

"No." Jaune shrugged, gaping for the right thing to say. "No, it's not too much, or at least it shouldn't be."

"I just..." Pyrrha looked back at the statue, before looking back to her cup. "It gets a bit ridiculous sometimes. I guess… that's why I fell in love with you… because you always saw me for… me…"

"Well... I'm here. And I see you. The real you." He smiled softly. "Forget the big golden chosen one behind me."

"Chosen one." Pyrrha snorted. "I told you not to bring up those plushies!"

"I can't help it, it's too funny how bad those toys were." Jaune grinned as she giggled. "At least we got this big guy." Jaune said as he shook the giant bear.

As they walked out, they both heard a gasp. "Jaune?" The voice gasped and the giggle of a baby could be heard. Both of them turned and bright happy smiles grew on their faces.

She was a young woman with wavy, dirty blond hair and blue eyes. She wore an orange top with a beige vest, light brown trousers with orange stitches on each side, and a pair of dark brown boots. In addition, she wore her wedding ring on her left hand and a bootlace necklace around her neck. "Saphron?" Jaune gasped with awe as he saw his older sister stood there, holding his baby nephew Adrian. Adrian was an infant with short black hair and huge brown eyes. He wore a white and blue long-sleeved shirt with denim overalls and white socks.

Pyrrha gasped adoration at the baby and she seemed to shoot towards Adrian, pinching at his cheeks as she kissed the top of his head and hugged Saphron. "Aw! I've missed you so much!" Pyrrha squeaked with joy, making little Adrian laugh happily to see her.

"Gods… I didn't even know you were here!" Saphron laughed.

"Yeah, we were planning to tell you, things have been pretty crazy lately." Pyrrha said.

"I heard what happened at Beacon. Were you there?" Saphron asked with worry in her voice.

"Yeah, it's kinda to do with what happened there." Pyrrha hinted.

"Well, we're actually gonna be having a nice dinner tonight, I was just about to go shopping. Would you like to have Dinner with me and Terra?" She asked her, and Pyrrha smiled with joy.

"Yes! That sounds perfect! Jaune? What do you – Jaune?" Pyrrha turned and saw Jaune looking over his shoulder into one of the alleyways.

"Huh?" He stammered, turning to see Pyrrha.

"You okay?" Pyrrha asked him.

"Oh, yeah… sorry I can't remember what that was." Jaune shrugged, walking away from the alleyway where he saw it.

But could not remember.

* * *

**Author Note - That's not a good sign**

**This was an interesting chapter to write and honestly? The hardest part for me to write was that Arkos bit at the end XD I suck at fluff, I always have to keep the plot going (which is just my style because I hate reading parts where nothing is happening at all, but sometimes you need little parts like that). Also this chapter had one of my new favourite lines I have ever come up with**

**"But like you said… there comes a time where a person has been forced to do so many evil things that it starts to mould them into the embodiment of their decisions."**

**That line honestly is the best way to sum up how Killian became the person he is today, the more you make evil choices could end up turning you into the very thing you swore to destroy.**

**Killian's past with his Foster Mother was really cool to write too, and it all stemmed from the Volume 2 finale because honestly? I felt like there were no real consequences to that attack, and nobody seemed to die either. And whilst Alba did not die... she is now in a vegetative state (sadly).**

**And man... Jaune was so close to getting Ruby to sign it... until he mentioned Raven.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter - One Broken, One Whole **

**(P.S I love the name of the next chapter XD)**

**\- Matt**


	42. One Broken, One Whole

**Chapter 41 – One Broken, One Whole**

* * *

**Veronica**

* * *

The Interrogation Room was highly fortified, enough Atlesian Restraints to shut Penny's systems down if she even dared to try anything. But Veronica was not blind, she could see the fear and upset on Penny's face as she fearfully looked around the room. "I… Please… I didn't mean to…" She whimpered, if she were a human being, she would be tearing up right now. Veronica gently sat down, and she spoke, she was not here to terrify the child, because that was what she was. Yes, she was built, not born, but she was still a child at heart.

"It's okay… I know. I know who you are, Miss Polendina. And I know that you would never have done the things that you did today, not under normal circumstances that is." Veronica explained as she sat down, crossing one leg over the other. She looked over the files that were recorded in front of her from what happened.

_Eyewitnesses state that subject – Penny Polendina – was attacking innocents on sight and was responsible for the crash of the Argus Limited. Whilst nobody was killed in the accident, a lot of people were badly injured, some of these individuals are now suffering with permanent damage._

_The Rogue Huntsmen and Huntresses fought against Penny Polendina and tried to stop her from harming any other innocents, which begins to make us wonder if these Rogues in fact had ill intent against the people of Vacuo after what happened there. Things are very uncertain, and we require more intel before we can make a valid judgement on the future of these warriors._

Veronica sighed, closing the holographic screen where the report was left behind, and she sat forward, looking at her. Unlike most of the people here, she preferred to use pen and paper to record things down, not typing on a pad. That was not all she preferred, she liked using physical paperback books opposed to tablets, simply because it is a personal preference of hers… the old-fashioned style. "My name is Veronica, I was once a Reconnaissance Operator for the Valerian Military, and I was asked to oversee the situation happening here." Veronica explained as she sat there.

"That's… lucky… that you happened to be called here the moment that it happened." Penny commented, and Veronica chuckled.

"You know what? That sums up my past few weeks. Every single time I have gone to one of the kingdoms or large cities? Something has gone down." Veronica chuckled as she drank some of her coffee from her cup.

"Man… would you like to know what this coffee reminds me of?" Veronica asked her curiously.

"What?" Penny asked right back.

"Back when I was in the military, back when I had two very nice legs." She said, showing off her poorly made prosthetic that she was given. "I was gathering important intel on some Criminals from Vacuo who were plotting to attack a bank, and I was ordered to investigate them. I was drinking a coffee just like this when I was listening the thugs chatting. I mean… man… not great at being subtle those to." Veronica chuckled. "But when I was listening to them? The moment I knew what they were planning to do was the moment I saw the light leave their eyes, and as soon as that happened? It was like they were completely different people."

Penny could quickly surmise what Veronica was hinting at.

"That's the first thing I saw when I walked in this room. The real you… not the one that was outside." Veronica said with a smile, showing that she knows that Penny is no murderous monster. She took another sip from her coffee.

She set it down on the table and she looked at Penny. "Tell me… what do you remember? Not from the Vytal Festival, I would rather not put you through all that again. I mean… before what happened today. Do you know anything that happened in between those events?" Veronica asked her ever so curiously.

Penny looked at her and she shuddered, closing her eyes. It was like she was suffering from a fever. "Where… where is my friend? Ruby is my best friend; I want her to know that I didn't want to hurt her." Penny softly whimpered with large sorrowful eyes. Ruby, from the Office she and Yang were sat inside of, watched Veronica's interview with Penny. It hurt, it hurt so much for Ruby to see her friend like that. All she wanted to do was wrap her arms around Penny, to tell her that it was okay.

But she knew she couldn't… not yet.

"It's alright, Penny. Ruby is upstairs, and she knows that you didn't mean it. She saw your eyes; the same symbol was inside there that was on the screens of every single screen during the Vytal Festival. The Black Queen." Veronica explained as she looked at the android who shuffled in the chair that she was bound to.

"It… it was the last thing I saw… before… before what happened." Penny said, remembering how it felt for her own cables to slice her into pieces like that. Veronica raised her brow; this was not something that was brought up in the last few interviews and interrogations against her. And this? This was holding some very powerful implications… the biggest one was what Veronica was about to ask her about.

"Wait… you mean you saw it on the screens before you shut down? Or… you literally saw it in… your optics?" Veronica asked, she was going to say _in your head_, but Penny was still a machine deep down. And there were some very frightening possibilities appearing right now.

"The second one." Penny answered shyly.

"That means that this was not put in you after you were destroyed… it was there the whole time?" Veronica asked her, and Penny could not find an answer. Her eyes were wide as she realised this, and so did Ruby's. In Ruby's mind, she could hear her own thoughts echoing in the back of her mind.

_By the gods… this thing in her head?_

_It was always there?_

_From the beginning? Penny could have suddenly switched at any second… how long have these people been planning this for?_

_I never thought I would say it, but I wish Cinder was here. So then we could ask her if she knew about this from the beginning?_

"Well… this definitely changes things. We all assumed this must have happened during your reconstruction, that someone must have planted something in your head to make sure that you were always going to serve them whenever they needed you to." Veronica realised, starting to notice that this means that someone – someone very smart with a lot of powerful resources and allies – was up to something. "Whenever you were with Miss Rose, before the Vytal Festival, were there any moments where you saw the Black Queen?" Veronica asked her with an almost motherly concern in her voice.

It helped comfort Penny, she had been interrogated by scary voices the whole time prior to Veronica, so hearing a voice that actually sounds like she wants her to be okay… it really clicked for her. "N-No… never, not once." Penny assured as she shook her head, Veronica nodded her head, and she scratched the back of her head.

"So that means it was triggered – funny, because it was as soon as you were destroyed, that was when Cinder Fall sent that broadcast out, and we all lost control of our systems. Perhaps that was when the enemy activated whatever was inside of you. And clearly, they still have control right now." Veronica said as she leant back. It was more like a discussion than an interrogation, both sides were learning, equally.

"I… I don't want to hurt anybody again. Please… please don't let me hurt anybody." She begged Veronica.

"Hey… hey…" Veronica shushed gently, calming Penny down with her affectionate voice. "It's alright, kiddo – we're gonna try and find where this thing is. Whatever it is that this person has done to you, it can be removed. Think of a tumour, tumours can be removed and that can save someone's life. I believe we can do the same for you, my dear." Veronica promised as she looked at Penny.

There was a pounding on the door behind her. She looked over her shoulder to see the Atlesian Soldier stood outside of the Interrogation Cell, he still had his rifle in his hands as he stood there. Veronica sighed yet was surprised that she had so little time to speak with Penny. She smiled at Penny as she stood up and gently caressed her cheek. "Chin up, kid. You'll be out of here in no time, I promise you." Veronica said with a smile, before she turned and walked away from Penny.

"Those thugs." Penny spoke, and Veronica stopped, looking back at her. "The ones that you were ordered to stop robbing that bank?"

"Yeah?" Veronica replied.

"Did you stop them?" Penny asked curiously, and Veronica closed her eyes… remembering the bodies… remembering the blood on her hands and on the crossbow. She sighed, feeling her heart hammer.

"We did… but we were too late." Veronica said, before she walked away from Penny, closing the door behind her. She walked with that constant limp due to the lack of balance in her legs, ever step that she took caused her to nearly fall on her face. But she had a better lid over walking like this now, and she walked up the stairs, and turned the corner, where she saw Killian stood there, his shoulder pressed against the wall. She smiled brightly when she saw him, gently holding the collar of his shirt. "Hey you…"

"Are you spying on me?" He chuckled at her.

"Huh?" She asked.

"First, I met you in Vale, then you happened to be in Vacuo, and now you are here at Argus. Cannot help but notice you seem to be everywhere I go… am I really that irresistible?" He joked, making Robyn laugh as she slung her bag over her shoulder, and she threw her jacket on.

"Maybe…" Veronica flirted as she looked into his eyes with a smile on her face. They both shared at affectionate kiss, and Killian held her gently. Yet she could feel him trembling, she tilted her head with concern. "What's up?" Veronica asked him.

"It's just… I told you about my Foster Mother, didn't I?" Killian asked her, and she nodded her head. "She's still in the hospital here, and I just wanna go and see her. I also just wanna get out of this place for a while."

Veronica smiled and she nodded her head. "Okay, I'll come with. Like you said, this place? It's better to be taken in small doses." Veronica said, walking with him towards the exit, leaving the room just as the next interrogator walked into the Interrogation Cell, a man with many rings on his fingers.

* * *

**Weiss**

* * *

Weiss and Winter were both sat down at one of the break rooms inside of Cypher's Ridge. The sound of Airships coming in and out from the Base was practically constant, and the Shipping Paladins moved the massive crates of resources to each area where they would be sent to their designated locations. The soldiers were armed to the teeth, ready for any kind of battle. Both the Schnees were watching Killian and Veronica walk off into Argus together, and neither had the highest level of trust with the man, but Winter most of all. "Gods… I know I swore an oath… but I would turn on his ass the second I get." Winter said, and Weiss glanced at her sister, seeing her be so… well… not obsessed over her orders as an Atlesian Specialist just felt so out of character for her.

"Eryka's been rubbing off on you, huh?" Weiss chuckled, and Winter looked at her and she laughed softly.

"I guess so, yeah. She did help me realise how much of an uptight… person… I was." Winter shrugged, making Weiss laugh.

"I'm glad you two aren't having any problems over this. I wish it was the same for me and my team. We've had arguments in the past, but nothing like this." Weiss said with sadness in her eyes. Winter gently put her arm around her sister and held her close.

"This will all be sorted out, I promise you." Winter assured. "Jaune has a good plan, if we can convince Killian – which I doubt, since he is the shiftiest man I have ever met – but if he can do it? Maybe we can fix things between us." Winter said with hopefulness in her voice.

"It's crazy how far Jaune has come. I remember back in the early days of Beacon; he was an idiot. He had to right left and right on the bottom of his shoes to remember." Weiss chuckled. "Ruby stole his shoes once to show me, we laughed for about an hour about it."

"I wouldn't be surprised if he still does the same thing." Winter joked as she looked at her sister.

"Yeah, wouldn't surprise me either." Weiss agreed.

As they both sat there, they both turned when they heard the sound of the Personal Announcement System activating. "Weiss Schnee and Winter Schnee – please bring yourselves to General Cordovin's Office." The P.A Spokeswoman requested, before the system turned itself off again. The Schnees looked at each other with concern, and then they got up and left the Break Room. They walked towards the elevator and they stood inside, letting the cabin fly up the large rock in the centre of Cypher's Ridge. The elevator stopped at the tip top of the tower, and they walked to the double doors.

They walked inside and Cordovin was almost invisible due to her short height, completely concealed by her desk. Cordovin turned and she walked round the edge of the table to face the Schnees. "Welcome, Weiss and Winter. I am very glad to meet you in person." She said, walking back around the table. "General Ironwood, may the gods be kind on his soul, he always spoke very fondly of you, Specialist Schnee." Cordovin said as she sat down in her chair, pulling it higher so then she could see them better. The two Schnees sat down, and Winter was still grieving over the death of her mentor.

"And I was very fond of him too, General. He taught me everything I knew… I just wish I could have been there to help him." Winter explained, closing her eyes with grief. She too had many good reasons to want to kill Jackdaw, and the death of Ironwood was most certainly one of those reasons.

"As do I, Specialist Schnee. But I did not ask you to come up here to discuss our grief of our fallen leader… however it does have something to do with his death." Cordovin explained, and Winter looked at Weiss.

"What do you mean by that?" Weiss asked.

"Well… I have received quite a few messages from your father." Cordovin stated, and both of the sisters' eyes widened with fear when they realised that he knew that they were this close. There was a reason why the Schnees stayed in Vale, and why they rarely ever returned to Atlas. It was not their home, Vale was their home, far away from his abusive manipulation.

"What does he want?" Winter questioned, almost harshly as well.

"Let me guess, he wants us to return to the Manor?" Weiss presumed.

"Points to you, Weiss." Cordovin snapped her fingers, and they both rolled their eyes.

"Apparently someone can't take a hint." Weiss scoffed.

"You sound surprised." Winter scoffed as well.

"I know you and your father have a lot of bad blood between each other, but his message was about something else entirely. Things are… getting worse in Atlas after Ironwood's death. Alongside the rest of the world, with what happened in Vacuo when you and the Rogues engaged in combat." Cordovin explained to the Schnees, and they looked at her with confusion in their eyes.

"Wait what do you mean by that? What's going on?" Weiss asked, at the end of the day they have been out in the wilds for quite a while now and have not known what was going down in the rest of the world. Cordovin opened up Jacques Schnee's message, and it was primarily footage of the streets. There were riots breaking out, people throwing firebombs into the streets and broken glasses also being thrown.

"Is it the Feral Ones?" Winter asked with worry.

"No – it's the Puritan Followers and the Desperate Movement." Cordovin answered.

"The Desperate Movement? Who are they?" Weiss asked.

"The opposite of the Puritan Followers. Where the Puritans believe in what Killian is selling, the Desperate Movement stand for the Academies and stand directly against the Vytal Consensus. There are fights and riots starting in the streets of multiple Kingdoms. Some have happened here in Argus, others in Vale and Vacuo, and more in Atlas and Mistral." Cordovin explained, and the riots were extremely violent, people literally fighting in the streets of Mantle and Atlas. And down in Atlas, the fights triggered Grimm attacks, ones that were quickly handled thanks to the Atlesian Security Systems and Soldiers protecting them, but things were getting more and more fragile by the second.

"By the gods… I didn't realise things were getting this bad." Winter gasped.

"It all started after the Rogues fought against the Black Gallows in the streets of Vacuo and when you tried to stop them. People heard the things your friends shouted, about Killian in particular. These stories spread like the plague and now there are more people standing against the Government. Extremely aggressively." Cordovin explained, and Weiss pinched her brow.

"Everything just seems to get worse by the day." Weiss said.

"I was gonna say the same thing." Winter agreed.

"I fear that Killian's campaign to push the Academies to sign the Vytal Consensus in such a small time has also given him even more enemies. Whilst I have no love for the man, at the end of the day he has a lot of people who believe and support him. The risk and fear is becoming obvious – of war." Cordovin explained as she clasped her hands together above her table. "And if the people learn about what happened at Lake Matsu? Gods… I dread to think of the reaction of him obliterating a Historical Site for his own personal goals. I imagine the U.G.R are ready to punish him for what he did, but I fear that the Puritan Followers may still stand by him. The world is divided enough as it is right now, I do not want Killian's actions to make it even worse." Cordovin explained.

The General closed the message from Jacques Schnee, and she looked at them. "What I have asked you up here for? I want you to be honest with me – did he tell you about his plan to use Lake Matsu as a trap?" Cordovin questioned, and the Schnees looked at each other and they answered at the same time.

"No. We were out in the wilds of Northern Anima when it happened. We had no idea he had even recovered from his injury." Winter answered before Weiss could say the same thing.

Cordovin sighed. "It's as I feared. He is doing this on his own accord. I am going to bestow you some wisdom right now. I trained Killian back when I used to serve the Valerians as an Atlesian Representative, and even when he was a young private, he was one of the best soldiers I had. At the time he was not the best when it came to hand-to-hand combat, until he would find a loophole to win. Nathaniel Killian is one of the most cunning soldiers I have ever known, his scheming abilities and knowledge on how to manipulate people for victory? I've never known anyone to have such a mind, where most of my soldiers would flinch or hesitate when faced with a very difficult or dark choice? He would make the choice immediately, but with no mind to the consequences that innocents would face because of them. Yes it might get the job done, but Killian never cared for the consequences, not if it meant they won." Cordovin explained, walking over to them.

She looked at them both and gently held their hands. "Do not trust him. Because he will sacrifice you the second, he needs to if it means he will get what he wants." Cordovin warned, opening the door so then they could go. Weiss and Winter stood up and looked at Cordovin before they left.

They did not agree with many things that Cordovin said, especially for her views of the Faunus…

… but they agreed on her when it came down to this.

_Killian cannot be trusted._

* * *

**Killian**

* * *

_Beep…_

_Beep…_

_Beep…_

The Heart Monitor continuously echoed this rhythm of her heartbeat as she laid there, her eyes were open, but she looked lifeless. There was a scar on the side of her head when the building collapsed on her, putting her in this vegetative state. It was Alba, Killian's Foster Mother, and she laid there, barely even alive. She could not even speak in this state, or even move her eyes. Killian was sat next to her, holding her hand as he had his head held low.

Veronica was stood next to him, gently holding his shoulder. "Hey, Alba… hope you're doing okay." He softly said to her, his eyes were red with grief for her, wiping the tears away as he looked at her. It always hurt when he looked at what was left of her, all he ever wanted was to hear the sound of her voice. "Been a long day for me. Espionage, a battle, politics…" Killian chuckled at the last one, it was the one that he hated the most. "But I still want the world to be a safer place… I don't want others to suffer like you have suffered. I couldn't save my mom or my day… and I couldn't save you. But if maybe… I could save others… even if they hate me for it… then it's worth it, right?" He assumed as he held her hand, looking at her.

But just like always, there was no response whatsoever, she was just staring into darkness. Completely lifeless even though her heart was beating steadily. Veronica looked at Killian as he looked at her, she could feel his internal agony as he looked at his Foster Mother. He had a very different love for her than he did for his biological parents – because she chose to take him in. She did not need to. But she did, and she looked after him even after what he lost.

"I spoke to him – Jackdaw Branwen. The man that murdered my parents… I spoke to him today. He's still the monster I always knew he was… I wanted to kill him… right there… I could have done it. Maybe I should have…" Veronica glanced at him when he said that, there was a savagery in his voice, and he clenched his other hand into a tight fist. "But I knew you wouldn't have wanted me to… I want to be a better man. I want to be a good person, like what you wanted for me. I try every single day to honour you… and I won't stop. I promise." Killian said, before he stood up and kissed the top of her head, and he turned to leave her.

Veronica followed him out of where Alba was laid, she looked back at her, and for a moment she thought Alba was looking at her… but no… there was nothing at all. She followed Killian outside and saw him wiping the tears from his eyes. "Whoa, hey… hey…" She gently said to him, holding his shoulders to make sure that he was okay. "Are you alright?" She asked him as she wiped some of his tears away.

"Yeah… It just… hurts. I wish I could have been there for her, hell maybe I could have done things differently that could have saved her." Killian stammered as he stood there.

"There's nothing that you could have done. Nothing that anybody could have done to stop what happened that day." Veronica said, and Killian sighed, sitting down at a park bench. Veronica sat down next to him and they both looked around. There were kids playing in the streets, people doing their shopping or leaving work to get back home.

"It's… shocking when you know… that the world is only getting more and more dangerous. Yet everyone is going about their business like it is all normal." Killian said, massaging his wrists.

"Because for them it is normal." Veronica said with a sigh.

"Yeah… yet I can see all the seeds of chaos brewing even here." Killian said, seeing the posters of signing the Vytal Consensus that have been torn from the walls. Sprayed with the words _LIARS_ or _There is no Unity amongst the Unified Governments of Remnant!_

It was getting worse with every day.

"It's funny, because that one is true. There is no Unity amongst the Unified Governments of Remnant. All the Councillors are corrupt, men and women who only seek to fill their pockets and glorify their own ambition." Veronica said as she looked around at all the people, watching every single one of them. "I just want the good people, the ones who deserve to be looked after, to be safe." Veronica said as she lowered her head.

"How long until this peace fades?" Killian asked her.

She scoffed. "Not long. Pretty soon, something is going to break." Veronica stated. She looked at her scroll and saw that someone was messaging her on her scroll. She sighed again. "Oh… I'm sorry, Nathan. I want to stay but they need me back at Cypher's Ridge." Veronica said.

"Oh, it's okay. I'm gonna go and see my Foster Sister. Haven't been round her house in a while." Killian said, and Veronica smiled, kissing him affectionately before she walked away.

Past the screens that were broadcasting the latest report on Robyn Hill.

* * *

**Jaune**

* * *

They were inside of her house…

… but no walls could contain her adoration.

"Who's is the cutest cutie patootie this side of the river monjaloolie?! It's you, yes, it is it's you!" Pyrrha exclaimed exuberantly, dancing the toy Atlas ship up and down before little Adrian's giggly smile. Jaune smiled proudly as he looked at his girlfriend, turning to Saphron who was chuckling.

"I still can't believe that this is the Invincible Girl. I remember when I first met her, I was expecting some really huge muscular beast of a woman… not this adorable goofball." Saphron chuckled, tilting her head to her brother's bemused expression.

"Yeah, it's like if you put the purest kindest soul in the body of a tank." Jaune shrugged. Pyrrha cleared her throat into her free fist.

"Oh well what's wrong with finding this little fellow super duper cute! C'mere!" Pyrrha scooped up the child off the carpet, falling back to hold him up in the air above her head. Adrian giggled, hands and legs kicking at the air as Pyrrha zoomed him around, complete with poor jet engine vocals.

Saphron cringed, reaching out a hand. "Uhh Pyrrha, not to be a killjoy but he only ate his applesauce about an-

"Bleurgh!"

"... Hour ago." The cringe on Saphron's face grew, and Jaune paled, hands over his mouth as Pyrrha sat with baby spit up all over her neck and face.

"Can I hand him back to you... and do you have a wash room?" Pyrrha's voice rose and fell in octaves as she fought off gagging. Saphron nodded sheepishly, taking Adrian and gesturing down the hall.

"I'll be just a- oh boy - just a moment." Pyrrha shuddered, trotting down the hall. Jaune turned to watch her go, cringing with his sister.

"Welp. Looks like your girlfriend hates me now." Saphron weakly laughed. Jaune chuckled.

"Pyrrha only hates one thing, and that's biting into a chocolate cookie to find out it's raisin. You're fine." Jaune cleared his throat. "Actually, I umm... I wanted to talk to you, about Pyrrha that is."

"Wedding venues are really expensive here in Argus, bro." Saphron wiped the spittle off Adrian as he gurgled and giggled. Jaune blushed bright red in the corner of her vision.

"What?! N-No! Nope, Nope, Nu-uh that is not on the radar, not even close!" Jaune vehemently exclaimed, crossing his arms. Saphron chuckled, setting Adrian back by her feet. Her eyes found his.

"Okay. Noted. No need for me to buy a big hat just yet then." She smirked as he blushed. "What did you want to talk to me about then? About Pyrrha?"

"Well..." Jaune huffed, deflating. "I... I love her."

"Okay. That's... good, right?" Saphron raised a brow. Jaune nodded.

"Yeah! Yeah it is, a-and she loves me. But I... " He sighed heavily. "What I'm trying to say is that with everything going on, People I thought were my friends and family, my team who I thought trusted me with their lives but couldn't trust me with this, I..."

"Oh." Saphron nodded. "You're worried that the same might happen between you two?"

"I guess?" Jaune rubbed his neck. "It's just we agree on almost everything and that's great but... I guess I'm dreading the day we don't, and what if it's over something like all this? What if she and I fall out like my team and our sister team has? What if the more we uncover on this mission starts to change her opinion to mine. She's already having doubts about her choice a-and so am I but-

"Bro, bro." Saphron held his shoulders, chuckling. "Pancakes, not waffles, remember?"

"Huh?" Jaune shook his head. Saphron tutted.

"C'mon, surely you remember Dad's Mantra for if we're talking too much. _You're waffling on, and we're a pancake family in this house. So Pancakes, no waffles. _Remember?" Saphron recalled, chuckling. Jaune smiled.

"Oh yeah! Yeah, I remember. Little Daisy trying to tell him a story and she's going off at tangents-"

"As kids do!"

"As kids do, yeah. And he just goes-"

"It's Pancakes, not waffles kiddo!" Jaune and Saphron mimicked their father in unison, laughing heartily. Jaune sobered with a warm smile, looking up at the family photos on the walls.

"I miss him."

"You should write home sometime. Maybe when all this is over?"

"Yeah." Jaune smiled at Saphron. "I'll call them back at Beacon."

"Well, you know what Mom's like with picking up her scroll. You'd be better off sending a voicemail!"

Jaune chuckled, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, you're right about that! Okay fine then, when all is said and done, I'll send Mom and Dad a voicemail, specifically to Saphron's request, a voicemail. There. Happy?"

"It's something I guess." Saphron smirked, tugging his cheek as he grumbled and swatted. They snapped apart when Pyrrha reappeared, dabbing her freshly washed face with a towel. "You okay hun? I'm so, so sorry about that."

"Oh it's fine. He is a baby after all!" Pyrrha sat besides Jaune, smiling. "He's still a cutie in my books."

They all smiled as they watched Adrian babble and crawl around, picking up toys and just being a care free toddler. Saphron sighed heavily.

"So! I've gotta go and pick up Adrian's meds from the Hospital and swing by the Police Station to pick up Terra. Maybe get her some sugar-

"Ew, sis!"

"As in a bag of sugar, for tomorrow. She texted me, said they ran out in the coffee room." Saphron replied dryly. Jaune blinked.

"Oh."

"Maybe a few long passionate kisses here and there." Saphron mimicked kissing right in Jaune's face.

"Oh I knew you'd do it!" Jaune grumbled, Saphron giggling. Pyrrha stood, dusting off her knees.

"Thank you for having us, Saphron. But we don't wanna take up too much of your time if we don't have to." Pyrrha sweetly said.

"Why don't you guys walk with me. It won't take long, plus you can see some sights. I mean Pyrrha, you're privy to Argus, right?" Saphron asked.

"I trained here, yes. Though admittedly I didn't really... explore as such." Pyrrha shrugged her shoulders. "And the past times we have been here, it was basically just to see you two."

"So it's settled. I'll get Adrian ready and we'll walk to the station."

* * *

Later…

Jaune and Pyrrha walked side by side over the cobble roads. The cool breeze coming up out of the bay carried the pungent scent of seaweed and salty sea water. It wasn't awful, just different. Those scents soon shifted as they passed coffee shops and pastry outlets. Jaune's stomach spoke up, garnering looks from Saphron and Pyrrha.

"Is somebody hungry?"

"Bah!" Adrian nodded. Saphron chuckled.

"Not you baby, the other baby."

"Hey! I am NOT a baby!" Jaune grumbled.

"But you are cute." Pyrrha and Saphron said at once, making them chuckle.

"Oh Pyrrha, girl I gotta show you his baby photos sometime."

"Now that is something, we can certainly take time to do." Pyrrha smirked over her shoulder at Jaune as he blushed and rolled his eyes. The Tram's trundled up and down the cobble roads, bells ringing with each twist and turn. Huge bipedal mechs, emblazoned with Atlas sigils, stomped down roads flanked by Atlesian Knights.

"A Curfew has been issued in this sector for the next half an hour. Please return to your homes for routine Grimm inspections."

Jaune and Pyrrha frowned.

"I didn't realised Atlas had such an iron grip here. It wasn't this bad last time." Jaune sighed.

"When I was here, this was never an issue. Atlas barely had a military presence at all." Pyrrha rubbed her upper arm. Saphron sighed.

"Yes, well they've been seeing increasing numbers of Grimm around Argus and..." She huffed. "It's also because of that." She pointed out to Cypher's Ridge in the bay. "After what happened at Beacon Academy too, with Ironwood dying? Well the Atlesians' paranoia has hit a fever pitch."

"Ever since they fortified that base, it went from stocking Atlas arms and dust to be a stronghold for operations. You can't walk the streets without bumping into paladin's or knights. C'mon Adrian let's get your mama."

Jaune and Pyrrha shared a sour look, before following Saphron down the road. Then a mechanical hand placed itself firmly on Pyrrha's chest. On instinct she readied to deal with her assailant but stopped at the Knight's face.

"Identification for sector 234-12."

"Excuse me, I'm sorry, they're huntsmen and they're with me." Saphron said to the robot officer. The Knight's featureless face seemed to turn back to Pyrrha and Jaune before letting them pass.

"On behalf of Atlas and it's military might, we apologise for the inconvenience. You have a wonderful day." The robot spoke it's automated message. Jaune stepped around the machine, making sure to barge his shoulder by, barely staggering the mech.

"You okay, Pyrrha?" Jaune asked. Saphron tutted. "They're getting handsier each damn day. Honestly, sometimes it feels like marshal law here."

"But only here?" Jaune looked back. "Why is that?"

"A few weeks back a Grimm pocket opened up in the pavement there. And since that Jack the Ripper fellow attacked Beacon, we've had a few copy cats. Two people were stabbed last week. So Atlas decided to step in. Only problem is it feels more like marshal law than policing each day." Saphron explained. Jaune and Pyrrha shared a look.

_Saphron and Terra have no idea about the Feral Ones and Adam… they could show up here any day now._

"Well, anyway..." Saphron looked up the stone steps before them. "This is the station. This is where Mommy works, isn't that right sweetie?" Saphron Smiled as Adrian babbled in her arms. Jaune and Pyrrha looked at the station, then back down the road at the mechanical soldiers up the hilly street.

"Well, only I'm allowed in." Saphron huffed. "I got a significant other's badge, so." A small laugh. "I'll only be a moment."

"Yeah." Jaune smiled. "Say Pyrrha, I'm gonna go and get us some coffee. Want one Saph?"

"Oh thanks hun, but I'm good. You go though, I'll see you back here in ten?"

"Sounds good." Jaune smiled up her, before taking Pyrrha's hand and turning across the street. Jaune huffed. "It's having negative effects everywhere now."

"Yeah." Pyrrha sighed, squeezing his hand. "Funny, but I haven't seen a single Huntsman or Huntress since we arrived."

"I was thinking the same." Jaune looked up at Atlesian Knight's holding a checkpoint for people's ID. "Yet we're the ones who need to be put in check?" He scoffed as two Knight's carried a woman from a screaming Faunus man before throwing her in the back of an armoured truck. Quite the spectacle.

"My choice leaves a bad taste these days." Pyrrha huffed. Jaune swallowed thickly, catching her hand and turning her sharply to face him. Her eyes latched to his face with worry and confusion. "Jaune?"

"I... " He blew out a breath, stroking her upper arms. "I'm scared. I'm scared that I screwed up."

"Hey, slow down, where's this coming from?"

"I just... " Jaune looked back into her eyes. "I don't know what side's right anymore. A-And lately I've been thinking, what If I'm the traitor in all this, what if they're right and to them we betrayed them, and I don't know what-

"Hey, shhh." Pyrrha held his arms tight, her eyes gazing into his firmly. "They've done just as many questionable things with questionable ethics. I don't think this is going to be as black and white as painted out to be at first. We need to be ready for when things go grey."

"Right." Jaune breathed out. "I just... I'm scared... of you changing your mind and leaving me to figure things out and I don't-"

"Do you really think I would leave your side? If my opinion changed that I wouldn't stay with you and talk it out?" Pyrrha said, a touch of hurt in her voice. Jaune gulped hard.

"You're right. I-I'm sorry, I just... Oh I'm falling apart man." He scoffed, wiping his eye. Pyrrha kissed his cheek softly, chastely.

"I'm here. Okay? I'm not going anywhere." A smile. "You can't get rid of me that easily."

Jaune chuckled. "Thanks Pyr. I love you."

"And I love you too. Now c'mon. That coffee isn't going to buy itself."

* * *

They returned back to the station where they saw Terra Cotta-Arc in her Police Gear, kissing Saphron affectionately as she walked with her. They got back to their home together to have dinner together, surprising Terra happily to see them.

When they were back, Terra got out of her Detective Gear, and back into her casual outfit. Terra was a young woman with short dark brown hair and eyes. She had a single smooth bang that went down her forehead and in between her eyes. She wore a dark navy collar shirt with a light-blue cardigan, dark-grey jeans and red sneakers. She also wore red glasses and a wedding ring.

They all sat around their large table with little Adrian sat in his high chair, eating his food and giggling as Pyrrha fed him with a bright smile on her face. "I was very surprised to see you both here. I mean… after everything that has happened? I was worried we wouldn't be able to see you two for a while." Terra said with a grateful smile.

"Yeah, things have been pretty hectic." Jaune chuckled, and that was an understatement after the terrifying things they encountered on the road. "But how could we possibly resist to see you?" He laughed.

"Well now you're just making us blush." Terra joked.

"So, hun? How was work?" Saphron asked, and Terra groaned.

"More on the killings sadly. We managed to nab a few of them… it's terrifying how many people seem to be _inspired _by that psychopath back in Vale." Terra answered, and Pyrrha looked at Jaune.

_Could it be the Feral Ones?_

They did not want to bring it up, they were with family, and it was clear that Terra would rather not chat about it. Not yet at the very least. "By the way, your little one over here? I think he likes me." Pyrrha giggled, and Terra immediately figured out what she meant by that.

"Uh-Oh… did he show you what he had for lunch?" She asked her, making her laugh and making Jaune scrunch his face.

"Yep. I guess we're best buds now, huh?" Pyrrha giggled, ruffling the giggling baby's head.

_Ding Dong!_

"Ooh, another visitor." Terra chuckled, she got up and walked over to the door.

"You expecting anyone? I hope we aren't intruding." Jaune apologised.

"Oh don't be silly. It's probably just a delivery man." Saphron shrugged her shoulders, until Terra opened the door and her eyes lit up.

"BRO!" She squeaked with joy, and Jaune turned…

… and his eyes widened with disbelief.

"Hey, sis." Killian greeted.

* * *

**Author Note - WHAT THE SHIT?**

**I bet that was what was going through your heads at the end there. Been working on this reveal for a while, every time he mentioned his Foster Family he always mentioned his little sister fondly. The great part of him being her older Foster Brother is that this makes her a very cool and interesting character to play around with. I really like having her be a detective too, opens some cool doors up.**

**Loved the Arkos and Saphron X Terra stuff, just so sweet until the awkward end for those two. (Terra got some serious explaining to do on why she never told them that he was her Foster Brother too)**

**I love Veronica. All she wants is for people to be happy and safe. I loved writing her talk with Penny too, it really hammer it home with what is going on with her. The whole idea that this trigger was inside her before the Vytal Festival is honestly quite terrifying because that means that she could have switched and could have killed Ruby at any point.**

**And of course, the Schnees and Cordovin. Something I love about Eclipse is the subtle background stuff, on how things are getting worse even though for the most part you don't see it. Conflict is soon going to begin, they all know it.**

**It's ironic... a Consensus named after the island that brought everyone together... is tearing everyone apart.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter - The Stray**

**\- Matt**


	43. The Blurred Line

**Chapter 42 – The Blurred Line**

* * *

**Jaune**

* * *

His blood ran cold.

Out of all the circumstances he was expecting, this was never going to be one of them. He saw Terra wrap her arms around Killian with so much affection. And seeing Killian here… and hearing Saphron gleefully greet her brother in law… he felt like a stranger in the home of his older sister. It all felt like he had been betrayed, like he never ever knew who Saphron or Terra were the whole time he had known them.

Jaune had known Terra when Saphron met her when she was still in High School, so finding out that they both had not told him about this? It hurt even more.

Jaune clenched his hand into a fist as he stared at Killian, and Pyrrha instantly stood up from her chair with wide eyes, staring directly at Killian as he walked inside, hugging Saphron. "Hey, Saph. How are thi-" Killian froze like a Deer in Headlights when he saw Jaune and Pyrrha inside, and he widened his eyes in a similar way to them. "Oh… shiiiiiiiiiit…" He awkwardly groaned, realising that they knew now.

"You both kept this secret from us? That he's your brother?" Jaune gasped as he pointed at him. Terra squeezed her eyes shut as she looked at her brother.

"I wish I knew you were here, bro… I could've… let you know they had come for a surprise visit too." Terra scratched the back of her neck.

"I… I could go, if you want. I don't wanna mess up your dinner." Killian assured as he gestured to the door.

"I think the damage has been done." Terra sadly said, gently patting Killian on the back. Killian buried his face in his hands and he uncomfortably left the room. Jaune stared at Terra and Saphron as a painful silence filled the room, until Jaune walked towards Terra.

"Can I have a word, with you?" He asked her, the anger was very clear in his voice, anger of how neither side ever told him or Pyrrha the truth of who Killian was to her. Terra and Jaune both walked into the Kitchen where Jaune softly spoke to her, containing his upset as best he can. "How long have you been keeping this secret from us? Why did you not trust us with this? We both told you about Killian and how much we distrusted him, but you never said a word." Jaune explained as he stared at her, and Terra nodded her head.

"Look, I know how this looks… but it's… it's complicated." Terra began as she leant against the wall, Jaune stood there and he crossed his arms. He looked around, and he could see Killian waiting in the living room, wanting to give them their space.

"Complicated? The hell does that mean? Have you forgotten how Pyrrha and I told both of you about the incident at Beacon? Something I knew that we shouldn't have disclosed because of all the crap that went down? It was all because of him, he used a student who suffered from a mental illness like a damn bomb, and he got away scot-free to prevent the spread of panic. And after we risked all that… you still lied to us?" Jaune questioned, seething.

"We didn't lie to you, I just asked Saph not to bring it up. We never lied, we just… didn't say." Terra said, and Jaune scoffed.

"Oh great, that really makes it a hell of a lot better, doesn't it?" He scoffed.

"Look, I know… I screwed up, and I am sorry. But I couldn't risk telling you, let's just say I'm not as ballsy as you were when you told us about what happened four years ago. And believe me, I didn't talk to Nathan for… hell… maybe two years… it was only a couple years ago when he came here and wanted to explain himself. It took a while but now we're… square." Terra explained, and Jaune shook his head. "But I couldn't tell you. Killian risked breaking every rule in the book when he actually told me about what he did for a living, and he warned me that I could not tell anyone else about his position. He was in the Special Forces, after all – it's pretty much a rule to live a life of anonymity."

"And yet… the whole world knows who he is now. And yet you still didn't say anything." Jaune said.

"That's _exactly _why. I couldn't risk Saph… or Adrian. Killian is a man who gains both lots of allies and just as many enemies. I didn't want to risk the love of my life or my baby… I couldn't. So that's why I never said anything, Jaune. There was no sinister or nefarious plot behind my secrecy… I just wanted my family safe." Terra explained, and Jaune sighed. He could understand her reasons better now, at the end of the day she was not wrong.

The Riots between two different groups happening across the world regarding the Vytal Consensus? That was a very easy example of how a man like Nathaniel Killian could easily form groups of allies and foes that could do anything to spite him.

It's hardly been the first-time pressure groups have gone after a person of influence's family.

"You weren't there, Terra. You didn't see the things that happened because of him. People died." Jaune reminded, remembering Oobleck and Forrest, and how Sun was almost killed as well by the Praetorian Knight. "Things can never be square with a man like that. He acts like a nice guy but all he cares about are the ends of his means." Jaune explained.

"And yet you're on his side." Terra said, and Jaune double-took.

"I am not on his side. I don't trust that man as far as I can throw him, the only reason we're working together is because I want the Academies to still exist after this whole Political Bullshit has been sorted out. If the Vytal Consensus doesn't work, do you really think the U.G.R will stop there. This is our best and only option before they decide to remove us completely." Jaune explained. "Hell… I wouldn't be surprised if Killian will lead such a campaign."

"Nathan doesn't want people to die, Jaune. Surely you can see that." Terra said, Jaune looked at her and he raised a brow.

"After the things he has done? Sorry, can't say that I can." Jaune said. "After Beacon… and then Lake Matsu? Well… can't say that I think the man is sound of mind."

"Matsu? What about Matsu?" Terra questioned, and Jaune looked at her. Just from the look of confusion on her face, that was all he needed. She did not know about Lake Matsu either…

_Of course she doesn't know about that, even if the Press Teams have started reporting on what's left of the Isles after his attack, how would she know that he was responsible._

"Your Foster Bro? He hunted my friends down to that spot and butchered a bunch of the people that they were with. And then he tried to kill them, destroying those ancient islands in the process. All against the U.G.R's orders, which means he was breaking the very law he was trying to push. That man is just a damn hypocrite." Jaune said with a scoff in his voice. Terra glanced at her brother, noticing him sat there, he could definitely hear their conversation. He was the Commander of the Black Gallows; nobody reaches that rank without some impressive skills in espionage.

"I didn't know about that… I'll talk to him." Terra said, and Jaune looked at her.

"Don't bother. He'll just come up with some kind of convenient lie." Jaune said with a sigh. "Not sure if I should even bother trying to make a deal with him for my friends' freedom… he'll probably just shut it down." Jaune said.

"A deal?" Terra asked him.

"He's one of the highest-ranking people in the world, and he has the U.G.R's ear… well… for now at least. Not sure if they will be overly pleased with him after that stunt he pulled at Matsu." Jaune began. "But I have a plan to try and make sure my friends don't go to jail and can pay their time back by helping me with a mission… but that means I would have to convince Killian."

Killian listened from the other room, hearing him mention this mission and he raised a brow. Neither noticed the message that Watts had sent him on his scroll recently.

_You're running out of time…_

_… blood will spill soon._

\- _W_

Killian stared at the photographs of his Chosen Sister and her wife, when they first had little Adrian, they were so happy.

Terra looked at Jaune and he sighed. "I know Killian better than anyone… I've known him since I was born, he's been one of my best friends in the whole world. He's… complicated… but he's not unreasonable. If you just talk to him, and see the way things are from his eyes? He will listen to you; you just need to understand that every story has two sides. He knows secrets that should never be told to the rest of the world. Those kinds of secrets… they change you. Trust me, I know… some of the cases I have worked? If it weren't for Saph I don't know if I would have been able to walk away as the same person." Terra explained, and Jaune nodded his head.

He could understand that. Both Terra and Killian had seen some terrible things in their professions, but one of them was still true to who they were… whilst the other was trapped between the lines of good and evil.

He was trapped in that blurry line.

As they were stood in that hallway, Killian stood up and he walked towards them. Jaune turned and stared at the Commander. "How about Jaune and I go for a walk and talk about this… situation?" Killian asked her, and Terra looked at Jaune. The Arc Knight stared at Killian and then he walked out of the hallway and he looked at Pyrrha. She was sat on the sofa with Adrian rolling around by her feet and she sweetly played with him. He sighed and looked back at Killian.

"Fine. We'll talk." He agreed.

* * *

**Pyrrha**

* * *

Pyrrha held one of Adrian's plushies and she bounced it up and down in front of him, making the happy little baby giggle with joy as he cuddled the stuffed bear in his arms. Pyrrha smiled, her heart melted as she looked at the baby full of life play around on the floor. Saphron was sat next to her, then they both looked up at Jaune, Killian and Terra exiting that room. "Jaune and I are gonna go on a walk and talk about all this. We'll be back soon." Killian assured, and Pyrrha's eyes widened with concern.

Jaune knew the look, it was the _are you sure you want to do this _face. He smiled at her and simply nodded his head at her. She reciprocated the same back to him. "Okay." Pyrrha agreed. Killian and Jaune exited the Cotta-Arc House. Terra stood there and sighed a shaky breath, softly scraping her slippers against the wooden floor, looking at Pyrrha who looked at her in return. She then looked at Saphron. "Did you know too?" Pyrrha asked her, and Saphron sighed. Pyrrha scoffed. "Of course you did."

"Pyrrha… we didn't want to keep it from either of you, but we couldn't risk Adrian's safety." Saphron said as she gently ruffled her son's hair.

"Yeah I've heard that before." Pyrrha said, Terra and Saphron looked at her as she stood up and walked over to the window with her arms crossed. "My Mom… she did so many things because she wanted to keep me safe. She ruined someone's entire future… indebting her to the Vasillias Cartel… a debt she would never be able to pay, and even her children… and her grandchildren would never be able to pay it. All because she hurt my feelings – all because she wanted to keep me safe."

"Pyrrha this isn't the same. You've seen the way the world is, and Killian works in a field that gives him more enemies than allies. What do you think those enemies would do if they found out about his sister? His sister and her wife and son?" Terra asked Pyrrha as she walked over to her, and Pyrrha shook her head.

"And what about Jaune? All his life he was raised in a family of people who treated him like he was… like he was never good enough. No matter how hard he tried, most of his sisters bar Saphron… his mom and dad? None of them had faith in him. I had hoped you would have had enough faith in your own brother to tell him the truth, Saphron." Pyrrha said, with disappointment in her voice.

"I know you're angry, Pyrrha. But we didn't have a choice. It was hide this secret from him or risk my family's safety. If you were in my position, what would you have done?" Terra asked Pyrrha as she approached her. Pyrrha glanced at Terra… but she could not find an answer.

"You kept Jaune's secret… about when he forged those documents to get into Beacon Academy. Because you wanted him to succeed, even though the past attempts tried to say that he couldn't." Saphron pulled one hell of a reversal on Pyrrha, and the Invincible Girl felt like she could not say another word. "Sometimes we are forced to keep secrets so then we can keep the people we love safe."

Pyrrha still remained quiet as she stared out the window at the Airships that flew across the sky. Saphron walked over to Pyrrha and looked at her. "I hated my parents for how they treated him… constantly telling him that he can't do anything. Judging him for every little mistake he made, reminding him of them every single time he said he wanted to be a Huntsman. I never understood why they were the way they were with him… I felt so guilty when I moved to Argus with Terra. But I couldn't be around them… for the same reason that Terra couldn't be around her dad – for the short amount of time he was there."

Pyrrha looked at her. "The thing is… I don't think they hated me for falling for Terra… but the things they would say, they were well-intentioned… but it didn't make the pain sting any less. I still haven't seen either of them since, or my sisters – they weren't as bad with me as they were with Jaune… that's why I've rarely contacted them. I was always closest to Jaune… because out of all of us? We were the only ones who were different." Saphron explained. "Me? Because I liked girls… and Jaune? Because was the only son, and he wanted to be more than that."

Pyrrha looked at Saphron and she saw her wipe a tear from her eye. "I never wanted to keep that secret from him, neither of us did. Jaune was always my best friend in the family – and he still is. Do you understand what I mean, Pyrrha?" Saphron asked her, and Pyrrha smiled, gently squeezing her shoulder. Terra smiled as she saw Pyrrha do that.

"I do… I'm sorry we reacted the way we did… we're just… tired of secrets." Pyrrha said as she stared at Cypher's Ridge, where their friends were held.

"I don't blame you. Secrets tread a fine line between helping others and harming them." Saphron said.

"It reminds me of that Information Broker." Terra said, and Pyrrha looked at the Detective who stroked her hair.

"Information Broker?" Pyrrha asked Terra.

"A few months ago, I got a case. There was this Information Broker – her name was Amanda Ashridge. She was selling falsified information through Argus to countless people. At first, I just expected it to be yet another Fraud Case, but these secrets? There was a reason behind them… she knew the real truth behind the information that people were buying. But she knew that she could get returning customers if she… tweaked… the files. Cut them into pieces to get more payments… more orders… more data. And it worked for a time, until she messed with the wrong people." Terra explained.

"Lemme guess, the Vasillias Cartel?" She assumed.

"No, but they are linked to them. She messed with the Valerian Bikers in Vale. They had contacts here in Argus, and she sold them falsified data about the locations of Dust Caches in the city. When they learned they were fake… they threatened her life. The case quickly turned into trying to save Amanda's life from them. But the Bikers were faster than we were… and by the time we found her? Well… there wasn't much left of her, because they burnt her house down." Terra explained, and Pyrrha's eyes widened. "Secrets? They're a double-edged sword. They can help… or hurt. The line becomes blurred sometimes. It only focuses at the end of the line. Sometimes… that end can be good… or can end with you in a shallow grave."

Pyrrha nodded her head, and she sighed. "Amanda Ashridge… how old was she?" She asked.

"Nineteen." Terra answered.

"Gods…" Pyrrha sighed. "The Bikers… did you catch them?" Pyrrha asked her.

"Yes." Terra answered.

"How?" Pyrrha asked her.

Terra paused. "We gunned them all down."

* * *

**Jaune**

* * *

The Argus Nights were beautiful, it was one of the only other regions apart from Atlas that would have an Aurora at night, swirling colours of greens and yellows and blues would pulse over the stars. Every now and then an Airship would soar across the sky, and Jaune held out his hand as he felt a snowflake fall upon him. He looked at it as it slowly melted from his body temperature.

Killian walked round the corner with a coffee he bought for him, offering it to him and Jaune accepted it. "I know you don't trust me… and I can't blame you. I wouldn't me either if I were in your shoes." Killian explained as he walked with him.

"Well I guess self-awareness is a beautiful thing, right?" Jaune replied as they walked down the streets. Cars drove across the roads, back and forth as people were returning back to their homes still. Jaune looked at some of the people and seeing the signs that have been sprayed over. Former Promotional Campaigns that were fighting for the integration of the Vytal Consensus across the world to have the Huntsman Academies to work under the U.G.R's gaze. The vandalism said the following:

_WE HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN!_

_SHOW YOUR TEETH!_

_THE HUNTSMEN AND HUNTRESSES ARE OUR PROTECTORS! NOT THE U.G.R!_

"Looks like the Vytal Consensus Campaign is starting to fail, more people are rising up against it, Killian." Jaune said as he looked at the graffiti. Killian stopped and he looked at the Graffiti and he approached one of them in particular.

"_Show your teeth._ Hmph… looks like some of Robyn Hill's supporters are here too. I thought they would have scattered after she was killed." Killian said, and Jaune raised his brow.

"Robyn Hill? I thought she went missing, never heard any reports of her death after she disappeared the attack at the S.D.C Mine in Atlas." Jaune explained as he looked at him, and Killian shrugged his shoulders.

"True… but after the amount of time she has been M.I.A? I think she's most likely dead, since some of the soldiers hit her with an explosive. Last they saw was her blood trail and she got into an Airship. The damage she endured? I doubt she would have lasted long in the air." Killian explained to him, he then touched the spray paint. "Huh… it's still wet. Must have been a few minutes ago."

"Mysteries galore lately." Jaune said as he walked ahead of him.

"Ain't that the truth. Never thought I'd miss scaring idiotic explorers trespassing in dangerous zones so they wouldn't return." Killian said as they walked through the streets. Some of the Surveillance Drones hovered overhead, scanning individuals as they walked around the city. They were Atlesian Tech, most likely sent out by Cordovin to make sure that dangerous individuals – such as Adam Taurus – are not in the city.

The threat to the world was definitely there, but the Unified Governments of Remnant were keeping under wraps, keeping the people safe and calm. The last thing they would want is the people being afraid of another attack like Beacon Academy suffered, and shortly after – Vacuo. The more panic, the more Grimm Attacks. And Argus had already survived an attack from a Leviathan-Class Grimm very recently.

They both walked towards a park, the one that was very close to where Pyrrha's statue was located. Jaune walked over and he looked at the swings that gently swung back and forth, and Killian gasped for air. He grabbed the Respirator on his sternum, and he twisted the controls to calm the agony that would build up in his chest like he was about to burn to death. His breaths returned back to normal, and Jaune saw the veins in his throat blacken for a few moments as the Grave Dust in his system started to spread like a disease, slowly decomposing him – until the device pulled the dust right back.

Killian could taste a coppery taste in his mouth every single time the Grave Dust began to eat away at him. He rolled his neck as he stood upright once more, and Jaune was looking at the Commander. "Damn Grave Dust… it's like living with a gun pressed against the back of your head every second of every day."

Jaune looked at Killian and he looked back at the swings. "Look… I care about my sister and I would never do anything that would hurt her in any way, your sister – her wife – included. And Adrian? That little guy is something special, you know that." Killian said as he stood there, and Jaune shook his head.

"Don't."

"Don't what? Look I'm sorry that I asked her not to tell you about our relations… hell technically we not even related anyway… but she is one of the only pieces of family that I have left. And I would do _anything_ to make sure that she and her family are safe. And that includes you." Killian assured as he pointed at him.

"You think I give a damn about _my_ life?" Jaune questioned. "I don't trust you Killian, furthermore, I don't like you. What you did, at Beacon? The world will know one day, I promise you that. You can arrest and assassinate as many of Ozpin's Investigators and Journalists as you want. But the truth will come out one day… and when that day comes… one way or another, Terra will be caught in the crossfire. Saphron too, and hell maybe even Adrian. I don't want that for them – but that's gonna happen, because of your lies and schemes." Jaune snarled as he stared at Killian.

"We've kept terrible secrets for years, Mr Arc. Secrets so terrible that if the world knew? Nobody would be able to sleep every single time that the sun would set." Killian explained, he then looked at the Shattered Moon. "History is a big book, but it is one we can choose the pages to be shown in the light… and the others to be kept in the dark. Believe me, it's for the best that most people do not know about the things that have happened."

"I'm not arguing that, Killian. Believe me, I know why the History Books leave some of the scarier things out, because if we didn't the panic could have killed us all a very long time ago. But what you have done, Nathaniel?" Jaune said, having the tenacity to use his first name. "You can't keep that secret forever; it doesn't matter how much you believe in the Vytal Consensus. I believe it could work too, with some friendly little changes to make things a bit easier for those who need to get used to the change. I'm not arguing that we have to adapt, at the end of the day I would rather the Academies and Huntsmen and Huntresses still get to exist and do what we chose to do… than us be completely removed." Jaune explained and Killian nodded his head. "But sooner or later someone will find that truth… the truth of what you have done… and the people will rise against you."

"Well that's if we don't do our jobs." Killian reminded, staring him down. "There's a reason why we are known as _Remnant's Bogeymen_. It's because we make the hard decisions to the rest of you safe. It's not your business to judge us for our decisions."

"Then what was the reason for what you did last time? To Beacon Academy? You were hellbent on watching everyone die, hell maybe even the people of Vale. You only went back because of a sudden change of heart. So why?" Jaune questioned and Killian sighed, walking ahead of Jaune.

"The situation was different then. Back then? The C.C.T required reconstruction and repairs, but before it shut down all people saw were Huntresses trained at the Academy butchering and attacking others. Then Cinder Fall's speech came along… do you know how many people gobbled that up?" Killian asked him curiously.

"No…" Jaune answered.

"Millions. I received countless reports thanks to my relay facilities in every Kingdom, even if the Towers fell. People demanding that Professor Ozpin and General Ironwood be held accountable for the deaths of so many. That Beacon Academy and Vale to be left behind due to their _arrogance_. So… I received an order."

What Killian was about to say was no lie… Salem did indeed command the first attack, and in a way the second…

… but she was not the only one.

"The U.G.R. They wanted to… cut off loose ends." Killian revealed, and Jaune's eyes widened.

"What?" Jaune asked.

"Have you ever heard of the Inhumane Necessity?" Killian asked him curiously.

"No."

"Well… there are three Levels to it. Level 1: Low Level Eradication. That tends to be used to stop a small populous, a town or a village. Level 2: Medium Level Eradication. Sometimes… an Academy or a City. Level 3: Societal Reset." Killian looked at Jaune.

"Societal Reset?" His voice trembled with disbelief.

"Total Cultural Annihilation. That will only be issued if they are left with no other choice but for a complete reset of all of the Kingdoms. The Inhumane Necessity was created to Combat the Possibility of a second Great War. It was meant to be Final War… but the odds of another happening are increasing with every day." Killian explained.

He turned to face Jaune. "They issued Level 2 to me… to eradicate Beacon Academy. So I decided to use the Black Smog to hide the truth."

Finally… the full truth.

Yes, Salem wanted Beacon destroyed as well, and wanted Ozpin dead and the Relic in her hands – but the real order to wipe out Beacon Academy? The Official Order… came from the Unified Governments of Remnant to cut off loose ends. To remove Ozpin, and Ironwood, and anyone else that would stand in their way.

As Salem said…

_Never underestimate the usefulness of others._

And she wasn't wrong, the U.G.R were very useful in giving them a way in to take down Beacon Academy.

Yet even then, Beacon wouldn't fall. "But when you fought off the Black Smog and they started to attack Vale? I knew I had to step in, to make sure that Vale and its Councilwoman would trust the U.G.R… and me." Killian explained, and Jaune's eyes were wide. "This is Highly Confidential Information I am telling you, if you do tell anyone else about this? They will send assassins to fix my error… and they'll send them to _you_." Killian explained, and Jaune felt sick from that.

"Okay… why? Why are you telling me this?" Jaune asked him.

"Well… I guess in a way we're family, huh?" Killian said as he crossed his arms. "I had Terra and she asked Saphron to keep my secret but now you know. You asked… so I answered truthfully. Be careful who tell this to, I know you will most likely inform Pyrrha. But do not spread this – for your own sake. The U.G.R do not broker with those who speak too much." Killian warned, walking ahead of him.

This was a lot to take in… it all made sense now. He still did not hate Killian, but… he kinda hated the U.G.R more for that order.

_How can I support the Vytal Consensus now?_

_Those people? The ones who are fronting the whole thing? They were the ones who ordered Killian to kill us all…_

_Maybe… maybe Ruby was right._

Jaune closed off those thoughts, and he looked at Killian. "Tell me something." Jaune said and Killian stopped. "What do the Black Gallows truly seek?" Jaune inquired and he turned. "Outside of what the U.G.R want… what is it that the Gallows want?"

"Order. Purpose. Direction. No more than that." Killian answered. He did not say anything else, he just walked back towards where Terra and Saphron's house was located, and Jaune had to stand there for a moment. He understood why Killian did not go any deeper than that – but now he knew the truth.

Not only was Killian not to be trusted, but neither were the U.G.R. Jaune caught up to Killian and he sighed. "I… assume you heard me talking to Terra, right?" He asked him.

"I did." Killian agreed.

"About a deal I wanna try and make with you?" Jaune asked him and Killian nodded his head.

"I did." He repeated.

"Well… if I can convince them to help me… will you let them go? As long as they stay with me?" Jaune asked.

"Help you with what?" Killian asked.

It was now time for Jaune to spill the beans.

"On our way here to Argus, we encountered multiple assassins… you know a lot of secrets… what do you know about Salem?" Jaune asked, and Killian stared at him.

_He knows… damn it…_

Killian walked over to the bridge over a babbling brook of clear water that fish were swimming in. "By reputation." Killian lied. "You mean to go after her?"

"To try and locate her, to figure out who these people are and why they are trying to kidnap me. I can't imagine it's for a good reason, but if we can locate her and figure out how to stop her, we can return… and then throw everything we have at her. Black Gallows, Atlesians, Valerians… everyone."

Killian laughed at that. "Your optimism is inspiring; I'll give you that." Killian laughed.

"What do you mean?" Jaune asked.

"If you think that the whole _Common Enemy Common Goal _thing will work with the U.G.R and their Kingdoms then you're wrong. They might allow me to go with you, but the rest of the Kingdoms? Pretty much all the Representatives of their Kingdoms are cowards who would rather watch from the safety of their homes… or hell… all of them would retreat to the Foundations of Sovereignty. You'd have better luck convincing the Grimm to protect the innocents than convincing the world to fight against her." Killian explained, and Jaune sighed.

"So… it's worthless. All we've got then is each other." Jaune said, and Killian chuckled.

"When has that ever stopped you kids before?" Killian asked him, Jaune looked at Killian and the Commander exhaled through his nose. "If you can convince them… then I will bring your request to the U.G.R themselves. After that? It's their call… not mine." He said, sounding pretty resentful of them. Killian walked ahead of him, and Jaune looked back up at the Shattered Moon, sighing.

He was right.

Things were just getting worse by the day.

* * *

**Veronica**

* * *

Back at Cypher's Ridge…

Veronica stood in the Repair Tower of the Atlesian Colossus. Her eyes gazed and examined the massive mechanised robotic armour that was built to challenge the Leviathan-Class Grimm of Remnant. It recently had to fight against one in the harbour, and the scars of the massive beast could still be seen on its huge armoured body. Deep slash marks and suction cup marks from the tentacles that tried to drag it into the dark depths of the ocean. The Grimm Threats of the sea were completely unknown, the Leviathans were only discovered a few decades ago, and even earlier – the Sea Feilong was only discovered three years ago.

And more unknown classifications of Grimm were being uncovered nearly every single day. Like Unseen Abductor and countless others that are starting to appear. Like the Praetorian Knight.

She stood there and she looked at her prosthetic leg and she sighed, the low gravity inside of this facility was the man reason why her shoulders were both at the same angle. Normally she would have a limp. She watched the Engineers float around the Colossus, repairing the extensive damage that the Leviathan dealt to it when Cordovin fought and killed it. It was close, and the second Grimm – the Kraken – that one nearly pulled her into the depths.

"More and more we find monsters wherever we go." Sienna's voice surprised her, and Veronica turned to see the High Leader of the White Fang walking up the steps towards Veronica.

"Hello, Miss Khan. I've never seen the Colossus in person… looks like it suffered one hell of a fight." Veronica said as she observed its body.

"It did. I saw the footage, two massive Grimm from the sea attacked at once. The city was barely even scared, they just attacked out of nowhere. If you ask me? It was like they were testing their defences." Sienna admitted, and Veronica raised a brow with concern.

"Ever since the Battles of Beacon things have definitely been different." Veronica admitted. "Was the footage true by the way? That massive one at Beacon? The Hydra?"

"Yes. I remember seeing all those Grimm being fused together into that monster. It took everything we had to kill the son of a bitch." Sienna remembered, especially when Nora sacrificed Magnhild to kill it.

"It was one hell of a fight. I arrived to help tend to the survivors in Vale… but I wandered the destruction of the battle there. It was like a War… like the pictures of the Great War." Veronica explained and Sienna nodded her head.

"Yes it was…" Sienna agreed. The High Leader of the White Fang glanced at Veronica and she narrowed her eyes. "Tell me Veronica… what is your last name?"

"Chamberlain. Why?" She asked.

"Surprising… most people I've met tend to have a name that followed the colour convention that Ozpin said the world put in place after the Great War. Yet you… and Killian… do not." She noted, and she softly smiled.

"My parents… were odd people. They didn't overly care for the new world that was created after the Great War. My bloodline initially stems from Vacuo… the Vacuo Mongrels in particular." Veronica explained, which made Sienna chuckle.

"Could've fooled me." Sienna said.

"A lot of people say that. But… the Chamberlain Family chose to keep their name the same as it always was. I don't care for the past – only for the future. I want the world to be a better place for everyone. Rich and Poor, Strong and Weak… we're alive… avoiding the Grimm. We should be banding together, not pulling apart." Veronica explained.

"On that we can agree. Admittedly my focus for the White Fang became… confused for a long time. But I remembered what we were fighting for. Tell me, what does your boyfriend fight for?" Sienna asked her, and Veronica looked at her again. She sighed, looking back at the Colossus. "Veronica? How much do you trust him?" She asked.

"Nathaniel is… a complicated man. Like everyone he has faults, but those faults can be cataclysmic if they are not tempered. He is a good man, at heart, but he's a good man with an inner demon which fights for control. I'm afraid that one day the monster may destroy the good man forever… I'm trying to help him… but… it's getting harder." She admitted, and Sienna nodded her head. "But I won't give up on him."

Sienna looked at her and she cracked her neck. "I said the same thing once… about Adam Taurus. And look at what he has become." Sienna said, walking away from Veronica. She stood there alone, and she looked at her wrist, seeing some of the scars from the explosion that took her leg.

She looked back at the large Low Gravity Repair Tower for the Colossus… pondering on Nathaniel Killian… and his decaying mental state.

* * *

**Killian**

* * *

He and Jaune returned back to Saphron and Terra's house, and as the door opened, Terra looked at her brother. "Can I… talk to you, bro?" Terra asked softly, she let Jaune in and she stood outside with her brother. Killian stood with her and he scratched the back of his neck.

"I'm… really sorry that I ruined your night. I should've called first." Killian said.

"Yeah… you probably should've, but it's okay. It's good to see you." Terra assured with a sweet smile as she hugged him. "Just… no more surprises, okay?" She asked him, and he smiled.

Killian turned when he felt his scroll vibrate, and he sighed. "That's the U.G.R meeting, no doubt. I've gotta go." Killian said to her, and Terra smiled.

"I'll tell Saph you said hey. But little Adrian would love to see more of his Uncle Nate." Terra said to him, and Killian smiled.

"Uncle Nate… I like the sound of that." He said to her. "Well, I'll be sure to come by when I can. See you around, sis. Stay safe out there." He said, wrapping his arms around her lovingly, holding her in a warm embrace. He released her and turned to walk away into the darkness. As he walked down the street, he passed by one of the alleys… where he heard the sound of a sinister giggle from it.

He stopped and his eyes widened, turning to see Tyrian Callows emerging from the shadows. "Well played… with her skills as a detective? She could either prove to be a valuable asset… or a dangerous adversary…" Tyrian said as he emerged, brown hood pulled over his head to conceal his identity from the drones patrolling the streets.

Killian clenched his hand into a fist.

"She is not an asset – she is my _sister_. The deal was that Terra, Saphron and Adrian would be unharmed." Killian reminded, staring the Serial Killer down. Tyrian smirked back, but he shrugged his shoulders.

"Just remember where your loyalties lie, Killian. Our Queen does not broker failure." Tyrian assured with a smirk.

Killian sighed, and he looked at his scroll.

_U.G.R Meeting in 30 Minutes_

He exhaled. "Time to chat with the Unified Governments of Remnant."

* * *

**Author Note - One Hell of a Revelation in this chapter**

**Do not trust Killian, we know that, but definitely do not trust the U.G.R. They'll sacrifice _anything_ for what they want. And yes, I can promise you that he was not lying there. That is the truth, Salem simply took advantage of the U.G.R wanting to pull a clean slate on Beacon, but the moment Killian saw that the Huntsmen were winning that battle, he needed to do something that will get them to turn back to the U.G.R, all so then he will have Beacon on their side, and therefore on his. But it's clear that now the U.G.R seem to be looking at Killian with the same eyes that they had for Beacon four years prior... so he better be careful.**

**Of course, they should be careful too. As a Child of Salem, he has her on his side - and as a certain someone in Volume 5 said "Salem only uses people until they are no longer useful." So the U.G.R better be careful.**

**This was a challenging chapter to write because it is mainly a bunch of conversations, but I think it turned out well enough. XD I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter - The Unified Governments of Remnant**

**\- Matt**


	44. The Unified Governments of Remnant

**Chapter 43 – The Unified Governments of Remnant**

* * *

**Killian**

* * *

The Commander of the Black Gallows returned back to Cypher's Ridge, in order to speak with the U.G.R.

He knew that he was about to get an earful for what happened at Lake Matsu.

_Looking back… I guess maybe that was a bit rash to lead a full-scale covert assault on those brats in such a Historical Landmark. Surely, they will understand my reasons though… then again… it is the U.G.R I am talking about here, I would not be surprised if the main thing they are pissed off about is their revenue taking a plummet because of this._

_It is all those corrupt politicians give two wits about._

Killian walked towards the Communications Room, but before he did, he saw Cordovin stood there with her arms crossed. Her eyes were glaring directly at him, they burned like flames, and he slowed as he stared at her. "General Cordovin." Killian greeted. "Do you ever smile, old friend?"

"We are not friends, Killian. I know who you are, better than most – I trained you, and studied your mindset when you were a cadet." Cordovin said as she walked towards him, staring up at the man. "And you were always one of the smartest, cunning, and simply strategic cadets I have ever trained." She explained.

"I'm honoured." Killian chuckled.

"It wasn't a compliment." Cordovin said, staring at him. "Because of your strengths, I know that you are not a man to be trusted. I don't know what it is that you are up to, Killian… but I've got my eye on you. And the U.G.R? Well… I wouldn't expect them to be as willing to trust everything you say after the things you have done. Eventually we must all pay the price for our choices… how serious will your price be?" Cordovin questioned as she stared him down, but Killian?

He was not as… nervous… as he was when he first saw her here. When she stared at him, he stared right back. He leant down and his onyx eyes reflected from hers. "I don't know… end of the day, Cordo? I get out of it… I always do." Killian assured, repeating the same thing he said to Ironwood before he left Beacon Academy four years ago. Killian stood tall once more, and he walked away from Cordovin, but she left him with some rather… chilling last words.

"Luck is only good… for as long as it holds, Killian. But sooner or later, you luck will run out. And you won't walk away… sooner or later… our number _will_ get punched." Cordovin assured the arrogant Commanding Officer. He stood there, and he continued into the Communications Centre, leaving her behind.

The door closed behind him and he stood with his arms behind his back, stood to attention. He pressed the glowing blue button on the holographic terminal, the room darkened as black panels folded out from the walls and the window that looked over the Colossus Repairing Tower darkened to a similar black.

Then the holograms formed.

The Unified Governments of Remnant Representatives appeared – and three other familiar faces were with them as well.

Professor Ozpin, Leonardo Lionheart and… Jacques Schnee.

Lionheart was a middle-aged man with a mane of grey hair and a beard. He had a tanned complexion with brown eyebrows and dark brown eyes. He wore a brown greatcoat with a matching mantle, which had cross emblems on each side. He also wore a white dress shirt under his coat, a western necktie and carried a pocket watch. Lionheart also wore dark brown slacks and dress shoes. As he was sat down at his chair, his Faunus Lion Tail could be see hanging out the other side.

And Jacques Schnee… he was a surprise to be sure. The two Headmasters made sense, and it would have been a bigger surprise if Theodore were here – since he never cared for politics. But Jacques? He was the C.E.O of the Schnee Dust Company, but he was no politician. Yet… that was probably why he fit in with the other Corrupt Governors because he only cared about his own future, and his own gain.

Then there were the Four Councillors of the Four Kingdoms.

Sienna had been working extremely hard to try and join the Coven of Councillors in the Unified Governments of Remnant, so then the people of Menagerie could become their own Kingdom. Where the Faunus could be safe, and have a new future, away from discrimination and war.

But… the U.G.R… they like making sure things stay the way they are so then things are more… profitable.

The Four Councillors were the same ones that Killian had met before.

The Valerian Councilwoman – the youngest of then with newly dyed black hair with purple highlights. Her name was Alyx Tanner, and of all the Councillors she was by far the most respectable of them, since she was more compassionate as a mother to her four-year-old child. But she was still selfish, because deep down it was only her family that she really cared about, the rest of the world and its people could be suffering – but if her family were safe and prospering? It would not matter to her.

The Atlesian Councilman – he was the oldest of them all, and funnily enough was a lot like Jacques Schnee. He was the revered as the _King of the Banking Companies_. He owned them all, and that made him easily the richest man on the entire planet, with Jacques Schnee just below him with the Schnee Dust Company. Some believed the two of them were in league together to try and gain from as much suffering in the world as they could. And sadly… the White Fang conflict had been a… very… profitable one for them, supplying weapons and dust to those who would fight the White Fang. The King of the Baking Companies was named – Vance Ackerman.

The Mistraalian Councillor – his name was Edward Sino. Due to the size of continent of Anima, he easily had the largest population too, most of which was farmland, Wine Production… and in the shadier parts… he funded the Criminal Underworld so then they would be under his thumb. He was sat down in his chair, stroking his short beard.

And finally – the Vacuo Councillor – Iso Brock. Of all the Councillors, he cared extraordinarily little for the rest of the world and even his own Kingdom. Vacuo was failed Kingdom, and in a few decades, it would soon be abandoned due to the drought caused by how much destruction has been dealt to the ecosystem that once flourished there. The only reason he attended these… meetings… was because it gave him something to do. But the man rarely ever pitched into the discussions regarding the survival of their society.

He just enjoyed the show.

Killian stood in the centre of the U.G.R Councillors and Headmasters, he looked at them all, one by one, before his eyes stared directly at Ozpin. For some reason, he was the man who was least expected to have been here with the U.G.R, considering two major factors:

\- The U.G.R wanted to wipe out Beacon Academy to cut off loose ends

\- And the U.G.R have never trusted Ozpin and have wanted him out of Beacon Academy for years for the way he does things

Killian breathed in, and he spoke first. "Councillors… Headmasters… Jacques Schnee… what a surprise. I was under the impression that only the Councillors would be here today." Killian said, crossing his arms as he looked at them all.

"You clearly have been out of the loop in Atlesian News recently, haven't you Killian?" Vance asked him as he chuckled. "There was a vote for a new Councillor in the U.G.R, to help maintain this… society."

"And they chose you?" Killian scoffed. "That's surprising, especially from how your business has treated the Faunus in recent history."

"The Faunus are paid the same as our regular mining staff, their arguments are completely invalid right out of the gate, Commander." Jacques defended. It angered and deeply disgusted Killian to hear Jacques speak of the Faunus in such a way by referring to Humans as… _regular_. Killian wanted to challenge him on that, but instead he held his tongue. He knew he was in deep water already with the Government after Lake Matsu, it would be best not to sink any deeper.

"I will admit, I was not entirely in agreement with this move. The structure of the Unified Governments of Remnant stated that there would be one appointed Councillor per Kingdom. Therefore we are all equal and unified at once, as we were always supposed to be. But this? Now there are two Atlesian Councillors… cannot help but notice it feels like Atlas is trying to strengthen their position over the rest of the world." Alyx explained as she narrowed her eyes at Jacques.

The Councillor of the Mining Companies glared right back. He wad detestable for many reasons, but he was still quite an intimidating man because of the power he has gained from marrying into the Schnee Family.

"Mrs Tanner, you overexaggerate. Jacques Schnee's addition to the Atlesian side of things is due to his place as the head of all Mining Operations in both the Schnee Dust Company… but now all other parties. Dust is now his to manage and operate with." Vance explained as he stood there in his holographic form.

Killian looked at them and then he looked at the Vacuo Councillor.

_Funny… I don't actually know what Iso's job even is. I wonder… if Jacques here to replace him if something were to happen to him? Vacuo is on borrowed time… it's not unlike the U.G.R to remove someone from power if they are no longer useful._

It was very possible that Killian's suspicions of their plans to remove Iso were true, but that was soon going to disappear from his mind as their attention would turn back to him.

"However, we have not convened today to discuss… our… decisions. Oh no, we are here to discuss the decisions that you have made recently, Commander Killian." Vance said, leaning forward and clasping his hands together as he stared at him.

_About time they started to get to the point._

"Yes, we have been catching up on the things you have done. You have served the U.G.R very well in recent years without fail… and we have… looked past certain details of your work. At the end of the day, it did not matter to us with _how_ you did things, only your results. But… what you have done recently? This cannot be ignored." Edward explained as he brought up the holographic recordings from Lake Matsu.

This… was very surprising to Killian.

_How the hell did someone get a recording of this mission? I checked the entire area before the targets showed up, and there was absolutely nobody there, and there are no structures on the Mountains that could have possibly recorded this._

_Unless…_

_… __the man in X-Shaped Mask… who freed them… this soldier's already been a thorn in my side after he let them go. Who's to say he hasn't got another motive? To tear me down?_

"Tell me, Commander, what possible reason could you have for firing a full-on assault on a band of misfits who you were specifically commanded to capture alive? They broke the law, not massacred hundreds!" Ozpin questioned in anger, slamming his fist against the table. Killian knew he was fond of these particular students, especially Ruby Rose. He let her into the Academy two years earlier than she should have been, all because of her Silver Eyes… and most likely due to her being the daughter of beloved student Summer Rose.

"Did you not read the debriefing? They have been travelling with the Branwen Tribe, the same Tribe who butchered and burned the Malachites in their own home? After they killed multiple of my own men and women and Qrow Branwen stabbed me?" Killian asked as he listed the reasons.

"And… all those reasons… justifies you firing the Broadsides of a Dreadnaught on a Historical Landmark?" Lionheart questioned with a scoff. "I'm sorry but your reasons are rash… and being rash is dangerous."

"Using a Dreadnaught's Broadsides without proper reasoning is an actionable offense! Do you know the level of destruction those weapons are capable of?" Jacques questioned, and Killian glanced at Iso who still had said nothing, more interested in his finger nails.

"Tell me, Jacques Schnee, have you served in the front lines of the military?" Killian asked him.

"Well, no… but."

"Then… I take it that you haven't seen what a Broadside Assault looks like from the ground either, have you?"

"No…"

"I… Have. I watched hundreds of both my men and opposing forces get decimated by those things. I know the danger that they pose, and I did not use it lightly, it was why I made sure there were no innocents at the location before I used them. The assault was necessary in capturing the Rogue Huntsmen and Huntresses." Killian explained to the Councillors.

"And yet you lost them." Alyx commented.

"Due to a snake in the nest." Killian retorted.

"Commander, if I may be blunt, your actions at Lake Matsu have caused serious problems for all of us. You attacked your targets, with a highly dangerous and risky assault that would have required authorisation by the U.G.R, but you acted alone, and this ruined a beautiful landmark. One that has thrown our economy into chaos." Jacques explained, and Killian rolled his eyes.

_There it is, always talking about their pockets._

"Have you seen what has become of Lake Matsu since your little excursion?" Vance inquired, then they brought up current live recordings from multiple news networks across Remnant.

It was no secret to the public anymore.

He stared at the footage, and it was heartbreaking. That beautiful landmark on Remnant, all those giant floating Islands were completely destroyed. There was nothing left of them, the few things that remained were some chunks of rubble floating… but the zero-gravity air was decaying due to how much raw Gravity Dust was completely destroyed and ruined.

Killian stared at the feeds, and then he looked back at the Councillors. "You see what your actions have done? Do you know of the devastating effects this has had?" Jacques asked him.

"Do enlighten me… I'm not as clever as you." Killian said.

"Clearly not – because by destroying this place, you have angered the Landmark Restoration Society greatly. Lake Matsu was one of the most important sites to Remnant. It had the highest record in revenue through Tourism, which is now in jeopardy. And not only that, but my own company will struggle because of this – that site was revered as the largest and purest source of Gravity Dust – the _rarest form of Dust_! Destroying it has created more problems than you can count, and we are having to fund millions to the L.R.S." Jacques explained to him, and Jacques was looking at the numbers on the screen.

He was not lying, the economy was indeed in a state of disarray right now, he did not think that one action could cause so many problems. But because so many things had been invested into Lake Matsu, its destruction has effected more people than he intended.

"This footage also managed to spread worldwide, showing the Black Gallows being responsible for this senseless destruction. It has already sparked unrest, and I feel it is responsible for starting the group of people standing against the Vytal Consensus in the first place, and not only that… they are gaining numbers." Edward explained, and Ozpin stood there with his hands atop his cane.

"Perhaps it was a good thing you did what you did, Killian. The Consensus is dangerous and was always going to incite some sort of divide among the people." Ozpin explained. "And we all know what division can bring clawing to our kingdom's walls."

Killian glared at Ozpin. "I have said my piece on the Vytal Consensus from the very beginning. This was the very thing that I was afraid of happening."

"There have been people standing against the Huntsmen Academies for generations, people never have liked the idea of there being enhanced warriors operating outside of the U.G.R's control. The Vytal Consensus is indeed necessary – but only if we sign it in unification can it possibly work." Vance explained, Ozpin looked at Alyx, noticing her concern as she sat there.

"Precisely, which is why we must discuss the… terms of your involvement in the Vytal Consensus, Killian." Lionheart said, holding his hands together.

"What? I have been helping you people push this thing ever since we agreed on it being required. And now you want to cut me out of this whole operation? The Black Gallows are the only way of maintaining the peace and stopping any dangerous people from causing havoc in light of it." Killian explained.

"Yes, but before that you have been operating under the authorisation of the Unified Governments of Remnant. And whilst some of your actions and… methods… have not been agreeable in the past, we cannot let this slide." Alyx explained, Killian stared at her and he clenched his hand into a fist. He calmed himself down and looked down at the floor, releasing the tension in his hand.

"Now, it is time for us to decide what to do next. And you will follow the orders to the book – we do not want you supervising this operation anymore. The Rogue Huntsmen and Huntresses have been arrested, and so is Jackdaw Branwen. We will start running tests on Penny Polendina and reconfigure her to make sure she is back under our control. But after that, you will return to doing what the Black Gallows have always done. Protecting the people and the peace from the shadows – that is your mission. That has _always_ been your mission." Vance Ackerman stated, staring directly at Killian.

"And what of the Vytal Consensus?" Killian questioned.

"The Consensus will run its course, if the council is still in agreement on the need for it, then we will push for it. Whether or not the people are united." Vance said.

That answer shocked both Killian _and _Ozpin. "What?" They both questioned with wide eyes.

"I've always stood by it but… not like that, Councilman. This goes against the whole purpose of Democracy." Killian argued.

"Coming from the man who wants all Huntsmen and Huntresses on a leash?" Jacques scoffed. "I don't blame you, in fact I agree wholeheartedly. My daughters became those arrogant fools – they need to be put in check."

"Yes, but there is a difference between slavery and working for the Government. I just want them to serve the same purpose as our soldiers, which can make us a stronger military force against the threat that is growing out there!" Killian argued, that got their attention this time – except for Ozpin and Lionheart, for they definitely already knew about this. Iso also turned his gaze.

"What threats do you speak of?" Iso asked.

"My lord, he speaks!" Jacques laughed.

Killian sighed, rolling his eyes as he walked back and forth around the room. "Councillors, Headmasters – I am going to tell you a story about something… something from my past. It was one of the big reasons behind me wanting to have the Academies and the culture of the Huntsmen change." Killian began. "May I tell the story?"

All the Councillors remained silent, they all nodded their heads, listening to what he had to say.

"Ten years ago, I was fighting with my men in a battle against a large Army of Grimm. Largest I had ever seen before the Black Smog at Beacon Academy. They just… kept coming. We had to hold our position whilst we waited for Atlesian Reinforcements."

"I remember hearing of this – it was on the Outskirts of the Atlesian Wildlands, wasn't it?" Vance asked curiously.

"Correct, but Ironwood's Airships were getting caught up in some of the Lesser Cryostorms, he didn't lose a ship, but he could have if he moved faster. I did not blame him for taking so long, at the end of the day how could he account for the unpredictable weather of Northern Solitas? But the fact of the matter was, we still had to hold out. Low on ammunition and men and dying from the cold. Most of my soldiers did not know how to create an Aura, most of my men who were not killed by the Grimm died from the cold or the storm itself. By the time Ironwood found us? There were only twelve of us left… out of two hundred and seventy-five." Killian explained.

He could still hear their screams of agony… from the cold as their limbs snapped like glass… or from their flesh being torn from their bones by horrifying monsters. "All because the S.D.C decided to carry out a non-sanctioned Mining Operation in the Atlesian Wildlands, and we had to get your essential staff out of there… who left those poor Faunus behind in the caves… to die…" Killian snarled through gritted teeth, his onyx eyes burned into Jacques'.

"Yes, yes… thrilling story… but the fact is, those Faunus were expendable. Replaceable." Jacques shrugged, it only seemed to fuel Killian's hatred.

"Tell their families that." Killian growled. "But my point… is that if we actually had Huntsmen and Huntresses fighting alongside our soldiers instead of just… being sent out to walk children to school because of _fretting parents_… we may not have suffered so many casualties. And two hundred and sixty-three families would not have to mourn their lost loves." Killian explained. "You see? I may have a personal reason behind not fully trusting the Academies, but I am not blind to how useful they are. I just want to combine our forces because I have seen what's coming." Killian promised.

"And what is coming, Commander?" Alyx questioned.

"The very thing I just told you about – the Grimm. Things are worsening, like I said, the last Grimm attack of that scale was Beacon Academy, and it happened _twice_ in the span of a few days. The Huntsmen and Huntresses who have allied themselves with me have also informed me of more Grimm appearing in different areas. Entire villages of people vanishing in minutes with no struggle, a Grimm that erases memories and an entire farm taken by the Apathy. And those are simply the new species, even here – there was a Leviathan and a Kraken attack at the very same time, nearly destroying the Colossus." Killian explained.

Killian brought up the footage from that attack, showing Cordovin battling the massive Leviathan in the bay. And the huge tentacles of the Kraken that nearly pulled her down into the dark depths of the ocean. "The Grimm are worsening; we need armies ready to battle them. The Huntsmen Academies are not equipped, not for something like this. We must combine our forces together into one single entity. One that can challenge the Grimm threat, and save our people." Killian explained.

Ozpin looked at him and he sighed. "The Academies are designed for this purpose, always prepared with ready and able warriors to challenge the Grimm."

"At the Academies, yes. But you always send out teams, and your teams are too emotionally attached to each other. I know that emotional attachment is expected and necessary for any military – if you do not care for your soldiers then we might as well be droids. But there comes a line… some of the Huntsmen and Huntresses… form more powerful attachments. Love, which will make them prioritise each other over the mission. Others may hate each other and try and the other out. Atlas Academy has mastered the technique of making their Huntsmen and Huntresses be free from this risk – but the others need serious improvement. The upped security measures was the first step… but this must be done." Killian explained to them all, Ozpin stared at him.

"No, emotions like that? They make our warriors stronger, Killian. Take Jaune and Pyrrha for example, their love helped each other, and their strength helped save Beacon Academy and end the battle." Ozpin explained to him.

"You are wrong, Ozpin. My point… has been proven by the Rogues _and_ the Hunters. Their emotions, their ideals? They're different to those of their superiors, which therefore means they disobey direct orders." Killian explained, and Ozpin shook his head.

"Sometimes the best choice is your own, not the one forced on you. It's why I have always had my students be taught in such a… free… way." Ozpin explained.

"And because of that, we have this situation." Killian said. Ozpin shook his head at Killian, there was no getting him to see reason when it came to this whole subject. No matter what, he will never rest until the Huntsmen and Huntresses are merged with the Militaries of Remnant.

The U.G.R looked at Killian as he stood there. "That is why the Vytal Consensus must go through, because the Grimm are coming. And when they do, we need to be ready." Killian said to them all.

"Well my vote is not changing if nobody else is I am all for the Consensus." Jacques assured.

"As am I, as long as everyone is still going forward, I will sign." Vance agreed.

"Eh, yeah sure… whatever. If everyone is gonna do it, why not?" Iso shrugged his shoulders and Ozpin narrowed his eyes at them.

"Lionheart?" Killian suddenly asked him, and the Headmaster jolted.

"Oh, u-uh, y-yes… if the Council is in unity, then I will sign." Lionheart agreed, and he got one hell of a betrayed stare from Ozpin.

"If the Council is unanimous then I will sign the Consensus." He assured.

Killian turned to Alyx who was gently fiddling with her hair. "Mrs Tanner?" Killian asked her, and she sighed, staring at her hands. She closed her eyes and thought of her children and her husband… of what they would think of her if she did. She lifted her head.

"My parents… and their parents and parents before them… our family have always worked hard to ensure that things remained stable. I know that I am the youngest of everyone here… the least experienced in politics… and I don't know what my parents would have done. Maybe they would have agreed with you and signed… perhaps they're right…"

Killian smirked sinisterly.

"… but _I_… will not." Alyx answered, staring straight at him, her holographic image flickered as she gave him the answer and Killian's eyes widened.

Jacques and Vance gasped, and Ozpin made a small smile.

_This is it… the Vytal Consensus is about to fall apart…_

"What?" Killian gasped as he stared at her.

"I have not forgotten the selfless move you made four years ago, Commander – to save my people from the Grimm, and I will never forget it. But I cannot feign my appreciation for everything these brave Huntsmen and Huntresses have done over the years. I cannot bring myself to agree to something that could tear down an entire culture of good men and women who have fought and died for us for generations. The Vytal Consensus goes against _everything_ we chose to stand for after the Great War… and for that reason… I will not be signing it." She said.

They were not unanimous, and just like that, Ozpin knew that the Vytal Consensus' possibility of going forward was falling apart.

The Politicians were cowards, and if only one would refuse to sign, or agree to something, the rest would fall too.

But Killian's anger was growing. "Did you not listen to a word I just said? Did you not –" Killian yelled at her holographic image, turning to the feed of Lionheart. "Leonardo! Please, help me talk some sense into her! You know as well as I do how important the Consensus is!" Killian begged.

"Commander, I understand where you stand on the Consensus… but… I'm afraid I don't think I can…"

"COWARD!" Killian exploded, snapping in front of all them. Ozpin stared at Killian with concerned eyes, seeing the Monster overcoming the humanity once more. He turned and stared at all the Councillors. "Traitors… each of you who have spoken to me today… you have betrayed Remnant!" He yelled, pointing at them all.

"Commander, I… I'm sorry…" Lionheart whimpered, but Killian suddenly spun around and stared the hologram of Lionheart directly in the eyes. They were hundreds of miles apart, yet it terrified the Headmaster, making him recoil back.

"Save… you empty apologies…" Killian snarled viciously, he pulled back and looked at them all. "There is danger coming, they will breach into your Kingdoms soon! You will all pay the price for ignoring my warnings!" Killian yelled as he walked away, and Vance Ackerman stood up.

"Hey! Killian! We are not done here!" He yelled, until Killian cut them off but ending the call, walking into the darkness.

The Vytal Consensus campaign was crumbling in front of him.

And he knew… that the possibility of having to use the Inhumane Necessity for Salem's Rule… was becoming more and more necessary.

* * *

**Ruby**

* * *

Unaware of the victory on their part…

Ruby, Yang and Veronica were all watching the feeds of the two interrogations. Jackdaw was being interrogated by two Atlesians in his room, whilst Penny was being spoken to by someone they did not really know. Ruby was watching the two feeds and she was just completely confused with ever second that passed by.

Ruby was tapping her finger against the table over and over again as she watched the interrogation against Penny. She sighed, looking at both Yang and Veronica. "Veronica?" She said to her.

"Hmm?" Veronica replied.

"You've done recon and stuff like this in the past. Tell me, why would Jackdaw suddenly appear out of nowhere with Penny? I mean I just don't get it." Ruby said as she watched the feeds.

"Dunno, maybe because she packs some pretty heavy firepower in her systems? She managed to destroy that bridge with just that laser." Veronica suggested.

"Sure, one hell of an attack. Gets all eyes on both Jackdaw and Penny, getting an entire military base of Atlesians coming after them." Ruby agreed, and Yang started to see where Ruby was going with this.

"You're saying Jackdaw wanted himself and Penny to get captured? Why?" Veronica asked.

"We've been tracking Jackdaw for days and the only reason we found him was because he found us." Yang added.

"I still don't get it though. Why bother doing it this way? All it guarantees is that we end up capturing both Jackdaw and Penny, I can't see a logical plan in any of this." Veronica said as she pondered, but then they all started to notice something.

"How come there are no guards in Penny's Interrogation?" Ruby asked, pointing at the screen. "Think about it, Jackdaw is no engineer, he doesn't know how to modify machines… or hack into them. He's a serial killer… so what if… he's been working for someone else… someone working for… _her_…" Ruby started to realise, wide eyed as their eyes glared at the live feed on the Interrogator.

It was starting to come together.

* * *

**Penny**

* * *

"Tell me, you fear a great deal, don't you?" The Interrogator asked as he brandished his golden rings on ever single finger and thumb. Penny recoiled from the question, closing her eyes as she looked away from him.

"I don't… I would prefer to not talk about those please." She softly whimpered, she hated talking about her fears because it terrified her.

Ironically.

"So, you are afraid that if you started to talk about them… the memories would return? As if you were still there? I understand, I have spoken with many in the past who have suffered with this. It is what makes us Human." The Interrogator explained as he opened up his scroll, and he got a message.

_Tyrian: We're in position, do it._

The Interrogator smirked, and he flicked his scroll over.

_Upload Programme_

"But, don't worry. This interrogation is almost over." The Interrogator assured with a smirk, then he hit the button. Suddenly on all the screens up in the Operations Level showed the Black Queen symbol and a glowing red background behind it. It blocked off the feed and the power suddenly cut off throughout Cypher's Ridge.

Penny looked around with fear. "Huh? What's going on?" She whimpered.

"Now…" The Interrogator's voice started to change, deepening into his real voice. "… enough of this pointless banter."

Penny stared at the Interrogator as the holographic face disguiser began to flicker, showing his cold cruel face beneath and the styled moustache… and those piercing green eyes. "I want you to remember who it is you serve, Penny Polendina. Not Ruby Rose… not the Unified Governments of Remnant, no… I mean… your true Queen." Watts smirked as he pulled off the face disguiser he built, and he held his hand forward. The rings glowed and Penny gasped, remembering him all too well.

"No… not you…" She gasped as he walked towards her, staring directly into her eyes.

She felt her mind begin to scramble and the Black Queen Virus started to flicker in her eyes over and over again, infecting her mind like a disease. "No… No! NOOOO! GET OUT OF MY HEAD! I DON'T WANT TO HURT ANYBODY!" She screamed with anguish, shaking with pain in her chair. The Grave Dust was pulsating in her back, trying to break free from the chair, and the spine was splitting over and over again.

"Shhh… it's okay my dear… it will all be back to normal very soon." He softly assured with a smirk on his face.

"I AM NOT A MONSTER! LEAVE ME ALONE!" Penny wailed, she suddenly erupted from the chair and shot towards Watts, launching her Grave Dust forged swords directly at him.

Until they all stopped in front of his face, and he did not even flinch. Penny's swords lowered and she stood to attention as Watts approached her. She was motionless, and emotionless at the same time. It was like she was dead, no soul inside of her whatsoever. "Who… is… your… Master?" He asked her.

"Queen Salem." Penny responded, and Watts grinned.

"Good… wreak havoc in Cypher's Ridge… and run into hiding… Ruby Rose will not pursue you… something much worse will be worth following." Watts assured.

* * *

**Killian**

* * *

Killian walked through the facility with worry in his eyes, hearing the alarms and the lights were still out. But then they all came back online, and he turned to the many screens… and his eyes widened. He heard the offices burst open and the Rogues charged out from their rooms. Killian stared at the central feed…

… Jackdaw's feed.

The Interrogators were butchered…

… and he was gone.

Jackdaw was free.

* * *

**Author Note - Oh dear... carnage is about to go down!**

**Killian is finally getting a taste for a little thing called "consequences". That was also really fun and interesting to write, showing the different consequences and side effects created by the destruction of Lake Matsu. It has caused a lot more problems than Killian was initially expecting and now he has paid the price. Due to the patheticness and corruption of the U.G.R, the future of the Vytal Consensus is falling apart, and at this rate it could be completely removed by the end of this.**

**And Killian's mental state is descending back into the Monster-Side of things.**

**And Watts! You evil piece of crap! Why must Penny suffer? (I yell at myself for writing it in the first place XD)**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter - Mayhem Downtown**

**\- Matt**


	45. Mayhem Downtown

**Chapter 44 – Mayhem Downtown**

* * *

**Ruby**

* * *

Ruby and Yang sprinted down the hallways of Cypher's Ridge as fast as they could because they knew that everything was about to go wrong. Nora and Ren were right behind them, and they could simply assume that Qrow, Raven and Eryka were not far behind. "We've gotta hurry! That guy who was interrogating Penny must be behind this!" Ruby called out, but as they ran down the stairs, they all stopped, and their eyes widened.

There was blood everywhere… and boot marks that were stained in blood.

Jackdaw's boot prints.

He had already broken out from his cell and was free inside of Cypher's Ridge. "Oh gods… he's out." Nora gasped as she stared at the blood. They turned to see Qrow, Raven and Eryka catch up to them.

Ruby reached down to where Crescent Rose would have been, only to remember that she did not have it. The Atlesians confiscated their weapons. "Okay… Uncle Qrow, Raven, Eryka? You guys need to find our weapons and get them out of the lockup. I need to find Penny." Ruby explained.

"I'm with you, sis." Yang assured, nodding to her baby sister.

"What about us?" Nora asked.

"Jackdaw is bound to be heading for the Airstrip to steal an Airship and get to the Atlesian Wildlands as he planned. Try and get there too if you can stop him then do it. But don't take any unnecessary risks, just try and secure us a ride out of here. We may have to fight our way out of this." Ruby explained.

"You know that if we do that your friends will stand in our way, right?" Qrow warned her.

"I know… but we can't worry about that right now. If that man wanted to have Penny all to himself, and if he does work for Salem? Then he could have already forced her to turn back into that monster we fought in the city with Jackdaw." Ruby explained. They were all in agreement and knew that they needed to do something about this. They all split up, and the sisters continued down the bloody staircase where Jackdaw came from. There were more and more bodies down there, some of them were completely ripped to shreds. Some were pinned to the wall by his Fatal Feathers, blood splattered across the once pristine white walls.

The lights flickered as they walked down, and they looked ahead to see the open cell door into Penny's room. And there he was – Arthur Watts. He was on the ground, groaning – but they knew he was pretending. Yang immediately walked towards Watts and grabbed him by the collar with her cybernetic arm, pinning him against the wall. "Who the hell are you? What do you want?" Yang questioned with gritted teeth.

Arthur chuckled menacingly at her. "For the rightful ruler to rule." Watts responded, Ruby walked over to Yang and looked at Watts. He stared at her and saw her silver eyes, and he scoffed. "So you are the one? You're smaller than I was expecting… how did Cinder truly let you get the better of her?" He wondered, there was no more speculation, he was definitely in league with Salem.

"Who is Salem? What the hell does she want?" Ruby questioned, staring him down.

Neither of them noticed the Grave Dust that started to emerge from his sleeve and swirled around his arm. "The Inhumane Necessity." He answered, before he suddenly blasted the Grave Dust towards them both, if it were not for their aura protecting them it would have gone into their nervous system and would have put them in the same position as Killian. But the action was enough force Yang to release him.

As he landed, he suddenly formed a blade from the Grave Dust and he launched it straight at Ruby, and the impact blasted her across the room. He smirked at her as he walked backwards. "Get back here you slimy creep!" Yang yelled as she sprinted towards him, until Penny erupted through the closed locker next to her and grabbed Yang by the throat. Watts turned and walked away from them, headed straight for the stairwell.

"Tyrian, Adam, Hazel – the mission is a go. Head for the Landing Pad." Watts ordered as he walked away from them.

Yang strained as she grabbed Penny's arm that held her against the wall, and the Black Queen Symbol was back in her once preciously green eyes. Her face was completely devoid of life and emotion, and she tightened her grip on Yang's throat, choking her out. "You could… at least… recognise me!" Yang strained, until Ruby suddenly launched herself into Penny in a swirl of red rose petals. They both crashed and tumbled across the ground, and Ruby held her down.

"PENNY! It's me! Ruby! You know me, remember? Come on, I know you're still in there!" Ruby begged, until Penny kicked Ruby in the chest. Ruby slammed against the ceiling so hard that the panels broke apart and sparks flew from the destroyed lights above her. Penny walked towards her with clenched fists, and the Grave Dust poured out from her back, forging the floating weapons that mimicked Floating Array.

"Ruby! We don't have our weapons; we don't stand a chance!" Yang called out.

"You have!" Ruby called out, and Yang remembered – there was one weapon that the Atlesians could never confiscate. The Ember Celica upgrade inside of her Cybernetic Arm.

"But what about you?" Yang asked her as Penny walked towards Ruby.

"Eh… I'll figure it out." Ruby shrugged, suddenly launching herself towards Penny in her Petal Dash, only for Penny to roundhouse kick her so hard that it launched her down the hallway. Ruby impacted the pillar, hitting the floor with a groan. "Ouch…"

Yang opened up Ember Celica inside of her Cybernetic Arm, and it cocked, ready to fight. She blasted towards Penny and she punched her across the face. The Android staggered backwards from the swipe that Yang threw into her cheek, but just as she uppercutted her, Penny caught her fist in her hand. She pulled her forward and slashed the many blades of Floating Array up her chest. Yang grunted, thrown up against the ceiling and Penny caught onto her heel and slammed her down into the floor so hard that the marble floor shattered like glass around her.

"Okay, that was stupid." Yang groaned as she slowly got back up, until Penny grabbed her by her blonde hair and punched her directly in the face. Getting punched was not what pissed Yang off… no… she pulled a strand of her beloved blonde hair from her head. "You… oh you have so screwed up now." Yang warned, her hair ignited, and her eyes flushed red, and she uppercutted Penny with her Cybernetic fist so hard that she flew straight up and directly through multiple stories of the building.

"Gods, Yang! It's still Penny!" Ruby reminded.

"Oops… eh she'll forgive me when we snap her out of it. I mean… it's Penny." Yang scoffed; Ruby launched herself up the tunnel of destruction that Yang created with Penny's body. Penny stumbled back to her feet, and her eyes flickered from the Black Queen Symbol back to Green.

"R-Ruby! Get away! I don't wanna hurt you!" Penny begged, grabbing her head from how much it hurt to feel her brain being scrambled like this.

"And I don't want to hurt you, but I need you to fight it!" Ruby begged her.

"I'M TRYYYIIING!" Penny screamed with pain, her eyes flickered back and forth between the two completely opposite personality traits inside of her. She started to smack her head against the wall over and over again to try and get this thing out of her mind. But eventually, it clawed its way back inside. Her screaming stopped and she stared at them with that lifeless glare once again.

"Damn it… we need to try and get whatever that man put in her head out of there." Ruby said to Yang.

"Any ideas?" Yang asked.

"Um… no." Ruby admitted.

"Okay then, improvisation like usual then?" Yang presumed.

"Yeah that sounds about right." Ruby agreed.

"Awesome! Wouldn't have it any other way!" Yang grinned, blasting towards Penny again, until Penny slashed her blades across Yang's chest, which slammed her against the ground. She swiftly spun around and launched them towards Ruby. She leapt forward and swirled around the blades in a cloud of pretty red petals. But one of the Grave Dust Blades caught onto Ruby's hood and pinned her to the wall. She grabbed onto the blade that pulsated with dust, held together by an electronic charge.

Yang on the other hand was still contending with Penny, dodging her lethal blades as she slashed her Floating Array with speed and force, carving the walls apart with sparks flying everywhere. Yang rolled under one of her blades and punched one of them out of the air, blasting it into it's pile of dust form which simply flew back to Penny's pack. Yang launched towards Penny but just as Penny launched her swords towards Yang, she shot Ember Celica to the side, riding the recoil to avoid her attack. She then grabbed Penny by the face and slammed her down against the ground, only for Penny to kick Yang over her head, and the Blonde-Haired brawler crashed down into the ground behind Penny as she jumped back to her feet. Yang flicked her blonde hair over her head and out of her field of vision.

Penny glared at her, and Ruby yanked herself free from Penny's blade, tearing a hole in her hood in the process. She stared at Penny, ready to counter her next attack. Only Penny did not attack them, she twitched again, and she fell to one knee. She stared at them, the green managed to come back to her. "Don't… come… after me… his name… it's Arthur Watts." Penny strained as she looked at them. "He's… he's headed for the Airstrip… there are others… you need to stop him and Jackdaw! Before it's toooo laaaate!" Penny screamed as the Black Queen virus started to infect her vision again, and she suddenly blasted towards them.

She grabbed both Ruby and Yang by the throat as they blasted straight through the wall, dropping rubble down into the stairwells beneath them. As Penny flew thanks to the green thrusters built into her metal legs, she threw them both to the ground. She blasted her green lasers across the room, bringing rubble down atop their heads, before she shot off through the window to escape from Cypher's Ridge.

"Penny…" Ruby reached out for the glowing green spec that was flying off towards Argus.

"Ruby… you heard her. She wasn't lying, that man definitely works for Salem. If we can catch him, maybe he can give us some information on her." Yang suggested.

They both turned and their eyes widened when they saw Watts walking towards one of the staircases with a mysterious purple briefcase. "There… he's right there!" Ruby pointed; Watts looked over his shoulder at them.

"Persistent…" Watts snarled as she suddenly held his hand up and clenched it into a fist.

And the lights went out once again, but they had they target.

They needed to stop Watts from escaping Argus.

But at the same time… they could hear the screams… the conflict.

Jackdaw was out there, and he was going on a rampage.

* * *

**Jaune**

* * *

He and Pyrrha had no idea of what they were walking back into, when they could see the panic of so many people fleeing for their lives from the double doors. Their eyes were wide as they looked around, until they suddenly saw Penny shoot through the glass entrance of Cypher's Ridge, flying directly towards Argus. Their eyes were wide as they saw her escaping the scene of so much chaos, and the Argus Military were getting their Airships and Soldiers prepared for a potential Grimm Attack due to the level of panic being created from this event.

"Jaune!" Ilia's voice called out, he and Pyrrha turned to see the Chameleon Faunus Warrior sprinting over to them.

"Ilia? What the hell is happening?" Jaune questioned with shocked eyes.

"We don't know, something went wrong with the Power Grid, someone hacked in. The Black Queen was on the screen for a brief moment." Ilia explained, and Jaune looked at Pyrrha.

"Salem…" Jaune gasped.

"That's not the worst part… Penny and Jackdaw have escaped… Jackdaw is going on a rampage." Ilia said to them as they followed her through the facility. They both drew their weapons. The rest of his team came running out to help them. Winter, Weiss, Blake and Sienna all were weaponised and ready – alongside Veronica who had her pistol loaded for combat.

"Where is he?" Jaune questioned.

"Follow me! We spotted Jackdaw enter the Cafeteria Hall!" Veronica reported, so they followed her down the hallway.

* * *

**Jackdaw**

* * *

The soldiers and Operatives had absolutely no idea of the threat that was coming for them. Two soldiers were sat still eating their dinners until the emergency broadcast hit them.

"_ALERT! ALERT! PRISON BREAK UNDERWAY! REPEAT: PRISON BREAK UNDERWAY!"_

One of the soldiers turned and was killed instantly by the Grave Dust Fatal Feather that shot out from the darkness and landed straight between his eyes. The soldier slumped off the bench and all the soldiers stood up with shocked eyes. None of them were armed because they did not know that their worst nightmare was about to arrive. They could only see his silhouette and his glowing red eyes as he emerged from the shadows with his arms behind his back like a Nevermore. He unfolded his arms and he straightened his black top hat, staring directly at them with a maniacal grin on his face.

"I guess I'm late for tonight's special." Jackdaw chuckled, before his Fatal Feathers printed out from his Cybernetic Arms and cut through the sleeves of his Trench Coat. They were razor sharp and he instantly sprinted towards the soldier. He jumped onto one of the tables and he slashed a soldier across the throat, his blood sprayed across the table as he slumped forward. One soldier attempted to fight Jackdaw and swung his fist at him, but Jackdaw caught his fist and tightened his grip, crushing his hand and causing the soldier to scream. Jackdaw jumped and brought both his boots down onto the soldier's chest, snapping his back over the back of his chair, killing him instantly, and he laughed with total insanity, launching more of his Fatal Feathers across the room. Some of them missed but a couple hit their targets.

One soldier was pinned against the wall by his feathers, and he laughed like he was playing a video game, walking off the corpse of the broken soldier he butchered. He sprinted towards them and some of them made a break for the doors, only for Jackdaw to fire his machine guns at the doors, and he hit the Emergency Locking Panel, which locked all the external doors in case of a prison break. But even that would not be able to stop Jackdaw from escaping this base, but it meant that these soldiers were all his to butcher for his own sick personal enjoyment.

"General Cordovin! He's in the Cafeteria!" A soldier screamed before Jackdaw sprinted towards him and smashed his head against the wall so hard that his skull collapsed against it, splattering his blood and brains all up the surface of the once clean wall. He spun round as a soldier picked up a Fire Extinguisher and smashed it against his back, Jackdaw growled, and he slashed his blades across the soldier with horrifying speed and ferocity, shredding him before the other soldiers' eyes, chopping him to bits.

They called him _Jack the Ripper _for a reason.

The remains of that soldier were scattered across the floor, and his blood covered the grinning face of Jackdaw Branwen. He stared at the crimson glow of all that blood on his arms and he laughed maniacally as he stood before the soldiers. They were utterly terrified because there was nowhere that they could go to escape from him. He sprinted towards them to butcher them all, until Jaune suddenly launched through the window, slamming his shield into the side of Jackdaw's face, so hard that it sent him tumbling through one of the tables. He punched his fist down into the ground to slow himself down. He stared at them with an excited grin, because the rest of the Hunters surrounded him, weapons at the ready, and Veronica had her pistol trained on him,

"All of you, get out of here!" Jaune ordered, his sword aimed directly at the monstrous man who towered above then.

"Well, well… what do we have here? The little Arc Runt I have heard so many stories about." Jackdaw said.

"And you're the black sheep, Jackdaw Branwen." He responded, making Jackdaw chuckle. "We've heard a fair few tales about you and your crimes."

"Wow… I did not realise I reached such fame to be in the presence of an Arc and a Nikos… man… what a fine couple you two make. A shame I will have to carve up those nice faces of yours." Jackdaw growled as he prepared for battle, they all surrounded him, but they knew that he still could outmatch them with his ferocity in combat. And of course his extremely dangerous and unpredictable semblance.

To always have good fortune until the moment he does not…

Jackdaw sprinted straight for Jaune, and he slashed his arm down towards Jaune, he held Crocea Mors upwards and stopped the huge feathers from cutting down into his aura. The sudden impact brought Jaune down to one knee from him, and Jackdaw smirked monstrously down at him, pushing him down against the ground so hard that the ground cracked. Akoúo suddenly collided into Jackdaw's head, and he had no idea that Weiss managed to sneak up behind him.

She held Myrtenaster upwards and traced her fingers down the long-pointed blade, coating it with fire dust which instantly ignited with the oxygen. She casted a Glyph and blasted highly explosive fireballs towards him which exploded against his back. He snarled and turned to see her as she shot towards him. She jabbed him over and over with the sword, dealing some damage to his aura, and she twirled on the spot before thrusting her arm forward, blasting Jackdaw back with a powerful wind attack. Jackdaw dragged his Blades against the walls of the hallway, before he launched straight back at her, and caught Weiss by the throat.

Jackdaw dragged her against the ground, pushing her face against the floor before he threw her up in the air. Weiss casted a Glyph and pushed her feet against it. She blasted down towards him and stabbed Myrtenaster down where he was stood. He rolled out of the way and fired both his machine guns at her. Weiss spun and deflected the bullets away from her aura, then she lunged forward, only for Jackdaw to slash across her aura and he jumped up in the air and brought his foot down into her stomach, smashing her down against the ground. Jackdaw slashed down at her, only for Blake to throw her Grappling Hook, which wrapped around his wrist and pulled him back. He snarled as he looked back at her, then Ilia did the same with Lightning Lash. They both tried to hold him back, but Jackdaw jumped and span through the air, pulling the two Faunus together and they slammed into each other.

Jackdaw grabbed Ilia by the throat and lifted her off the floor, staring at her as he choked her, she kicked at his face over and over again, and Blake threw herself towards him. Jackdaw fired his machine gun, but she turned into a burning silhouette, and she exploded. Jackdaw grunted, and he staggered as Blake used her handy semblance against him, and then she launched towards him through the smoke. She flipped as she slashed both her Katana and her Scabbard across his aura. He walked backwards as Blake repeatedly slashed her swords across his aura, but then he punched down at her, nearly hitting her, but the sheer force of the punch shattered the ground. Blake flipped through the air and she fired her pistol repeatedly at him.

Some of the rounds were ice rounds, which froze his arm in place. He growled as he stared at the ice that hardened around the highly advanced metal arm, he struggled to move it, but the ice was beginning to crack due to the force of his arm pushing against it. Blake swung towards him, but he took his frozen arm and he close-lined Blake, stopping her dead and she dropped to the ground with great force. She tumbled across the floor but stabbed Gambol Shroud into the ground to slow herself down. Blake stared at Jackdaw as he shook the broken shards of ice from his cybernetic arm, and he stared back.

"Clever little tricks up your sleeve." Jackdaw said as he got the rest of it out. "No wonder my brother admires you kids so much. I thought it was just because you befriended his favourite Niece… but clearly your more effective than I was expecting." Jackdaw chuckled, and Blake scowled at him.

"No matter how hard you try and tear our family apart… we will always be family." Blake promised, and Jackdaw smirked.

"I guess we will see about that, won't we my dear?" He asked her, before he blasted towards her and slammed his fist down at where her head was, until Akoúo suddenly bounced off Jackdaw's head. He grunted and staggered backwards, Pyrrha repeatedly threw her discus shield at him, bouncing it off his head over and over again, until he caught it and threw it on the ground. "STOP IT!" Jackdaw yelled, but Pyrrha sprinted at him and dropped down, sliding underneath him as he launched his Fatal Feathers at her. Pyrrha caught Akoúo as it flew overhead and she kicked off it, blasting straight at him. She twisted round and slashed Akoúo down his chest, cutting into his aura, she transformed it into the Spear form, and she spun it over her shoulders, firing a round directly into him. Jackdaw staggered backwards and Pyrrha thrusted forward, pirouetting as she launched Milo forward and held it with her Polarity, slashing him over and over. She then pulled her Spear back into her hand and launched it towards him, hitting him in the chest so hard that he crashed through the tables.

Jackdaw stared at Pyrrha as she lifted one of the Tables up with her Polarity and threw it directly at him, but Jackdaw swung his blades that protruded from his cybernetic arms down the middle of the table, cutting it in half as he pushed his shoulder into it. The table broke apart around him, and he charged towards her, knocking the chairs over as he got closer and closer. He launched one of his Fatal Feathers towards her and Pyrrha blocked it with Akoúo, but the sudden impact still pushed her back, but Jackdaw punched her in the face with great force. Pyrrha yelped in pain but she pushed her hands against the ground before hitting the floor, and she thrusted upwards, sending both of her feet up his chin. Jackdaw stumbled backwards and she brought her shield down onto the top of his head. She then rested her rifle over the indent in her shield, firing multiple bullets into Jackdaw, but he used his blades to block and deflect the bullets that flew his way.

He returned the favour, pointing both of his machine guns at her and firing, so Pyrrha held Akoúo up and she pushed it against the storm of bullets that were thrown towards her. The ringing of bullets hitting her shield was constant as she remained standing against Jack the Ripper's onslaught.

But then, Jackdaw suddenly grabbed her Shield and he punched her in the face with it before he threw it directly at her. He sprinted towards her and he launched more Fatal Feathers towards her, so she held her hands up, but the Polarity did not stop the Grave Dust Feathers.

It was official – Grave Dust could definitely to be affected by her Polarity Semblance, which made Jackdaw an extremely dangerous enemy to have.

But just as Jackdaw was about to attack her, Cerberus' Whip suddenly wrapped around Jackdaw's throat and he was slammed to the ground by Sienna Khan. He grunted as he hit the ground, but the High Leader rushed towards him and launched the Chain Links towards him, filled with highly explosive dust grains. Jackdaw grunted, hit in the centre of his chest by the highly explosive part of her chain, and he rolled across the ground towards Ilia. She slashed Lightning Lash at him, charged with electrical energy and Veronica fired her pistol at him over and over again. Jackdaw double took at her and he sprinted at the Operative, she ran at him as well, jumping off one of the tables. She kicked at his head, but he caught her by her leg and she bombed her down into the table, breaking the table in half around her. Sienna threw her chain and it wrapped around his wrist, he stared at her but when he pulled her to throw her across the room, he was not expecting her to use that momentum to throw herself _into_ him.

Sienna pinned him to the ground, and she opened her hand, and her feline claws extended from her fingers and she slashed across his face, his aura protected him but even he felt how much that would have hurt. She then went for his throat, but Jackdaw caught her wrist and he pulled her down and he smashed her head down into the ground. Ilia sprinted towards Jackdaw and jumped up, bicycle kicking him over and over in the chest before she wrapped her whip around his neck and channelled electricity into his body. She flipped over his head and slammed him down into the ground. Winter sprinted across the tables, and she casted a powerful Glyph that allowed her to slow time, dilating it around her.

Winter shot forward and conjured multiple glyphs around Jackdaw as Ilia rolled out of the way, and she bounced around him, slashing him over and over again with her swords. His aura was getting cut down over and over again. He stumbled and turned when Winter landed behind him and she formed a powerful Glyph behind her and one that was keeping her stationary. She unleashed a powerful gust of wind that blew Jackdaw into the kitchen, and Jackdaw flew straight the wall. He tumbled inside and he punched his fists into the walls around him to slow himself down. Jaune and Weiss vaulted over the counter and they both rushed forward to attack Jackdaw Branwen.

Jackdaw cracked his neck and he was still smirking sadistically, and he grabbed the still bubbling deep fryer basket and he launched the boiling hot oil towards them. Jaune held up his shield to protect both himself and Weiss, the oil hissed against the face of his shield. When he lowered it, Jackdaw was suddenly in front of him and he punched Jaune in the gut so hard that Jaune crashed against the pillar behind them. Weiss rolled out of the way and she slashed Myrtenaster up Jackdaw's chest, making him stagger backwards. Pyrrha also knew she could help, and she held her hand out and she launched pots and pans, all that were magnetic, and could be launched straight at Jackdaw. They all bounced off him, distracting and annoying him, and Jaune got back up, and he sprinted towards Jackdaw.

He sheathed his sword into the Shield, and it transformed into his Bastard Sword. He clicked the trigger and the fire dust ignited across the blade and he swung it towards Jackdaw, slashing across him. Jackdaw staggered backwards from the first impact, but he ducked under the second and caught the blade in his hand when Jaune went for the first strike. Jackdaw suddenly pulled Jaune forward and headbutted him with force, as Jaune staggered backwards Jackdaw jumped and he threw the huge sword like a javelin towards Jaune. But Jaune stepped aside and impressively caught the sword, impressing all of them.

"Well… haven't you improved since your days at Beacon Academy?" Jackdaw chuckled.

"How long have you been watching us?" Jaune questioned, and Jackdaw laughed.

"Long enough to know your fighting strategies." Jackdaw assured, but Weiss immediately stabbed her sword into the ground and conjured multiple Beowulves that all charged towards Jackdaw. The glowing White Grimm all leapt at him, and he slashed his blades across their bodies as they jumped at him. Jaune sprinted forward and Blake swung inside of the Kitchen with him whilst Weiss held Jackdaw back with her Summoned Beowulves. Blake rolled across one of the tables and she kicked Jackdaw in the chest, and Jaune swung his sword across Jackdaw's chest. The impact launched Jackdaw backwards and he crashed into the wall.

Cracks began to spread across it, and Jackdaw knew it was hollow. Jaune pinned Jackdaw against the wall with the burning sword, constantly dealing damage against him. Jaune glared at him and Jackdaw chuckled.

"No wonder she wants you… there's a fire in you…" Jackdaw laughed, Jaune gasped, his eyes widened. Jackdaw suddenly smashed his head into him and just as Blake swung towards him, he caught her by the back of her head and smashed her face into the wall. It nearly broke her aura, but Jackdaw never wanted to kill them – just to fight.

He threw Blake into Jaune and he punched through the wall, looking back at them. "As fun as this fight has been my friends… I've got a job to do." Jackdaw said to them and Winter gasped.

"No! Stop him!" She yelled, until Jackdaw pointed his gun to the ceiling on the other side, where there was a hissing gas container. He shot it and it exploded, bringing the ceiling and the wall down, collapsing it in front of them. Jaune could still see Jackdaw on the other side as he tilted his hat too him, and he ran off.

"Damn it! We had him!" Jaune yelled with anger.

"His damn Semblance… always one step ahead." Winter sighed, and she brought up her scroll. "General? Jackdaw got away from us; it looks like he is headed for the Colossus Repair Tower." Winter informed.

"Damn it. You have other problems too; the Rogues were spotted headed for the Air Field." Cordovin informed.

"What? Goddamn it why have those guys always gotta make things harder?" Jaune growled, helping Blake back up.

"You need to stop them; we cannot let them leave this facility!" Cordovin ordered.

"But…"

"No buts! That is a direct order!" Cordovin yelled.

"But what about Jackdaw?" Pyrrha questioned, then Killian's voice suddenly appeared in the channel.

"Leave Jackdaw to me. Stop your friends from leaving Cypher's Ridge. We must contain this situation." Killian ordered.

"You have your orders. I will not accept any excuses. Do your jobs." Cordovin commanded, and then she hung up the call. They all looked at each other and Veronica sighed.

"I need to get back to the Command Centre, see if I can help coordinate our troops." She said.

"We need to get to the airfield and find them." Jaune said.

The Hunters were all with him. "Ilia and I won't be going with you if this goes south, we need to prepare the White Fang for the coming threat of the Feral Ones… but we will help you try and stop your friends from making a big mistake." Sienna assured and Jaune smiled.

"Thank you." Jaune said.

They had no choice now… they had to face them.

* * *

**Ruby**

* * *

Ruby and Yang sprinted up the stairs after Watts, he was running as well, but he was a thin man and could easily move through crowds without causing much of a disturbance. He looked back and them and he turned round a corner. Yang and Ruby slid round the corner and Ruby shot towards him, but Watts spun round, and he drew his Revolver.

The revolver's cylinder and barrels were gunmetal grey, while the frame, hammer, and grip were coloured rusty brown. The latter was shared with the decorative wild vine coils that encircled the barrels. It could also fire multiple different variants of Dust Rounds, as he fired an electrical dust bullet at Ruby which stopped her mid-flight and she writhed on the ground, groaning in pain. Yang instantly stopped and checked on her sister, making sure she was okay. "I'm okay, get him!" Ruby told her, and Yang nodded, sprinting after Watts, but the Doctor stopped, and he suddenly spun around, and the Grave Dust suddenly erupted from his sleeve and formed into a giant hand that grabbed Yang by the throat and threw her against the wall with force. Yang yelped in pain as she slammed against the wall so hard that the wall caved into itself, Watts smirked as he looked back at them, the Grave Dust returned back to his coat, and he continued to flee after him.

"It's the same stuff that Penny's Blades are made of!" Ruby pointed out.

"And the same stuff that Jackdaw's weapons are made out of too." Yang reminded, and Ruby nodded her head.

"This guy is definitely one of the higher ups with Salem, maybe even her second in command." Ruby presumed as they chased after him. But as they turned the corner, he used the many gold rings on his fingers, and he set off the doors, forcing them to close and shut over and over again.

"Argh!" Yang yelled; her arm stuck in the door as she tried to free herself.

"Yang! Don't worry, I've got you!" Ruby assured as she pushed the door open enough so then Yang could yank her arm free. She was bruised when it hit but her golden aura was quickly healing it. Watts must have been constantly using those rings because he always managed to get through the doors just in time. Yang gritted her teeth and she fired Ember Celica at him, and he grunted, hit by the shell fragment and into his green aura. He rolled across the floor and swiftly drew his revolver, firing it at her. Yang dodged the incoming bullet and she flew towards him, punching Watts across the face. He stumbled but then he swung around and backhanded her cheek. Yang stumbled across the floor and he fired at her, but Ruby flew through the hallway at him in a swarm of Rose Petals, and she tackled him across the floor.

Ruby pushed Watts' face against the floor as she stared at him. "You won't win! You'll never win!" Ruby promised.

"Big words spoken from such a small child!" Watts snarled, as the Grave Dust suddenly wrapped around Ruby's throat, choking her violently, and Yang gasped.

"Ruby!" She screamed, sprinting towards Watts, but he threw Ruby at Yang like a doll, and they both tumbled along the smooth floor. They looked ahead and saw him activate the elevator, standing inside of it.

"Your whole world is going to change… I hope you are ready for it." Watts spoke sinisterly, smirking at them. The doors slammed shut and the elevator flew down towards the ground floor, to the Air Field.

Ruby coughed, massaging her throat as she got back to her feet.

"Are you okay?" Yang worried.

"Yeah… gods I hate that stuff he uses." Ruby said, shaking that feeling off, like cockroaches constantly crawling all over you. That was how it felt to have the Grave Dust attack you.

"Come on, we can still catch him!" Yang assured. They both ran to the closed elevator doors and Yang punched through them, forcing them open. Yang jumped onto the cable and she slid down, Ruby did the same, pursuing Watts down towards the bottom floor. When they arrived, Yang ripped the roof of the Elevator Cabin open and she looked inside. Watts was not inside, so they both dropped down and looked for him.

They ran outside and they looked around… but Watts managed to disappear as quickly as he arrived. "The Air Field… it's still the plan. We may be able to catch him." Ruby reminded.

"Yeah, you're right. C'mon they're probably waiting for us." Yang said, and they both ran off, completely unaware of the fact that Watts was literally a few feet away, behind a pillar. He smirked as he walked away from them, whistling victoriously, disappearing into the crowd.

* * *

**Killian**

* * *

He stood inside of the now vacant Colossus Repair Tower, brandishing his pistol, fully loaded as he holstered it. He clenched his hand into a fist, still enraged from what the U.G.R have said to him.

_I know this will not be a good look… I'm disobeying their command to stay out of this whole operation…_

_But I don't care anymore._

_The U.G.R can burn in hell for all I care._

He waited, and eventually he heard the door open. He stood there and watched as Jackdaw walked inside of the Colossus Repair Tower. He stared at the huge machine and he felt the zero gravity inside of this building. He scoffed as he stared at it. "Look at it… all that tech… and it still is not enough to take her down." Jackdaw said as he thought of Salem. Then the lights all turned on, and he slowly looked over his shoulder.

"Jackdaw Branwen." Killian spoke powerfully. "Welcome."

"Nathaniel Killian." Jackdaw responded. "You're in my way…"

"Oh I am well aware." Killian assured.

"Well? You gonna let me pass for your Majestic Queen of Darkness? I mean she has you under her thumb… you wouldn't want to upset her, would you?" Jackdaw asked him as he stared at the Commander who stood on the shoulder of the Colossus. But Killian did not move an inch, he drew his pistol instead, and he had a second with him as well.

Jackdaw scoffed. "Who's side are you on, Killian?" He questioned.

"This has nothing to do with sides. The U.G.R is a lost cause; I see that now… but this? This has nothing to do with Salem or the U.G.R… no… this is for what you did to my Mother and my Father all those years ago." Killian growled as he prepared for a hard fight.

Jackdaw chuckled as he stood there, and the barrels of his machine guns extended.

"Well… you know the old saying, Killian." Jackdaw said, extending his Fatal Feathers.

"I won't be going down without a fight."

* * *

**Author Note - Killian Vs Jackdaw and The Rogues Vs The Hunters...**

**Ooh boy the next few chapters are gonna be awesome and heartbreaking in way, just having to write these best friends having to fight each other will be both so sad yet so fun. This was a really fun and awesome chapter to write, I mean writing Jackdaw going on an insane murder spree will never not be terrifyingly awesome because he is just such a monstrous madman and I love him. And of course, the big bulk of this chapter was Jackdaw Vs. The Hunters, another call bout because that was a group I haven't written fight Jackdaw yet. Pyrrha is always fun to write. Pyrrha is just fun. Pyrrha is perfect. Pyrrha is life.**

**(I miss her :( )**

**And of course we had Ruby and Yang Vs Hacked Penny and then we had Ruby and Yang Vs Watts. I love Watts, he is such a fun genius to write as well. Especially in this story, where he is more of a background villain, but he is most certainly there and creating havoc. But things are getting scarier, the Inhumane Necessity is simply becoming more and more of a threat and that threat's possibility is becoming stronger than ever.**

**If it happens... it will be very bad... for all Huntsmen and Huntresses across Remnant.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter - Divide**

**\- Salem**


	46. Divide

**Chapter 45 – Divide**

* * *

**Airport Clash**

* * *

She and her sister managed to reunite with their fellow Rogues, and they were all stood in the cover of the overhang of Cypher's Ridge. They had eyes on the airstrip, yet they did not advance. They lost Watts when he escaped into the crowd, but they knew that he was on his way to the same Airstrip, which meant that they could catch him again. That and Jackdaw was headed this way – of course, they had no idea that Killian was currently battling against the madman.

They all managed to get their weapons back from the lockup and were ready to leave. Ruby rested her arm on one of the crates, looking out there… something felt off about the whole thing. "I don't like this." Ruby said as she looked at the airstrip.

"What is it?" Qrow asked her.

"Do you see anybody else here?" Ruby asked curiously, and they looked around the Airstrip. There were no taxiing Airships preparing to take off, only multiple landed ones and some inside of their hangers. And there were no soldiers patrolling, no workers on the roads – the Airstrip was deafly silent."

"No..." Yang answered.

"Neither do I. Do you really think Cordovin and Killian would risk that? Letting us escape so easily? No… this is a trap; I know it in my bones." Ruby said as she looked around.

"Then what do we do? We can't just sit here and hope they show themselves before we do." Eryka shrugged.

"No… we need to get them to come out. Okay, Eryka and Raven. I need the two of you to get up into that part of the building. Use Dulcis to find us a safe ride out of here and keep an eye out for Jackdaw or the Doctor we fought. You'll know him when you see him, moustache dude." Ruby bluntly described, making Eryka chuckle at how simple the description of him was.

"Sounds simple enough." Eryka said.

"What about the rest of us?" Yang asked her.

"We'll have to risk it, and we'll walk out into the open and see what they have waiting for us." Ruby explained.

"If it's Killian's men, then they might just shoot on sight." Qrow said, looking at Ruby, she held Crescent Rose in one hand, but he could see her quivering. "If they are gonna try and kill us… you can't keep looking the other way, Ruby. You have to get your hands bloodied if we are gonna get out of this mess." Qrow explained to her, and she blew out a shaky breath. She nodded her head at her Uncle, and she collapsed her Scythe down and holstered it on the back of her belt.

"Okay… let's see what they've got in store for us." Ruby said. Raven and Eryka both started to climb up one of the maintenance ladders into the building that Ruby mentioned so they could get a bird's eye view. Once they were up, Eryka released Dulcis and she connected her aura with his, able to see through his eyes as her eyes glowed gold.

Ruby, Yang, Nora, Ren and Qrow walked out into the open with their weapons holstered. They ran towards one of the landed Bullheads, when suddenly an electrified bolt shot down and completely fried the engines, shutting it down so it could never fly. "Called it." Ruby sighed, they all stopped but it was not who they were expecting. Weiss was above them, riding her Summoned Queen Lancer, holding Myrtenaster towards the Bullhead, firing Lightning Dust down into it to E.M.P it. She descended down and Jaune walked out from one of the buildings, Crocea Mors sheathed into his shield as he approached them.

Jaune chuckled. "Wow, it's so weird who you can run into at the airport? Don't you think that's weird?" Jaune asked Weiss.

"Definitely weird." She agreed, hand on her hip.

"Guys, you have to let us go. The Doctor who was interrogating Penny just before the cameras shut off? He's the one behind all of this." Ruby promised.

"Ruby… you've gotta face reality here, pal. Penny is malfunctioning, and Jackdaw planned this whole thing to happen. Penny butchered multiple soldiers before she escaped, and Jackdaw has already massacred at least thirty innocents already." Jaune explained.

"And they're both working with this… Doctor Arthur Watts… guy. I dunno who he is, but he works for Salem, I know it. He practically told me!" Ruby argued. "We can't let Watts or Jackdaw leave Argus, Jaune. We can't."

"I agree, but they're not the only ones who can't leave this place." Jaune said, with shame in his voice.

"Seriously? You know we're on the same side?" Yang scoffed.

"Yang…" Blake's voice appeared, and Yang gasped, turning to see Blake walking into the Airstrip behind her. Her feelings for her still had not changed… but she knew what was about to happen. They both did. "… you know what this means. Do you seriously think you can punch your way out of this one?" Blake asked her, and Yang flinched, looking away from her.

"How the hell can you guys seriously agree with this? With Killian?" Nora questioned.

"We don't give a damn about that sleezeball. And believe me, if things were different, we would be by your side right now, but you couldn't trust us enough to go with you. And here we are." Weiss said, holding her hands out.

"You know we never wanted things to go this way." Qrow said, turning when he heard the sound of Sienna Khan landing behind him. She held Cerberus' Whip around her arm, watching the Rogues.

"Branwen." She greeted.

"High Leader." Qrow responded, nodding his head.

"There does not need to be a fight here, so Ruby… can you please help a buddy out?" Jaune asked her as he walked towards her, they turned and saw Pyrrha emerging as well, Milo and Akoúo at the ready. The only ones left were Ilia and Winter.

"Sure, we need to take down Jackdaw." Ruby shrugged.

"Cordovin and Killian ordered us to take you in, there are no compromises. I tried to compromise for your sakes, and I haven't heard back from Killian about my proposal yet. So for now? You need to come with us before any changes can be made." Jaune commanded.

"The only changes he will make are the ones that will destroy the Culture of the Academies forever." Yang responded.

"Your judgement is askew. People have died because of you joining with the Branwen Tribe, innocent people." Jaune said.

"The Malachites were hardly innocent. They kidnapped and enslaved people." Qrow corrected.

"What about those poor enslaved people who were still trapped in that building that burned down? The ones that those savages butchered like the Mongrels they are." Jaune questioned, and Qrow sighed as he stood there.

"They had nothing to do with any of that business." Qrow defended.

"It doesn't matter, they still broke the law, just as you did, Qrow. I don't write the laws down, but that is the truth. They turned on their vows and sought the help of savages." Jaune stated. "Vytal Consensus or not, that is a crime."

"Sometimes we have to make compromises." Ren said, and Jaune scoffed.

"Yeah… we do." Jaune agreed since they had to also compromise to work with Killian. Both sides had flaws, and both sides had good reasons behind their actions.

"Just let us go, Jaune. I do not want to have to fight you. Any of you." Ruby said, looking at Weiss and Blake.

Jaune sighed, then Ilia emerged behind them from her camouflage, Lightning Lash in her grasp. The tension between the two sides was brewing hotter and hotter by the second, eyes all staring at each other. Winter was still nowhere to be seen, but she was here, that was a given. Eryka continued to search with Dulcis in the sky, and then she saw one of the Airships in the Hanger.

"There, I found an Airship, Northern Runway, furthest Hanger." Eryka explained, and Ruby swiftly drew Crescent Rose. Yang lifted her fists as Ember Celica locked and loaded, Ren quickly drew Stormflower and Nora held Stormur Skeggox, spinning it through her fingers. Qrow sighed, tiredly drawing Harbinger.

"Damn it, Ruby." Weiss sighed, and the rest of the Hunters all drew their weapons as well. Ruby spun Crescent Rose through her fingers, and she blasted directly towards Jaune, slamming into his shield. They both tumbled across the tarmac, and Ruby dug Crescent Rose down into the ground. Whilst Blake immediately rushed towards Yang, and she slammed her sword down towards her, and Yang stopped Gambol Shroud with Ember Celica. They both stared at each other.

"I'm sorry it's come to this!" Yang softly said.

"It doesn't have to!" Blake retorted, but Nora suddenly launched Stormur Skeggox into Blake's side, throwing her away from Yang.

"You two can hug it out after we've finished Jackdaw! We just need to get to the Airship!" Nora said, she turned and saw Ilia sprinting towards her. And Qrow looked over his shoulder at Sienna Khan who ran at him. She jumped but he ducked and kicked her in the back. She rolled across the floor and slid, staring Qrow Branwen down.

"Stand down, Branwen." She ordered, rising back up as she spun Cerberus' Whip. "I won't ask a second time."

Sienna suddenly sprinted towards Qrow and jumped at him, bicycle kicking his sword, Qrow managed to block each of her kicks as she attacked him. Then they continued. Ren and Nora turned when they saw Pyrrha staring at them, and she aimed Milo and Akoúo at them. "Please… just stop this." Pyrrha begged.

"We can't. You don't know what it's like to lose everything to a monster." Nora said, and Ren pointed Stormflower at her. Pyrrha sighed, wincing before she blasted towards her friends. She launched Akoúo towards Nora, but the Valkyrie swung Stormur Skeggox into it, knocking the Discus Shield away. Ren sprinted towards Pyrrha and he slid underneath Milo when she launched it towards him, and he jumped upwards, kicking Pyrrha in the chest. He spun and slashed his weapons towards her, but she pushed them away with her polarity, and returned the favour, roundhouse kicking Ren across the face. He stabbed both his blades down into the ground to steady himself.

Ruby circled Weiss who kept her weapon trained on her. "I didn't want this to happen, please believe me, Weiss." Ruby begged.

"Oh enough with that crap. You couldn't trust us, your family – the people who have stood by you through everything. This is because of you, not us." Weiss said, yet the words broke her heart all the more. Ruby did not want to fight her, none of them wanted to fight each other, but they were left with no other choice. Jaune was behind her with his shield open, and he held Crocea Mors tightly in his other hand.

"I… I do trust you… you know I do; nothing can change that. But I don't trust Killian or the U.G.R!" She argued.

"Whether you trust them or not does not matter, Ruby. They're the ones in charge, and unless you wanna be locked away for the rest of your life you do as they say." Jaune said, and Weiss kept Myrtenaster pointed at her former best friend.

"Well maybe it's time for a change." Ruby said.

"Well we can't let you go." Weiss said.

"Then you're leaving us with no other choice." Ruby replied, continuing to battle against two of her closest friends at once. Weiss conjured a Glyph and she launched towards Ruby with Myrtenaster, and Ruby spun Crescent Rose with impressive speed, instantly staggering Weiss from her attack, and she rushed around her in her dash of red rose petals. She transformed back into her original human form behind her and brought her Scythe downwards, blasting Weiss across the floor. Weiss stabbed her sword into the floor, and she launched back at Ruby, kicking her in the chest with both feet.

Weiss pointed Myrtenaster. "Stand down and surrender, Ruby. Before this gets worse." Weiss ordered.

"You know I can't do that." Ruby replied.

"Well… I guess we're gonna have to see which one of us is the better fighter then." Weiss said.

Ruby chuckled. "You finally wanna settle that bet?" She questioned.

"No bet to settle – I've always been better." Weiss replied with a smirk – even though they were fighting each other that banter was somehow still there. Jaune sprinted at Ruby and slammed his shield into her side, Ruby rolled across the floor and fired her Sniper Rifle at Jaune. He deflected the bullet with his large shield, rebounding the bullet up into the sky, before he charged at her again and swiped his sword downwards at her. The sword scraped across the tarmac, and Ruby dashed forward, slamming her shoulder into Jaune's chest.

_We just need to know out their auras, I don't wanna hurt them._

She slashed upwards, cutting into his aura and knocking him upwards in the air, until Jaune dove back down and pinned Ruby against the ground with his shield. "Stop it, Ruby!" Jaune begged her.

"You're the ones getting in our way! Just let us stop Jackdaw and it's over!" Ruby begged.

"How many times do we have to go round and round in this circle? It's not up to us, what do you think the U.G.R and Killian will do if we disobey them like you did? I dunno about you but I'm not about that Rogue Life. I did it once with the transcripts, I'm not going back to that!" Jaune yelled at her, and she sighed. Ruby kicked him in the chest and rolled backwards, she aimed her rifle at the two of them who stood their ground.

"Then I guess we have no choice, do we?" She questioned, before they continued to battle.

Inside of the Airport Hanger, Eryka and Raven sprinted through the waiting room, where countless people would normally be sat down, awaiting their flights to any of the Kingdoms or Major Cities across Remnant. However the Atlesians managed to evacuate everybody to safety before their battle had taken place, and before Jackdaw could have gotten here to massacre them all. Eryka looked down at the battle, seeing Qrow fighting both Ilia and Sienna at the same time.

Yet… Winter still was nowhere to be seen. "Hey Raven, I dunno about you, but where's Winter?"

Suddenly the wall beside them exploded as a huge Summoned Goliath charged through, roaring at them before it scraped its foot across the ground. Eryka slid across the floor, and Raven stabbed Omen down into the ground to stop herself from being pushed any further ahead. Winter emerged from the hole in the wall, with her sword firmly held in her hand, and planting her other hand on her hip.

"Hey, Eryka." Winter greeted.

"Hey babe." Eryka replied.

"Gods…" Raven groaned, rolling her eyes.

Eryka raised a brow. "Were you waiting for me to ask that, or something?" Eryka questioned.

"Nah, you just walked right into my trap." Winter shrugged her shoulders, and Eryka sighed.

"What are the odds of that? The one place we happen to get a better angle of the area, it's right next to where you were waiting." Eryka chuckled, rubbing the back of her head of blue hair.

"Are you two done flirting?" Raven questioned.

"That was hardly flirting." Eryka criticised.

"Enough, Eryka. You know that I understand why you are doing this, but I cannot let you leave Cypher's Ridge. The U.G.R have ordered your arrest after what you have been doing, and now we have to carry it out." Winter explained.

"Do you though?" Eryka asked.

"Yes."

"Do you?"

"YES!"

"But do you?"

"ERYKA!"

Raven stood in between the two, arguing like a married couple, and she pinched the bridge of her nose. "This was why family life was too much for me…" Raven groaned.

"This is not our choice, you know that Eryka. It's either us or the U.G.R give Killian the clearance to use the Black Gallows on you, and this time they won't be trying to take you in alive." Winter explained to Eryka, and she turned when she heard the screech of Dulcis, flying through the broken window from her explosive entrance, slashing the big ear of the Summoned Goliath, and he landed on Eryka's shoulder.

"I know… but Ruby and Yang deserve to give their mother the justice that she deserves after what that monster did to her." Eryka explained, and Winter sighed.

"I am not arguing that… but orders are orders, Eryka." Winter said.

"As always." Eryka sighed, narrowing her eyes at her girlfriend. Raven tapped Winter on the shoulder.

"Are we done here? We need to get to that Airship. And if this bitch wants to stand in our way –"

"Watch it, Branwen." Eryka growled, staring at her with fiery eyes. Raven sighed and she looked back at Winter who stood in their way.

"Fine, but don't let her slow you down. We need to get to that Airship and get the hell off this rock." Raven commanded, she suddenly shot forward, firing Omen from the Scabbard at Winter, but the Schnee Specialist deflected the incoming sword, but Raven kicked her in the chest. As Raven returned to the ground, she caught her sword and sheathed it, drawing the long burning fire dust blade, spinning it through her fingers. Winter stood back up and she cracked her neck, and pointed her sword forward, and the Summoned Goliath roared. The huge beast manifested from icy white light charged towards Raven who spun Omen through her fingers, and she leapt forward, slicing straight through the beast, killing it instantly.

Raven landed in front of Winter and she aimed her sword forward. "So, are we gonna fight this out or not?" Raven questioned. Winter formed multiple spinning Glyphs behind her, and she pointed her sword forward.

Winter's sword – Solstice's Bite – glowed as she channelled the dust from the magazine loaded into it, freezing the blade with a misty fog around it. "If that is how you want this to go down, Raven." Winter said, pointing the sword at her. And Raven blasted towards her, Eryka hesitated, watching as Raven battled against her girlfriend. Winter stopped her burning blade, their eyes glared directly into each other. Winter headbutted her, knocking the Tribe Chieftess backwards, but she jumped up in the air and launched her burning blade towards Winter. She gasped and it collided into her chest, the flaming sword exploded against her, and Winter rolled across the ground, and Raven sheathed her hilt again, drawing the red blade, spinning it through her fingers.

Raven launched towards Winter, but the Schnee Specialist formed two Glyphs to her side, ones that blasted powerful gusts of wind into her side, throwing Raven through the window. It shattered around her body and she crashed into the ground beneath her. Winter turned and she saw Eryka stood there, with Constantine Damascus aimed at her. "Please… just put the bow down, Eryka."

Eryka smiled. "C'mon, Wints… you know me better than that." Eryka said, and Winter sighed… she couldn't help but smile back.

In a strange way… she was glad… Eryka's stubbornness and ability to stick to her own principles?

It was what she loved about her.

"Fine then – let's see what you've learned." Winter challenged.

Outside, Yang and Blake were both clashing against each other. Blake threw Gambol Shroud towards her partner, but Yang caught the grappling hook and yanked the cable with all her might, swinging Blake around and smashing her through one of the parked cars. The vehicle flipped over, and the Feline Faunus fell out the other side, dazed from how hard that impact was. She shook her head, but in the reflection of the shattered glass on the floor, she saw Yang blasting towards her from the sky. Blake rolled out of the way, narrowly missing Yang's cybernetic fist. "I'm sorry it had to be this way, but Jackdaw has to pay for what he did!" Yang yelled, swinging her fists at Blake over and over again. She never wanted to attack the woman she felt for like this, but they had no other choice.

Blake dodged her punches, and used her semblance to her advantage, shimmering away just as Yang thought she landed a good hit on her. Blake performed a graceful backflip, and as she flipped through the air, Yang launched towards her, and she tackled Blake into the ground, only for Blake to cast a Fire Dust filled shadow of herself. Yang gasped, and she jumped away from the exploding shadow of her friend. She looked around with wide eyes, turning to see Pyrrha also fighting against two of her closest friends.

Pyrrha threw Akoúo into Ren's face, knocking him backwards whilst stopping Stormur Skeggox with her Polarity. Nora yelped, since Pyrrha swung her like a baton and threw her into Ren with great force. Yang fired her missiles towards Pyrrha, but the Invincible Girl called upon her Discus Shield, using it to block the explosive missiles from hitting her. The flaming smoke wrapped around her body; her long red ponytail blew in the shockwave. Pyrrha turned and she held her hands out to a tanker and she launched it towards Yang.

"OH COME ON!" Yang yelled, as the _fuel tanker_ erupted into flames in front of her, pinning her down as it rolled across the road. Jaune stared at her with wide eyes. Pyrrha covered her mouth with disbelief and regret.

"Oh gods… I thought it was filled with water… oh by the gods I just killed Yang." Pyrrha stammered, until the flames erupted, and an angry Yang Xiao Long emerged, hair ablaze and eyes flushed with red.

"Alright, now I'm pissed." Yang growled, punching her fists together.

"Oh… dear… that… that was a really bad idea." Pyrrha regretfully said.

* * *

**Killian Vs Jackdaw**

* * *

The two villains stared each other down, and Killian drew his second pistol, armed with Black Gallows technology, he was definitely able to equal Jackdaw. Not just down to weapons but also down to his own personal skill. Yet Jackdaw had something he did not, that savagery that only someone who was broken to their core could possibly wield as a weapon.

Jackdaw's Fatal Feathers printed out from his cybernetic arms, grinning sadistically up at the Commander who scowled at him. This was his only chance to finally avenge his parents that were butchered by the monster down below. And with the zero gravity around them thanks to the Gravity Dust? It was going to be a tough fight for them both, just like Lake Matsu. "Come on then, Jack the Ripper." Killian challenged, and Jackdaw laughed maniacally, blasting up towards him. He jumped off one of the floating panels of metal and he launched Fatal Feathers down towards him. Killian rolled out of the way and narrowly avoided both them and his massive metal fist that Jack brought crashing down. The floor dented inwards from his powerful punch, Killian fired his dual pistols at him, but it had vey little effect against the Branwen's extremely powerful aura. Jackdaw jumped forward and slashed the Feathers still extended from his arms across Killian's black aura, and he roundhouse kicked him in the chest.

Killian flew backwards but he fired his pistol backwards, using the recoil in the low gravity to steady himself and he landed back down on the ground. Jackdaw aimed his dual machine guns at Killian and opened fire, blasting hundreds of bullets at him, but Killian activated his Black Gallows technology he was wearing. The bracers had Hardlight Dust woven into them, allowing him to block the incoming bullets with his arms. They deflected off the glowing yellow shields, and Killian's pistols switched to explosive rounds. He fired them directly at Jackdaw and one of them exploded into his chest. Jackdaw crashed into the wall behind him, but he smirked madly, before he pushed his legs off the wall, launching himself forward like a bullet, firing his machine guns over and over again at him.

Killian kept in pace with Jackdaw, and the Serial Killer transformed into his Corvid Form, flying through the air before returning back to human form directly in front of him. Killian swiftly reacted, using his pistols like clubs, punching Jackdaw across the jaw with them. Jackdaw staggered from his punches, and his hat was knocked off his head. He caught it and immediately put it back on – for fashion's sake – and he blocked Killian's next strike, but Killian shot down at his feet. The magazine was constantly changing dust rounds, and this was now ice rounds, and it froze his leg in position. Killian jumped up and slammed his knee up into Jackdaw's face, before he floated over his head, firing normal rounds down at him, in the hope to shred away his aura to finally put him down. Jackdaw viciously yanked his foot loose, shattering the ice around his leg, and he launched more Fatal Feathers towards Killian.

The Commander shot at them as they flew at him, hitting two of them out of the air, causing them to shatter into a hundred pieces, but one of them cut into his coat and pinned him against one of the other floating panels. Killian struggled to free himself, and Jackdaw threw himself up towards Killian. The Commander of the Black Gallows tore himself free from the Fatal Feather that had pinned him against the wall, and he fell down onto one of the Gravity Panels, which was like a magnet. He hit the ground, feeling the concentrated Gravity Dust beneath him that pulled him down. Jackdaw landed in front of him, and he kicked Killian in the face, so hard that it knocked him up onto his feet.

Jackdaw swung his heavy cybernetic fist into Killian's gut, nearly knocking the wind out of him, before punching him across the face and grabbing him by the throat. The smirking psychopath lifted him off the floor, pinning him against the wall. Killian gritted his teeth with hatred in his onyx coloured eyes, and he instantly fired his pistol at Jackdaw's head, if he had not moved his head it would have done some serious damage. Jackdaw caught Killian's forearm and he extended a long Grave Dust blade to run him through with, but Killian headbutted Jackdaw, and he kicked off the wall, flipping over his head and shooting into his cybernetic arm. Sparks flew from his arm and Jackdaw snarled in pain, and Killian landed behind him. He ejected the empty magazine and quickly reloaded it.

Jackdaw spun around with his 3-D Printed machine guns and he unleashed the storm of bullets onto him once more. Killian jumped off the platform, feeling the weight of Gravity fade once again, and he floated through the air. His boots were also modified tech, built with thrusters to keep him afloat. He hovered and fired more explosive rounds towards Jackdaw. The Gravity Platform shattered, and the pulse of destroyed gravity dust threw Jackdaw up into the air. He spun like a ragdoll, crashing through some of the metal panels being used to repair the Colossus.

He slammed both his arms down into the hull of the Colossus, digging the Fatal Feathers into the skin, slowing himself down. Killian blasted towards Jackdaw and grabbed him by the throat, smashing his head against the wall. He pushed the gun against his head with rage in his eyes. "You're gonna pay for what you did to them!" Killian yelled.

"God you're such a hypocrite! You won't let those kids come after me for what I did to their mother, yet you are coming after me for the same reason!" Jackdaw laughed, but Killian screamed with anger, and he fired the pistol. Jackdaw ducked and he threw himself upwards at Killian. He grabbed him by the collar of his coat, and he threw him down towards the shoulder of the Colossus. Killian grunted as he hit the heavy armour of the huge suit, and Jackdaw blasted down towards him, He pinned Killian down against the armour with his boot, and he leant down, staring him in the eyes. "Ah I see it now… clinging to whatever good is left in you… you just can't accept that you're a monster, can you?"

"SHUT UP!" Killian yelled, kicking Jackdaw in the chest with both feet. He ran around the collar of the Colossus because Jackdaw had flipped around and was firing both of his machine guns towards him from where he was floating in the zero gravity. The bullets bounced and deflected off the armour, but the mad laughing murderer refused to stop firing on him. Killian suddenly blasted around the corner and he threw himself into Jackdaw, and they both floated through the air, punching and shooting at each other. Killian kicked him in the chest and brought both his elbows down onto Jackdaw's head. He grunted and grabbed Killian by his leg and pulled him upwards with great force. Jackdaw punched Killian directly in the spine before grabbing back onto his leg once more, and he threw him down towards the ground again.

Killian pushed his legs against the floating pieces of metal around him, blasting both pistols downwards, using Gravity Dust Rounds. He shot up towards Jackdaw and he tackled him again. They both flew into one of the floating scaffolds, crashing through the panels and inside of it. Jackdaw dwarfed Killian and he caused the whole thing to tremble as he walked, but Killian reached over and threw one of the hammers into Jackdaw's face. He staggered backwards, then Killian swung through one of the rafters, kicking Jackdaw in the chest with both feet. He staggered backwards, but Jackdaw returned the favour by launching more Fatal Feathers towards him. Killian jumped and spiralled through the air, dodging his incoming feathers, and he fired both his pistols at Jackdaw.

His Fatal Feathers folded over like a fan, razor sharp blades blocked all the bullets he shot at him, and he smirked, rushing forward. Jackdaw punched Killian in the face, stumbling him backwards, and then he grabbed Killian by the hair and smashed his face into the wall. As Killian fell to one knee, Jackdaw kneed him up in the ribs, before throwing him up into the ceiling of the scaffolding. The loose panel broke apart, and Killian floated through the air, and Jackdaw jumped after him.

Killian smirked, and he blasted away from Jackdaw's path, and he spun around, firing both his pistols down at him, and the explosive bullets collided into Jackdaw's chest. The concussive rounds threw Jackdaw back down onto the floating platforms. Killian dove down after him, but it seemed like he missed the platform completely. Jackdaw looked down and he just scoffed. Until Killian flew up behind him and fired his pistol, nailing Jackdaw in the shoulder, and the Branwen's glowing red aura flickered. Jackdaw roared with fury, firing his Fatal Feathers at him, and one of them clipped the thrusters in his boot. The thruster spluttered flames and Killian crashed to the ground. He pushed his fist against the ground, and he looked up at Jackdaw who slashed his blades against each other, sparks flew from the blades as he stared at him.

Jackdaw sprinted towards Killian, and the Commander of the Black Gallows rushed forward as well, both of them shot at each other, withering their auras down, before they jumped towards each other. They collided into one another, punching each other in the face over and over again as they spun through the zero-gravity air. Killian punched Jackdaw in the face and he returned the favour by smacking his head into Killian's. They both crashed down onto one of the floating Gravity Platforms. Killian stared at Jackdaw as he stood up, jumping up to gain the high ground over Killian. But Nathaniel caught onto Jackdaw's heel, holding him and he slammed him down against the platform with all his might, roaring as he brought him down. Jackdaw's aura flickered again from another heavy hit from Killian.

He stood back up and heard the furious scream from Killian, he looked up at Killian and saw him jumping at him again. He tackled him off the platform and they both fell through the low gravity, crashing and rolling across the ground. Jackdaw rolled back onto his feet and drove his feathers into the walls around him to slow himself down.

They both stared at each other.

They were never gonna stop.

Not unless one of them died or the one of them retreated.

* * *

**Airport Clash**

* * *

Pyrrha swiftly raised her shield, as Yang erupted through the flames towards her and swung her cybernetic fist directly at her. Pyrrha gasped and she stood behind her shield, hearing the deep metallic thrum through Akoúo, vibrations channelled through her entire body as she held the furious brawler back. Yang grabbed Akoúo and ripped it out of Pyrrha's hand and smashed it across her head, before throwing it towards her. Pyrrha caught it and launched it straight back, hitting Yang in the head. She recoiled backwards from the sudden impact, and Pyrrha sprinted forward. She slid underneath Yang's fist that smashed down into the tarmac, shattering it around them both, flames erupted beneath them from her attack.

Pyrrha jumped upwards, kicking Yang multiple times in the back before Yang grabbed onto her leg and threw her. Pyrrha cartwheeled back onto both feet, and she aimed Milo towards Yang. She thrusted forward and struck, Yang caught the spear, pushed back by the Invincible Girl. They stared each other down, and Yang pulled Pyrrha close, and she headbutted her with force. Pyrrha grunted, then Yang grabbed her by the throat with her metal arm and lifted her off the floor with little effort. Yang pinned her against the wall and then swung around and threw Pyrrha through the window of one of the buildings. It shattered and Pyrrha tumbled through the restaurant.

Yang blasted towards her, firing Missiles directly at Pyrrha. Pyrrha rolled out of the path of the screeching missiles that exploded behind her. The flames began to roar around them, but Yang instantly threw her cybernetic fist towards Pyrrha. Pyrrha pushed her metal fist aside with her Polarity, but Yang instantly swung back with her human fist, nailing Pyrrha's cheek. The Invincible Girl staggered, and then she threw Akoúo, bouncing it off the ground and into Yang's head. The Sunny Little Dragon punched forward and Pyrrha caught her fist with both hands, before Yang fired Ember Celica, launching Pyrrha backwards again.

Yang fired towards her, her fist flew like a rocket towards her, until Pyrrha stopped her with Polarity and threw her straight back through the window, shattering it and smashing her through one of the buses. Yang groaned as her hair extinguished, pushing herself back up. Ren helped Yang back up. "Was this part of the plan?" Ren asked her.

"No… the explosion kinda pissed me off. But maybe we're gonna have to step this up, don'tcha think?" Yang asked him.

"Well, your sister could use a little help." Ren said, Yang turned and saw Ruby still battling both Jaune and Weiss at the same time. Ruby spun Crescent Rose with impressive speed, deflecting Crocea Mors' strike, but Jaune rolled out of the way of the huge scythe that slammed down at where he was stood. Ruby turned and saw Weiss thrusting forward, riding her Glyphs as she stabbed at Ruby. The sudden and hard impact of her pointed Fencing Sword pushed Ruby backwards, and she drove Crescent Rose into the ground, carving open the road. Ruby blasted forward at Weiss, spinning her massive scythe around her shoulders at her. Weiss blocked the hard impact, but Ruby's speed and force was enough to break her parry, and Ruby took her opening. She slashed upwards, and fired up at Weiss, slashing across her aura. She then hooked her blade around Weiss and flipped through the air, throwing Weiss down into the ground.

Weiss crashed into the ground and she blew her white hair from her eyes, forming a Glyph beneath her heels, using it to launch herself up towards Ruby. She jabbed at Ruby's aura over and over again, damaging her aura, before forming multiple glyphs and running fire dust down the blade of Myrtenaster. Fireballs erupted from her Glyphs and exploded into Ruby's chest, throwing her down against the ground.

Jaune cracked his neck and he sheathed the sword into the scabbard and transformed it into its Greatsword Form, igniting the Claymore with fire. "Sorry, Rubes, this won't kill ya but it ain't gonna tickle either." Jaune said. Jaune sprinted towards the downed Ruby and he leapt at her, swinging Crocea Mors down with all his might, and Ruby held up Crescent Rose, blocking the burning blade with the handle.

Yang suddenly blew in from out of nowhere, punching Jaune in the side of the head, and he rolled across the runway. Yang fired her missiles at Weiss as well, keeping her back. Yang held her cybernetic hand out to Ruby, pulling her up to her feet. "You good, sis?" Yang asked her.

"Uh… nah… not really. I don't like fighting my best friends." Ruby said.

"You make it sound like we never fought before." Weiss questioned, and Ruby shrugged.

"Fair point." Ruby admitted.

On the other side of the battlefield, Qrow was still fighting against both Sienna and Ilia at the same time. He blocked against Sienna's incoming blades that she launched from Cerberus' Whip. They bounced off Harbinger and exploded in the sky, and he blasted towards her. He slashed Harbinger at her in its sword form, but Sienna rolled across one of the storage boxes, and she swung her whip towards him and wrapped it around his wrist. She then sprinted towards him and rolled across his back, pulling the sword from his hand. Harbinger spun and landed in the ground.

Sienna threw herself forward with her fist held back, but Qrow caught her fist, staring at her, and he headbutted her. Sienna grunted, and Qrow advanced, punching her repeatedly, before kicking her in the centre of her chest. She rolled across the ground, and Ilia suddenly jumped onto Qrow's back, wrapping her Whip around him, and she started to shock him over and over again to try and knock him down. Qrow gritted his teeth, and he suddenly vanished, using his Corvid Form to fly over Ilia's head. "What the?" Ilia stammered, she looked up and saw Qrow suddenly divebombing her. He slammed his fist down at her, and she flipped backwards, avoiding his fist. He rolled across the tarmac and grabbed onto Harbinger, and he stopped Lightning Lash with its powerful blade. He stared her down and he transformed it into the Scythe Form, and he slashed it across Ilia's chest, and then he fired the shotgun up her stomach, and kicked her in the chest. Ilia crashed into the boxes, groaning from how much that one hurt.

He looked up to see Eryka being launched from the building that she was fighting Winter from inside of. He, Nora and Ren ran to Ruby and Yang, and they caught up with Raven and Eryka. "Come on! We need to get out of here!" Ruby called out, until she looked up and saw Winter riding a summoned Wyvern, breathing icy flames down in front of them.

"Ruby Rose!" Winter called out. "I know why you are doing this… and if I were in your position, I cannot imagine I would make a different decision. But please… for all of us… for the Huntsman Academies and our culture… please surrender now." Winter begged as the Wyvern faded away and she walked down the fading wing. Weiss landed next to her, and Jaune held the burning Crocea Mors in one hand, with Pyrrha at his side. Blake landed with Sienna and Ilia at her side as well, blocking their path.

Jaune, Pyrrha, Weiss, Blake, Winter, Sienna and Ilia.

Vs.

Ruby, Yang, Nora, Ren, Qrow, Raven and Eryka.

Ruby stood tall with Crescent Rose in her grasp, and Nora looked at her. "What's the plan, Ruby?" Nora asked her.

"No other choice… we fight." Ruby answered, and Weiss sighed.

"This is gonna end well." Weiss groaned, and they all began to walk towards each other. But then their walking accelerated into full sprinting.

They did not realise it…

… but this was exactly what Salem desired.

The Divide.

* * *

**Author Note - I will confess (if it wasn't already obvious) Captain America Civil War already had a lot of inspiration behind Act 2, but this battle right here was 100% inspired by the Airport Battle. David and I never wanted to remove this battle since it was one of the driving forces behind the entire Act. That... and it is just heartbreakingly epic to write.**

**Although I must admit... this was one of the hardest battles I have ever written, because of who was fighting each other. You don't realise how well these characters actually work _together_ rather than _apart_. It was quite challenging to write this without it seeming like they were trying to kill each other, because they aren't, yet they need to be angry with each other. Funnily enough, Jackdaw Vs Killian was WAY easier to write in comparison. At least they are trying to kill each other XD**

**I was gonna call this chapter Heroes Vs Heroes, Villains Vs Villains at first but that would have been too long of a name. I do love fights like these, when heroes or villains need to fight each other. What I enjoyed about Killian Vs Jackdaw is that you don't really wanna root for either side, you just want them to kill each other XD**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**\- Matt**


	47. Airport Battle

**Chapter 46 – Airport Battle**

* * *

**Ensemble Battle**

* * *

Ruby launched towards Blake and Weiss with Yang at her side, whilst Jaune and Pyrrha threw themselves towards Ren and Nora. Qrow and Raven both sprinted directly at Ilia and Sienna and finally Eryka and Winter fought against each other.

Ruby slashed Crescent Rose downwards at Weiss, and the Schnee Heiress blocked the incoming scythe with Myrtenaster. Sparks flew and Yang punched down at Blake who backflipped away from the sudden attack. Jaune jumped and slashed Crocea Mors down at Ren who rolled out of the path of his burning sword, firing Stormflower at his friend. Pyrrha threw Akoúo towards Nora who smacked the shield out of the air with Stormur Skeggox. There was a deep metallic clang from the impact of the two weapons colliding into each other, and Nora blasted her powerful beam of pink lightning from the head of her axe, but Pyrrha called Akoúo back onto her arm and used it to block the incoming barrage of molten light. It pushed her backwards across the ground, and Ilia jumped off Pyrrha's back, towards the Crow that was flying directly at her. Qrow Branwen tackled the Chameleon Faunus down to the ground with great force, whilst Sienna ducked down, dodging Omen as Raven slashed at her, and then she threw Cerberus' Whip at her, wrapping it around her body, and sprinting towards the Chieftess. She jumped and rolled over her shoulders and back, twisting the chains and throwing Raven across the runway. Raven landed on both feet and swiftly drew her sword again, launching an arc of fire towards the High Leader.

Winter blasted off her Glyphs towards Eryka, and she thrusted her dual swords forward at her, both Eryka ducked down, kicking her girlfriend in the chest, before jumping up in the air and firing her arrow down at her. Winter jumped backwards into an impressive flip, avoiding the explosive arrow from Constantine Damascus. As Winter landed, she gasped and heard the screech of Dulcis as he flew up behind her, slashing his talons at her over and over again. Dulcis retreated when Winter shooed him off, not wanting to hurt the lovely Eagle, but as she turned, Eryka immediately fired another explosive arrow towards her. Winter thrusted her sword forward, forming a protective barrier of light which the arrow erupted into flames around. The fire and shrapnel wrapped around the shield she formed, and then Winter shot forward, grabbing onto Eryka and she smashed her down against the ground.

Eryka looked up at her, pushing her Bow up against Winter's chest, raising a brow. "Quick question, we're still dating right?" She asked.

"Eh, we've had worse fights than this." Winter shrugged with a small grin.

Eryka winked and she kicked Winter off her chest, and as soon as Winter got back up, Eryka dropkicked her, launching her into the side of one of the cars. "Yeah… you're right… this is nothing compared to our _Bad Tuesday._" Eryka shrugged her shoulders.

_What could possibly have transpired on Bad Tuesday?_

Winter immediately swung her sword, deflecting the incoming arrow from Eryka's bow, cutting it down, and they both rushed towards each other again.

Weiss shot forward, using her Glyphs like ice, and she slashed her sword towards Ruby, who swirled through the air in a flurry of rose petals. She landed behind Weiss and immediately swung Crescent Rose around, towards the Schnee. But Weiss bounced up into the air, and stood atop one of her Glyphs, she conjured multiple Glyphs which all shot icicles towards Ruby Rose. She gasped, and she tried to avoid them all as they fired one by one, and for a while, Ruby was doing a fine job at avoiding them. Using her speed and agility to dodge them, until one of them clipped her even in Petal Form, throwing her down to the ground. Weiss casted fire dust across her sword and she launched a fireball down at Ruby, who spun Crescent Rose with great speed, blocking it from hitting her. Weiss blasted down towards Ruby and stabbed down at her, narrowly missing her, only managing to pin a petal down into the road with her pointed weapon. Weiss growled in annoyance, but Ruby suddenly appeared above her, and she rode her scythe, firing the sniper rifle into the sky as she zoomed down towards her.

Weiss gasped, and she was smashed down into the ground, so hard that the tarmac shattered like glass. Ruby pinned her against the road, and Ruby chuckled. "When will you ever stop falling for that one?" Ruby questioned, and Weiss rolled her eyes.

"And when will you grow up?" She yelled, kicking both feet into Ruby's gut. Her friend's response to that question was… as predictable as ever.

"GROWING UP IS CHILDISH!" She yelled, spinning towards her in a red blur, slashing over and over again at Weiss. The Schnee slid backwards, blocking and parrying her many attacks, blasting Wind Forged Dust towards Ruby, managing to lower Ruby's defences. She launched more icicles from her glyphs at Ruby once again. Ruby blocked them with her spinning scythe, the ice spikes broke apart against her razor-sharp curved blade. She stood before Weiss who held Myrtenaster upwards, closing her eyes before she suddenly opened them, and multiple Glyphs opened behind her, and she unleashed a swarm of her miniature Summoned Nevermores, just as Winter showed her. The Summoned Grimm all shrieked and roared as they flew towards Ruby. They did no damage against Ruby, but that was not their purpose, they were simply meant to disorientate her. Weiss armed her arm and aimed Myrtenaster at Ruby, blasting forward, and she thrusted her sword forward, dealing an attack that threw Ruby through the air. Ruby flipped mid-flight, and she drove her Scythe down into the ground with great force.

Ruby twisted her Scythe, and fired the rifle, riding the recoil towards Weiss, and she hooked onto her body, and she threw her up into the air. As Weiss was thrown, Ruby transformed Crescent Rose down into its rifle form, and she fired multiple shots into her, before rushing up towards her, spinning through the air and forming a tornado from her speed. She hooked Crescent Rose to her core once again, spun and threw Weiss down towards the ground with all her might. Weiss crashed down against the ground, and her aura flickered. Ruby landed and she pointed at her. "Stay down!" She yelled at her, before turning to see her sister battling against Blake.

Yang swung her fist at Blake, but she shimmered away, and Blake landed behind her and threw Gambol Shroud. Her ribbon wrapped around her cybernetic wrist, and she yanked backwards with all her might. Yang gritted her teeth as Blake hauled her away, until Yang suddenly swung her fist. Blake yelped, and she tumbled across the ground. Yang sprinted towards Blake and punched down at where she was laid, pummelling the ground over and over again. As Blake avoided Yang's berserk attacks, the ground was completely obliterated by her fists, shattering stone and tarmac over and over again with Ember Celica. The barrels were smoking, and shells scattered the ground from how many punches she threw.

Blake jumped up, landing on her feet, but she dodged Yang's punches, managing to avoid each attack made by the brawler. She jumped and she spun, slamming both her feet into the side of Yang's head. Yang stumbled, but stayed on her feet, before she spun around and launched her screeching missiles towards Blake. Belladonna gasped, her feline amber eyes widened as they exploded into her chest, too fast for her to properly avoid the attack. She bounced across the road, but she then threw her grappling hook and it latched onto the flagpole nearby, and she yanked herself forward, swinging around and she slammed both her feet into Yang's chest.

Now that attack managed to knock Yang off her feet, and Blake slammed Gambol Shroud down towards Yang. She stopped the blade with her Cybernetic Arm… but the action alone… seeing a blade strike that very arm once again? Yang's eyes widened with fear, seeing flashing images of Adam all over again, his sadistic smirk and the red markings of his mask seemed to glow. Blake could see that look of dread in her eyes, and it broke her heart.

_Of all the people… I never wanted to scare you like this…_

Yang kicked Blake off her chest, and she grabbed her arm, she strained in pain, feeling those phantom pains again. It had been a long time since she felt those pains, and they were nowhere near as intense as they were directly after the event – but the damage was still there. And it was going to take an extremely long time to go. She held her shaking wrist with her metal arm, and the feeling just… pissed her off. Yang gritted her teeth and stared at Blake, and she suddenly blasted towards her, metal fist pulled back, and she collided it into Blake's cheek, so hard that it created a shockwave, and sent her best friend straight through one of the parked cars.

Yang panted, but then she closed her eyes with grief. "Gods… what the hell are we doing?" Yang stammered as she looked at Blake, the woman she cared deeply for. She never thought that when she was the one who helped her overcome her depression – that they would be fighting each other so aggressively. Yang turned to see Ruby running to her side.

"Yang? Are you okay?" She asked.

"Y-Yeah… we can't keep this up, Ruby. Even if we do beat them, they are simply giving Cordovin time to send reinforcements here to stop us from leaving this place. We need to get to the airship." Yang said, and Ruby nodded her head in agreement.

"I still haven't seen Jackdaw anywhere." Ruby said.

None of the Rogues knew that Killian was taking Jackdaw on personally, despite the U.G.R commanding him to stay out of this operation and return to the base until it all blows over. He is disobeying them… again.

If the U.G.R found out about this one… directly after their command? Well the consequences would certainly be worse than a simple stern talking-to.

Ruby and Yang turned as Blake stood back up, and she looked directly at them, neither of them even noticed though that Jaune broke off from his fight with Ren for a few moments, and he had his hands over Weiss, using his Semblance on her. Her aura amplified, she felt herself strengthen back up, and she stood back up, and walked over to Blake to battle with her. They looked at each other and sighed.

"Getting out of here is gonna be a lot harder than we thought." Ruby sighed.

"It's bad that I had a feeling that was gonna be the case." Yang said, raising her gauntleted fists. Team R.W.B.Y sprinted towards each other; except this time they faced the opposite targets. Ruby fought against Blake and Yang against Weiss. Yang fired herself forward and swung her fist with great force towards Weiss, but the Schnee Heiress blocked her attack with a Glyph, sparks flew from the impact, and Yang staggered backwards. Yang fired Ember Celica with every punch thrown towards her, and Weiss swiftly moved like water, avoiding the molten shell shrapnel that was launched from the dual barrels of her weapons. Ruby hurled Crescent Rose, it spun through the air towards Blake, but she dropped to the ground, and she slid on her knees. Ruby blasted into petals, catching up to Crescent Rose mid-flight, and she launched towards Blake again and she slammed the scythe down with great force. Blake was blown back by the attack, but as Ruby slashed Crescent Rose at her, suddenly ice encased the blade, and Blake flipped through the air, throwing her grabbling hook. Ruby was stuck inside of Blake's Frozen Shadow, and she felt the grappling hook wrap around Ruby's wrist.

Blake pulled her upwards with force, and the action managed to pull Ruby away from Crescent Rose, encased inside of the frozen statue of Blake Belladonna. Blake slammed both her feet into Ruby's gut, which pushed her down against the ground. Blake stabbed down at Ruby, but the youngest of the team rolled aside and she jumped up and punched down at Blake. She barely even got close, for Hand-To-Hand combat was never her strength. "Yang!" Ruby yelled, and Yang gasped, turning to see Blake wrapping her Grappling Hook Ribbon around Ruby's body, tightening it to try and restrain her.

Yang kicked Weiss in the knee to drop her, and she blasted towards the ice statue of Blake, and she punched through it, grabbing Crescent Rose, and throwing it towards Blake. She gasped as she turned, her feline ears jolted when she heard the familiar shotguns of Ember Celica firing. Ruby caught Crescent Rose and swung it upwards with great force, slashing up Blake's chest, and managing to free herself.

Both Ruby and Yang stood side by side, continuing their fight against their team.

Jaune returned to Pyrrha's side, yet she was holding her own against Ren and Nora. She bounced Akoúo off both their faces and summoned it back into her hand. She ducked down, dodging Stormur Skeggox, and then she backflipped, swinging both her feet up Nora's chin. The Valkyrie was thrown up in the air from the flawless attack, then Ren ran and jumped across the crates, firing both Stormflowers down at her over and over again. Pyrrha held Akoúo up, blocking the green bullets from hitting her, then Ren jumped towards her and slashed Stormflower down at her with all his might. Pyrrha pushed his blades aside with her polarity, and the action threw him to the side. Ren rolled successfully, and he landed on both his feet, and he fired them both at her again. Pyrrha blocked the rounds with her shield, then proceeded to rest Milo on top of the discus, firing it as it transformed into rifle form. Ren sprinted fast, avoiding her bullets, but as Pyrrha fought against him, Nora stood back up and she swung Stormur Skeggox into Pyrrha's side.

Pyrrha grunted, Nora's powerful strike blasted Pyrrha in a bright pink flash, the Invincible Girl crashed through one of the docking chambers, but she threw Akoúo, it bounced back to her and she jumped off the face of the shield. She shot towards Nora and tackled her. They both flopped across the floor, and Nora dragged Stormur Skeggox into the ground. Lightning channelled through her body and her blue eyes crackled with pink lightning. Her semblance had become more powerful than anyone had expected, where it was once as simple as merely electricity strengthening her body – it had literally become nearly as powerful as a Maiden's. She could summon electricity that glowed as pink as her aura, channelling it into her muscles on command.

She was easily the most formidable Huntress that they knew, easily able to match Pyrrha Nikos now in terms of power. Where Pyrrha had skill, she could easily match her in strength. Nora spun Stormur Skeggox through her fingers as she stared Pyrrha down. "Y'know I never pegged you for the type who would stand with a man like Killian." Nora said as she circled her.

"We've told you! We do not trust him! He is still our enemy and want him punished just as much as you do – this has nothing to do with him. This is about the Vytal Consensus, and how you are unwilling to let the world adapt to change. We have to, or we will all lose our way of life completely. Is that what you want?" Pyrrha questioned – Jaune had told her about what Killian told him… about the Unified Governments of Remnant and the Inhumane Necessity.

Something that actually made Killian look like small fry in comparison to the real danger.

Yet they could not tell anybody else about this secret, otherwise the U.G.R would bring their force down upon them. Nora stared Pyrrha down, and she scoffed. "Holding dustpans for the U.G.R who will swipe the dusty old bones of those who wanted freedom? No… that's not life… that's imprisonment." Nora said, Pyrrha sighed, shaking her head.

"That's society, Nora." Pyrrha replied. "We can't change that; we can only adapt so that our culture can remain."

"No society is worth living in that hangs by a thread so thin." Nora stated, spinning Stormur Skeggox round, channelling the pink lightning into the axe head.

Pyrrha knew… there was no use. Nora despised the Unified Governments of Remnant, and she hated the Atlesians for how they treated the Faunus and the people of Mantle. They had differing views of the world – and now those views were clashing. "So this is how it goes then? Everything we've been through? It all comes down to this?"

"I mean you could always let us go." Nora attempted, and Pyrrha raised a brow.

"Tempting offer – but I doubt the U.G.R will appreciate that excuse." Pyrrha said, and Nora shrugged.

"Eh, worth a try I guess." Nora said, she blasted forward and swung Stormur Skeggox towards her with immense force. Pyrrha held Akoúo upwards, but the axe's impact was so powerful that the force sent Pyrrha flying anyway. Jaune pointed his sword at Ren and he pointed his pistols at him.

"Let's give it a try: hey Ren? Can you not?" Jaune asked, and Ren just sighed.

"Is that it?" Ren asked.

"Yeah… it's all I got really." Jaune shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, I admire your honesty." Ren said, they both sprinted towards each other, and Jaune swung Crocea Mors towards him. Ren jumped over his head and kicked Jaune in the back three times. The combination of strikes sent Jaune crashing against the ground with force, he scraped his face against the ground, and Jaune punched his shield into the tarmac. He quickly stood back up and slashed his sword towards Ren. He rushed forward and punched Ren in the face with the shield, causing him to stagger, then he brought the sword down with great force. The blade cut through the wind and carried a shockwave. Ren staggered back, feeling the blade cut across his aura.

Ren stumbled, but rapidly returned, slashing the blades of his pistols across Jaune's aura, spinning through the air as he jumped, firing both pistols at the same time. Jaune blocked the bullets with his shield, hearing the sound of them all rattling against the armour of the shield he held up. Ren suddenly jumped onto the shield, and then flipped over Jaune's head. He landed behind the Arc and he sprinted forward, dropkicking him in the chest. Jaune crashed to the ground, and Ren suddenly bicycle kicked Jaune over and over as soon as he got back up.

Ren landed, swiped Jaune's legs out and just as he fell, he punched him in the face so hard it smashed Jaune down into the ground with great force. Jaune growled with anger, and he sheathed the sword into the shield, then suddenly it extended into the Claymore, and he engaged the Fire Dust inside, igniting the serrations. Jaune held his sword in one hand and he whirled the sword into Ren's chest, sending him flying. Ren crashed into the side of one of the landed Airships, groaning as he fell down into the road. Jaune stood back up, and he sprinted towards Ren again, jumping towards him with the huge burning blade.

Ren rolled out of the way just the blade missed his head, clanging against the road with enough force to actually dig in and melt the tarmac around it. Jaune ripped the blazing sword from the tarmac fast, glowing orange molten tarmac flew in the air, and Ren flipped backwards, avoiding the burning hot liquid from hitting him. As Ren landed, he threw Stormflower towards Jaune, it spun and slashed across his aura, before returning back into his hand.

Nearby, Nora and Pyrrha were both still fighting against each other. Nora unleashed the beam of light from her Axe once again towards Pyrrha, but she held Akoúo up, reflecting it off the steel. It carved through one of the buildings, shattering the class and searing the render off. Pyrrha angled the laser back towards Nora, but the Valkyrie saw ahead, and she suddenly threw Stormur Skeggox towards Pyrrha. The axe collided into Pyrrha, breaking her defence, and Nora sprinted forward and punched Pyrrha in the face. Her enhanced strength per her semblance's activation was lethal against Pyrrha, throwing punches left right and centre, until Pyrrha stopped Nora's arm with Milo's blade. Nora gritted her teeth, and she kicked Pyrrha in the leg. She then wrapped her muscular arm around Pyrrha's head and smashed her against the wall with force. Pyrrha groaned, pulling her head from the broken render. Pyrrha suddenly used her polarity and launched the rebar out from the wall and launched it at Nora.

The Valkyrie gasped, rolling aside and grabbing the handle of Stormur Skeggox, cutting the metal bones down as they flew forward. But some of the pieces cut across Nora's aura, weakening her defence. Pyrrha launched Milo forward and it smashed into Nora, she grunted as it carried her towards one of the airships. Nora smashed against it, and she snarled, suddenly grabbing the wing and she ripped it off over time and threw it towards Pyrrha. The Invincible Girl held her hands out, using her Polarity to stop the wing, and then she launched it straight back at Nora. The Norse Huntress swung her axe downwards, slicing the wing clean in two, and it parted around her.

It was a battle of epic proportions, Greek Vs. Norse.

Qrow looked back as the two Powerhouses of both sides clashed against each other, wreaking havoc and destruction in the Airport. Qrow turned and saw Ilia sprinting towards him, she slashed Lightning Lash at him, electricity coursed through the extendable sword, and it cut deep into the ground as she attacked. She jumped and wrapped her legs around his head, and she rolled down to the ground, throwing the old Huntsman. He rolled, but steadied himself with his hand, and fired Harbinger's Shotgun at her. Ilia swung Lightning Lash fast and hard, cutting the shells out of the air with the weapon. Qrow sprinted towards her, slashing Harbinger in its sword form at her, cutting through the air and across her aura over and over again. He kicked her in the chest, but she jumped and flipped, bringing her foot downwards atop his head. He fell to one knee but fired his gun up into her chest as she dove down.

She was thrown up from the shot, then he transformed Harbinger into its Scythe form, and he rotated it over and over, cutting across Ilia with immense speed. He then caught her by the throat and smashed her down against the ground. Ilia thrusted up and kicked Qrow in the jaw, knocking him backwards. Qrow spun Harbinger across his shoulders towards her, spiralling it with impressive skill, the curved blade was a blur from how fast it moved. Yet Ilia flowed like water, perfectly dodging and avoiding the massive weapon. She ducked and her heart-shaped chin narrowly missed Harbinger's blade, she thrusted Lightning Lash forward and the pointed tip of the whip punctured his aura.

Electricity coursed across his body and he yelled with pain, falling to one knee. Ilia sprinted towards him and she wrapped the whip around his neck, and she jumped over his head, using the whip to slam the back of his head down against the ground. She choked him out and Qrow growled in anger, until he suddenly transformed into his Corvid Form, he flew over her head and suddenly returned back to human form, and he spiralled down towards her, slashing Harbinger across her body. Ilia crashed against the wall, just missing Sienna as she battled against Raven Branwen.

Sienna threw the explosive chain links towards Raven, but the Chieftess slashed them out of the air with impressive speed and agility with Omen, the red blade consumed the power of their explosions and she returned it straight back at her in a powerful red arc of energy. Sienna jumped up in the air and spun, narrowly avoiding the arc of energy, and she swung Cerberus Whip over and over again, smashing the chain against Raven's cheek. She staggered from the multiple strikes, Sienna lashed it forward, but this time Raven caught it in her fist, and pulled the High Leader with force, yanking her towards her fist. Sienna crashed to the ground and Raven brought Omen down towards Sienna's head. Of everyone here – Raven Branwen was the only one who was legitimately trying to actually kill someone. She held Omen down in the ground where Sienna just was, then she rolled back onto her feet, and tackled Raven to the ground. Sienna punched Raven in the face over and over again, before pushing her head against the ground.

"You and your gang of savages have had this coming for a long time, Branwen! Do you know how many innocents died in that fire you and your marauders started in Miss Malachite's House?" Sienna snarled with anger in her eyes.

"None of them were innocent, they all worked for Malachite – and she was a monster in her own right." Raven growled.

"Dead wrong! She had countless innocent workers in there, and none of them got out! Only one of her dancers survived!" Sienna yelled with anger.

"Funny! You talk about the cost of innocent lives when you command the White Fang, a cult of criminals who have killed countless innocent humans. But in your eyes… there are no innocent humans, are there?" Raven questioned with anger in her eyes.

"Wrong again! I want peace, Adam Taurus is the one who wants blood!" Sienna argued, Raven punched Sienna in the face, loosening her grip on her, then Raven suddenly shot her sword into Sienna's chest, knocking her backwards. Sienna threw Cerberus' Whip and it wrapped around Raven's body, and she pulled her forward. As Raven was mid-flight, she suddenly transformed into her Corvid Form, and flew straight at her, returning to human form to punch Sienna in the jaw so hard it knocked her down to the ground.

She held her sword above her, when suddenly the side of the tower exploded. Everyone paused their battle and looked up with wide eyes. Both Killian and Jackdaw were punching and shooting each other as they fell. Jackdaw grabbed Killian by the throat as they fell and threw him down into the ground with great force. Killian's black aura broke instantly from the impact, and he groaned, whilst Jackdaw slammed both his arms with extended Fatal Feathers into the walls of two closely parked airships.

The metal hide of the Airships opened like flesh, and he dropped down, smirking sadistically as he stared at the defeated Nathaniel Killian on the ground. He struggled to get back up to his feet, coughing and winded from the fall. Jackdaw on the other hand could still fight for ages, cracking his neck as he walked out. He turned to see the Hunters and the Rogues, and he laughed. "Oh, don't stop on my account!" He laughed.

He turned and saw one of the landed Airships, he tilted his top hat and turned to sprint towards it. "No! Stop him!" Ruby yelled, she shot past Jaune who tried to stop her with his shield, but she managed to dodge it whilst in the air. Nora sprinted alongside her and she threw Stormur Skeggox towards Jackdaw. He suddenly turned and caught the axe by the blade, staring at her with that demented smile on his face.

"Nice throw! Let's see how good you are at catching!" Jackdaw replied with a laugh, launching Stormur Skeggox straight back at her. Nora caught it in her hand with a grin on her face, genuinely surprising Jackdaw. "Hot damn… I'm impressed." Jackdaw chuckled, she then immediately fired a beam of hot pink lightning towards Jackdaw, but he crossed his arms together, folding his feathers out from his arms, blocking the beam from doing any damage to him. The hardened Grave Dust absorbed the heat, but it could not melt the dust, the only effect it had was similar to what would happen when you would set Iron Wool on fire, the dust in the blades crackled embers.

He lowered them when Nora ceased, and Jackdaw smirked. He suddenly launched the Fatal Feathers directly at them, and Nora grunted, not fast enough to cut the feather down before it hit her. The feather shattered upon impact and she fell to the ground. Weiss stabbed Myrtenaster down to the ground, and a huge Glyph formed behind Jackdaw, and the Arma Gigas emerged behind him. He looked over his shoulder and saw the ancient armour of Nicholas Schnee stand tall with that huge sword. He stared at it with awe. "Wow… you're a big boy, ain'cha?" Jackdaw chuckled, the Arma Gigas suddenly swung its gigantic sword towards him, but he jumped over the sword and blasted forward. He slashed across the armour with his blades, firing the machine guns constantly at it, never ceasing to inch closer and closer towards the Airships.

The Arma Gigas punched down at him, and it actually managed to land a good hit, the punch threw Jackdaw across the battlefield, but he transformed into his Corvid Form and the little Jackdaw flew straight towards the Arma Gigas. He erupted through the feathery bird, and he drove both arms into the chest of the Arma Gigas, and it toppled over onto the parked Airship. He laughed maniacally as he dug the blades deeper into the armour, finishing it off. Weiss gasped, falling forward from exhaustion.

Jackdaw continued to sprint towards the Airship, but as he ran, there was a deafening bang behind him. He turned and saw Dulcis grabbing onto Eryka's arrow and suddenly his aura erupted into flames into the huge burning Phoenix. Dulcis roared, and behind him was Eryka sprinting with Yang and Ruby. Qrow and Raven were just behind with Nora and Ren in tow. The Hunters were pursuing them all as well, alongside Killian who was getting back up and drawing his only remaining Chrome Pistol, spitting blood from his mouth.

Dulcis flew into Jackdaw, and the flames burned his coat and his arms, he growled in pain as the flames charred and ruined his jacket. The eagle banked around and released the arrow after that remarkably effective attack. Ruby rushed forward in a cyclone of rose petals, moving directly at Jackdaw. She slammed Crescent Rose into Jackdaw, smashing him down against the ground with all her might, dragging him against the ground before she pushed her boot against his throat. "You're not going anywhere, Jackdaw. Your little escapade ends here." Ruby growled.

"And the same will be for you too… looking at how your _friends_ are pursuing you. Funny… they were very eager to side with the U.G.R… despite how quickly they would cast you aside for their own personal gain." Jackdaw chuckled, lacing seeds of doubt into Ruby's mind. That gave Jackdaw the chance he needed suddenly firing both his machine guns into Ruby's chest. He jumped up and grabbed Ruby by the back of her head, and he smashed her down against the ground.

"RUBY!" Yang screamed, blasting forward with her fist clenched, but Jackdaw caught her hand and stared right into her lilac eyes. He grinned back, glowing red irises showing the darkness of the Branwen Bloodline. He pulled her forward and then grabbed her by the throat, easily lifting Yang off the ground before pummelling her into the road with great effort. The road exploded around her, until Nora smashed Stormur Skeggox into Jackdaw's side, knocking him away from Yang. Ren ran alongside her, firing Stormflower over and over again at him, whilst Nora launched Grenades from Stormur Skeggox's launcher. The pink grenades erupted against his chest, pushing Jackdaw backwards across the ground, and he held his cybernetic arm up, using the Grave Dust feathers to block Ren's attacks.

The Kuroyurian struck forward, slashing the blades of his pistols across his arms, attempting to destroy the feathers so then he could get to Jackdaw's actual aura. But his metal arms were so powerful and could constantly print more feathers as soon as he would have destroyed them. Jackdaw slashed his arms across Ren's body, dealing massive amounts of damage with those multiple blades. He swung his leg around and struck Ren across the jaw, before stopping Harbinger and Omen with his feathers, looking at the Branwen Twins to his shoulders, who bore scowls towards him.

Jackdaw's smirk vanished when he looked ahead and his eyes widened, seeing Eryka drawing Constantine Damascus and firing a highly explosive arrow straight into his chest. Jackdaw grunted, the explosion threw everyone apart, but dealt a highly impressive amount of damage against Jackdaw. He stumbled back to his feet; his red aura was flickering. Killian managed to weaken him quite a bit in the Colossus Repair Tower, they managed to finish the job. Jackdaw stared at them and he snarled as all the Hunters and Rogues started to surround him. He spun around and suddenly fired both machine guns and launched all his feathers into each of them. The attack knocked them all to the ground, giving Jackdaw the chance he needed.

"See you in the Atlesian Wildlands." Jackdaw tilted his hat, and transformed into his Corvid Form, flying towards the landed Airship he had targeted.

"N-No! Stop him!" Ruby yelled as she ran after him, she looked over her shoulder and saw the Atlesian Military incoming. But as they approached – they all seemed to drop out of the sky. They looked at their scrolls and the power had just been wiped.

The E.M.P… it went off again. The Airships crashed into the tarmac, none of them exploded, and none of the soldiers were killed in the crashes.

_Watts… he set that thing off, he wants Jackdaw to escape._

_We need to keep up with him!_

Ruby, Yang, Nora, Ren, Qrow, Raven and Eryka sprinted after Jackdaw as he approached that Hanger. But they were already too late, Jaune watched as the Airship roared out from the Hanger. But as he tried to get back up, his aura broken from Jackdaw's final attack, Killian ran past him towards the Hanger.

Ruby ran as fast as she could, they needed to get aboard that Airship. "Go! Get inside!"

"STOP!" Killian roared, ordering them. Ruby stopped in her tracks, and she looked back at him. He had his Chrome Pistol drawn on her, ready to shoot her in the head if she tried to make a run for it.

"Ruby!" Qrow called, but she held out her hand to stop him from helping her. She stared Killian down whilst the others started to power up their Airship.

"Enough of this. Turn yourselves in and face the U.G.R's judgement. No more games, no more chaos." Killian commanded, finger on the trigger. The Rogues… and the Hunters… watched with anticipation.

"The U.G.R's judgement? Or _your_ Judgement?" Ruby scoffed.

"Stop causing so many problems, Ruby! Look around you, the damage you have caused today. The friendships you have risked? How can you possibly see any worth in any of this?" Killian questioned with anger in his eyes.

"You know… I would have thought that you of all people would understand." Ruby said. "We're not stopping. Bigger threats than you have tried to stop us and failed, and Jackdaw cannot be allowed to go on. He will keep killing and killing, more people like my mom will die unnecessary deaths. I cannot let that continue. So if you intend to stand in my way – just remember – I am done being the good guy." Ruby said with narrowed silver eyes.

Her uncle's words echoed in her mind.

_When you go rogue, Ruby, you have to take those gloves off and get blood on your hands. That's how it works, if you don't then your blood will be on someone else's._

_You draw the line wherever you need it, Ruby_

_Funnily enough… this may be the one thing I agree with Killian on. Sometimes… you have to go dark to make the enemy scared of the dark. We get dirty, so then the innocents of the world can keep their hands clean and stay safe from the evils of the world, Human, Faunus or Grimm. It doesn't matter – evil is evil – and it must be destroyed, so that the good may survive. _

_That's our duty._

Ruby closed her eyes and she sighed.

_Don't make me do it, Killian… don't… make… me… do… this._

Killian kept his gone on her and he sighed. "Lay down your weapons and surrender." He commanded. "Or I will kill you."

Ruby stared at him and she sighed. "Then you have made your choice." Ruby saw that his aura was down.

_I have to do this… I need to get blood on my hands… if we are to get out of here._

Ruby suddenly blasted forward, and Killian fired, the bullet narrowly grazed the side of Ruby's head, slicing against her skin and drawing blood. But he missed, and Ruby swung Crescent Rose upwards. She looked Killian in the eyes, as the curved blade hooked onto his right arm, the one that held the gun. It was as if time slowed down, as his red blood began to erupt from his arm, and his eyes widened as a howling scream erupted from him. She sliced his arm off, and the blood splattered across the side of Ruby's face and her clothes. Killian fell to one knee, bleeding heavily, roaring in agony as he tried to stop the bleeding, panicking.

Weiss stared at Ruby with horrified eyes, and she stared down at Killian. "You left me no choice." Ruby said, walking away from him. She still did not shoot him in the head, she did not kill him.

But he will never forget the moment that Ruby chose to get blood on her hands.

Killian collapsed, he went pale, and passed out from the shock and pain, his head hit the pavement as he started to bleed out on the ground. Ruby sprinted to the Airship, and she ran inside. Yang stared at Ruby with wide eyes, seeing Killian's blood on her.

Ruby never said a word, she just set Crescent Rose down, not even looking at it, and she just stood behind the cockpit as Raven and Eryka took off into the sky. The Airship roared out of the hanger, leaving the dying Killian behind, and pursuing Jackdaw's trail.

Unaware of the Murder of Crows and Ravens that were pursuing him with glowing red eyes.

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**Author Note - Ah... thank god... I've finished this chapter. I mentioned how hard it was for me to write these guys having to fight each other? Well imagine how hard this one was when the bulk of it was the Hunters Vs Rogues. I hope it turned out okay.**

**Also - HELL YEAH RUBY! She has had to get blood on her hands, Killian left her no other choice and now has paid the price for that mistake. Killian is in some seriously deep shit right now, he has no arm and the U.G.R will know of him disobeying their direct order. In other words - he's screwed XD**

**Jackdaw... that was the closest they got to beating him, but that damn Semblance saved him yet again. The question is - when will his luck run out?**

**And of course - the question that is on all of our minds - what the hell happened on Eryka and Winter's _Bad Tuesday_ that could possibly make this battle look small in comparison? WHAT HAPPENED? XD**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**\- Matt**


	48. Atonement

**Chapter 47 – Atonement**

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**Ruby**

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The Stolen Atlesian Airship soared across the Solitas Ocean, they were a bright blue, and they all knew that they were filled with terrible Creatures of Grimm. Nora looked out the window as they flew, seeing Leviathans swimming through the sea in the remains of an Ancient City that was abandoned after the Great War. The massive Creatures of Grimm were constantly patrolling these waters, and they all knew there were more. Sharks, Syrens and many other monsters.

"What is this place?" Nora asked with awe in her voice.

"Aethelwulf's Rest. This place was not always completely submerged in water, once it was a rich marshland. One of most packed populations of wildlife in all of Remnant, until a few decades ago." Qrow explained, looking down at the city as well. Some of the towers that were still standing penetrated through the layer of water.

"Vacuo isn't the only place that has lost entire cities and settlements to the elements, where Vacuo's was lost to the Draught, Atlas has lost two. Aethelwulf's Rest and Ionspyre. The melting of the southern ice caps of Solitas caused the oceans to rise over time, and eventually the city was lost to the mouth of the ocean." Qrow continued.

"People weren't still in there, were there?" Ren asked with concern in his voice.

"No, like the Sea of Sand, they evacuated the city before the flooding. Unlike… Ionspyre." Qrow replied, sighing.

"Ionspyre?" Nora asked, her eyes wide.

"That city was destroyed when the Atlesian Wildlands were formed. The Cryostorms came out of nowhere, nobody expected it. But then again, it was during the Great War's Final Days. When the Eclipse had formed, and the Grimm were nearly unstoppable." Qrow explained.

_The Eclipse…_

It was hard to believe it was possible once, that the moon could pass in front of the sun and totally block out the light. The stories were told about the Eclipse and what it did to the Grimm, the creatures were literally impossible to kill. It did not matter how powerful or skilled you were, in a time of unnatural darkness, the monsters were impossible to bring down.

Stories of the Eclipse and the threat it posed stemmed all the way back to times before the Great War, back when Humans and Faunus lived in caves. Ancient Cave Drawings were found of the Eclipse, and the Grimm decimating everything in their path in the ten minutes that it would last. But in those ten minutes… and all Grimm being completely invincible for that amount of time? They could cause so much damage to Humanity and Faunuskind, perhaps even irreparable damage now that Salem could control the beasts.

"Because of the Final Days of the Great War, the Atlesian Pagans who lived at Ionspyre and worshipped the Northern Lights? They were completely unaware of the changing climates, and that the Cryostorms were forming. When they hit, very few made it out, and the damage was so serious to the Atlesians, that they fled from their homeland, travelling south. That was how Mantle was formed, and eventually the Kingdom of Atlas followed." Qrow explained, sitting down in one of the chairs. "They believed that the Gods of the Northern Lights sent the Cryostorms as some sort of divine punishment, and they felt betrayed that after all those centuries of faith and loyalty to them, that it was repaid in a genocide. After that, they abandoned their gods and lived in Mantle, and became the Atlesians that we know now. The Godless Atlesians." Qrow concluded, Nora continued to look down at the Ruins of Aethelwulf's Rest, watching as Leviathans roared to the sky, patrolling the ruins, using some of the rooftops as land to rest upon.

They flew away, leaving the ruins behind. "You know… as a kid I didn't think there were so many abandoned cities on Remnant." Yang said with a sigh. Ruby still had not said a word since they left Argus… after she cut Killian's arm off. Yang looked at her, all of them had been essentially tiptoeing around Ruby this whole time.

Eryka scoffed at what Yang said. "You haven't lived out in the Wilds, Yang. I think most of us can agree on that." She said, Nora and Ren looked at each other and she held his hand. Sadly, they knew that all too well.

"Yeah… sadly there is a reason why the Kingdoms have lasted so long. Big Walls, lots of natural defences and plenty of economic growth to keep going. It's why I think Vacuo will be the first Kingdom to fall, it's losing it's wealth with every day that passes. And with the Drought there just getting worse? Either they will abandon the entire Kingdom… or the Grimm will destroy it themselves. I hope – that for their sakes – it is the former." Raven said as she flew the Airship, taking the main controls after the last time they let Eryka power the main controls.

Raven and Qrow both felt it in the back of their minds… and so did Yang for a brief moment. Faint whispers… but then they faded once again. None of them brought it up to each other, but it was strange.

None of them had any idea that they were being followed by that Murder of Crows and Ravens.

Whilst everyone continued to converse, Yang looked at her baby sister once more. She was still so silent, just staring blankly. She still had Killian's blood on her cheek and on her hands. It was beginning to harden onto her, so Yang walked over to one of the containers where some rags were there. She opened up Ruby's satchel, finding some water, and she wetted the rag. "Hey, sis… c'mere. Let's get this crap off you." Yang gently said to her. She held her and gently started to wipe the blood from her cheek. It was tough to get off, but Ruby did not even react to it.

She did not kill him… that was the one side of this that was honestly… relieving. Ruby Rose was no murderer, but seeing her do what she did? Killian deserved it, hell he deserved far worse for the things he has done in his painful life – but it was the fact that it was Ruby who did it. The person who tried so desperately to cling onto her innocence, her kindness. She wanted to be a Huntress to help people, but she never wanted to hurt or kill others. Only the Creatures of Grimm.

It was clear – that doing what she did to Killian? Getting blood on her hands? It was having an effect on her.

"Y'know, Ruby… it wasn't easy for me either. When we were on the Floating Islands of Lake Matsu? When we were forced to kill those Stockholm Troopers? I did it… but it still lingers in my mind. I can still hear his pained scream when I killed him, I can still see the look in his eyes the moment that he died. It hurt… a hell of a lot more than I was expecting it to." Yang softly spoke to Ruby. Qrow and Raven sat and listened to Yang's words. Nora and Ren understood, but the Branwens and even Eryka? They had killed more than their fair share of people. Eryka at the very least would try and avoid killing if she could, but the Branwens?

They were trained to kill ever since they were children. It was the whole reason for their enrolment into Beacon Academy in the first place. Spilling blood had simply become something that they had grown numb to.

"What I'm trying to say, Ruby… is that it's okay. We all get how you feel about this, and we know that Killian left you no other choice. So if you ever wanna talk about it…"

"… it was so easy." Ruby spoke, finally, and what she said? It actually sent shivers down Yang's spine, hearing Ruby – that sweet girl that she had always loved and protected since the day she was born – say something like that? It was honestly frightening to her. "I thought it would be really hard to do it… but I did it and… it was done."

Yang stared at Ruby as she continued to wipe the blood from her cheek. Her eyes had not changed, and for a few moments there wasn't even any light in those huge silver eyes of hers. Ruby lightly took the damp rags from Yang and she stood up, walking over to where the rear door was, sitting on the floor as she cleaned it off herself. She sat beside Crescent Rose, his blood still on that weapon too. Yang sighed, closing her eyes.

"She finally got her hands dirty." Qrow said, Yang stared straight at her Uncle – with anger. Her eyes was red as she stared at him. "What?"

"Don't, Uncle. I was glad that she didn't have to kill anyone at Lake Matsu, like I did – and sure she didn't kill the bastard, but I don't want this for her. She is the brightest and best thing in this whole messed up world – I don't want it to darken her too." She said with a growl in her voice, her hand shook slightly. Nora gently held Yang's hand, calming her down and she blew out a breath.

"It's okay, Yang. We're all here for her, and we're here for you." Nora promised, and Ren smiled too.

"Thanks." Yang sighed, she looked back at Ruby as she sat there.

Thankfully, Eryka managed to change the subject back to the task at hand. "So… we're heading into the Atlesian Wildlands. And we're definitely sure that that is exactly where Jackdaw is headed?" Eryka asked.

"Yes, he made it pretty clear when he said it to us before he scampered." Yang replied.

"What about that dude who was behind Penny's little… outburst? Watts? I've never heard of that name before, is he important somehow?" Eryka asked curiously.

"He's the mastermind, I don't know what his endgame is, but he works for Salem. He pretty much confirmed it to our faces, but I have no clue of what he is up to or what he wants. But he and Jackdaw are definitely working together. If we can get to Jackdaw, maybe we can get more answers than just what happened to our mother. Maybe he can tell us more about this… Arthur Watts…" Yang explained, sitting down as she massaged both her human and cybernetic hands together.

"It won't be easy trekking through the Atlesian Wildlands y'know? I mean Qrow already told you about the Cryostorms that nearly wiped out the Atlesian Pagans. Those storms are still out there, and I've heard stories. The cold will literally freeze you solid in a matter of seconds. Or the Grimm lurking about inside will." Eryka explained, Nora stared at Stormur Skeggox in the ground.

"We're gonna need warm clothes." Nora said.

"No amount of warm clothes will save you from that, it will keep us going from the natural cold of the North – but from a Cryostorm? Nah… if one of those hits, we run, or we die." Qrow explained.

"We can steal some better snow-gear when we get to Mantle. And we're gonna need to find Ice-Claw Boots as well." Raven explained as she flew the Airship over the Ocean. It was getting colder with every second that passed by.

"Ice-Claw Boots?" Ren asked.

"Mechanised Boots, designed to keep our feet out of the snow, keeps us from getting frostbite, or makes us last a bit longer. They also will help us get through all that snow faster, so if a Cryostorm does hit? We can get away from it. Because without them? Well, we might as well just huddle together and let it kill us, because the snow will make it impossible to escape." Raven explained.

Of all the places that they have been to in their lives? The Atlesian Wildlands was most certainly the most terrifying location so far. And they hadn't even gotten there yet. "So where can we find that stuff? I mean I bet there are plenty of stores with some fluffy jackets, but what about the boots?" Eryka asked Raven.

"The S.D.C Headquarters in Mantle. Jacques Schnee has two major facilities, he rarely goes down to the one in Mantle, but there should be enough stuff there that we can use to our advantage. But they will be heavily guarded, Jacques Schnee practically has the Atlesian Military in his pocket thanks to the Dust Trade and the Mining Corporations." Raven explained.

"Huh… from all the stories Weiss and Winter have told us about her father? This might be the first Criminal Act I genuinely won't feel bad about." Yang scoffed.

"Amen to that." Ren agreed, surprising Yang the most.

"But… everyone heed this warning and heed it well. The Atlesian Wildlands? They are seriously no joke; nobody has ever returned from the Wildlands. It is entirely possible that some of us may die in there, or we could end up being trapped out there. If Killian knows not to send his forces out there, then this is seriously a Suicide Mission. Are you all ready for this?" Qrow asked them all as he stood up.

Ruby was listening and heard everything they said, but she still was sat away from them. Yang looked at her sister and then at her Uncle.

Her trust had been shaken in Qrow after hearing some of the things that Jackdaw had said… but she knew he still cared for them and loved them. She stood up and looked at her friends. "Yeah… we know what we've signed up for." Yang assured, and Qrow nodded his head.

"Good – because once we go in? There's no turning back." Qrow said, returning to Harbinger to prepare it for the terrifying conditions of the Atlesian Wildlands. Yang turned and looked at Ruby.

The same statement echoed in Ruby's mind.

_How… how could it have been so easy?_

_I could have killed him… it was so easy._

_… __so easy…_

* * *

**Cinder**

* * *

None of them had any idea of the chaos that had just broken out in Argus, not about Penny Polendina or the Battle against Jackdaw Branwen – and especially not the Airstrip Skirmish between the family of heroes. Cinder sat on a rock, spinning her obsidian dagger she formed from thin air through her fingers. Amber was asleep in the tent she was guarding, she had not left her side for ages, afraid that someone would find her again and steal her once again. But that was not the only reason…

… there were only three people in the tribe now that she truly trusted. Vernal, Amber and Oscar. With Raven gone, things were becoming more and more unstable with every second that passed by. She could see it all starting, she could hear the whispers of doubt creeping through the camp. And there he was – Shay.

Shay was walking around the Camp that they had set up here, constantly going into what was Raven's Tent. Cinder knew what was stashed inside of that tent – it was all of their income from their raids. Their valuables and all that lien that had horded over time. Cinder was no fool – Shay had been wanting Raven gone for an exceptionally long time, and the fact that he managed to escape Lake Matsu completely unscathed and he was never captured by the Black Gallows when they showed up?

Well… that did not help her suspicions.

"Hey." The voice of Vernal startled Cinder, the Fall Maiden jolted and coughed, feeling a slight pain in her chest. Vernal held a cup of freshly made coffee in her hand, offering it to Cinder. "Here, you look like crap."

Cinder scoffed. "So do you." She joked, Vernal sat down beside her and they both looked ahead. Oscar was sat near as well, with his bracers on the workbench as he tended to them, repairing the damage caused from time. Vernal looked at Cinder.

"You still watching Shay?" She asked her.

"My eye hasn't stopped watching him. He's up to something, I know it." Cinder said, seeing him emerge from Raven's hut, whispering to Flynt, the pirate of the team, and one of his oldest friends. The younger Bandit Grunt named Traynor – the one that Shay tortured with his knife, scarring his face up to _make him look tougher_ was sat with his knife, afraid. Cinder kept spinning her dagger as she watched them. "I don't like it, Vernal. Without Raven here, this Tribe is gonna fall apart. Just look around, Shay is already planning to take it from her. You can see it on the bastard's face, he was dogging her every step of the way when we were heading through the mountains after Vacuo." Cinder explained.

"Yeah, I know. Have you spoken to Valravn about it?" She asked her curiously.

"What would he say? Just some weird riddle I'm too thick to figure out." Cinder scoffed.

"We should at least let him know; he is still a Branwen. He's the oldest and most dangerous too if you ask me. A man who has lived as long as he has would know how to fight." Vernal explained.

"Or how to manipulate others to do his bidding." Cinder said, she knew all about that – she worked for Salem after all. She thought about it some more, because she needed more proof of what Shay was up to. Mere suspicions would never fly with the camp if she tried to kill him, simply because she didn't trust him. But Vernal was right, it was still worth speaking with Valravn about. "Alright, keep an eye on Amber would ya?" Cinder asked, standing up and walking away.

"Sure thing." Vernal assured.

Cinder walked away from her tent, and she passed by some of the Bandits who were sat down at the fire. They were drinking heavily, that was probably the most normal thing going on. But there were many of them constantly readying their weapons – like a battle was about to be set off. She kept her eyes on Shay who kept on moving around, he never went anywhere near her tent where Amber was, most likely because he knew she would never let him get close to her.

She approached the Tent where the Chimes of Valravn were constantly dangling, bouncing off each other in a melodic fashion. She stood outside. "Hey, Val? Can we talk? It's important." Cinder requested.

No answer.

"Hellooo?" Cinder sung.

No answer.

"Oh by the gods, enough with the cryptic garbage, speak normally!" Cinder growled with frustration, barging into his tent. She entered, and she found what was inside. There were skulls just stacked in the centre of the room. All with carved markings into their foreheads, and herbs and more chimes.

But…

… Valravn was not here.

It had only just hit here that she could not hear the whispery voices of Valravn's Semblance. "What the hell? Where the hell is he?" Cinder stammered as she looked around his tent. She moved things out of the way, checking to see if he wasn't asleep or simply hiding. But he was not in there. "Seriously? You're always in here, every second of every day, and if not your outside staring off ominously into the void. But now you just disappear without a trace? The moment we need a Branwen…" Cinder sighed, pushing her hands through her shortly cut black hair. She turned and she double took, finding something on the ground.

It was burned up, but enough of it remained that she could see what it once was. It was a Map of Remnant, and he burned it. Cinder was no fool, the only reason Valravn Branwen would have burned a map would have been to cover up his tracks.

"Where the hell are you going?" Cinder questioned. She growled with anger and she stormed out of Valravn's Tent. She walked past the many people and she stopped, noticing that they needed food. They were in the forests of Anima, which therefore meant that there was more than enough game to catch for the Tribe to eat healthily. That could give them the time that they need.

Cinder immediately approached Vernal. "Hey Oscar, Vernal? I need you to come with me, Amber too." Cinder said. Vernal raised a brow with confusion – her and Oscar made sense, but a little girl too.

"Cinder? What is it? Did you talk to Valravn?" Vernal asked.

"Not here." She whispered, looking at Shay once again as he started to speak to multiple members of the Tribe, one after the other. "We're gonna go for a hunt, bag the Tribe some deer." She said louder, so then everyone could hear.

Shay turned, and a smile grew on his face. "Ooh, you guys going for a hunt? Sure you wanna take little Amber with you?" Shay asked as he approached, Oscar gently woke her back up, holding her tiny hand as they walked out from the tent. "I mean… there could be some nasty Grimm in those woods."

"She's gotta learn how to hunt sooner or later. Given how things are, I would rather she sees how it's done by some professionals." Cinder said with a smile, crossing her arms, still holding that Dagger. Vernal knew what Cinder was doing, she was playing nice with Shay in order to keep him off her scent. Shay nodded his head and he walked away from her.

"Well, good luck! I hope you get some good Deer for us!" Shay called as he returned to the Tribe. Cinder watched him as he walked away. She turned to them and they walked towards the exit of the forest, with Amber following them. They carefully navigated their way through the thick forestry, hearing the sounds of creatures everywhere. Birdsong in the trees and the wind blowing through the wooden trees, making them crunch and creak over and over again. Cinder waited until they were far enough away from the Tribe's Location before she started to discuss her plan.

"Care to explain what this is all about, Cinder?" Vernal asked.

"Yeah, I'm a bit curious myself." Oscar agreed. Cinder sighed as she turned to them.

"We can't stay here anymore, with the Tribe." Cinder finally revealed, Vernal raised a brow with confusion.

"Say what now?" Vernal questioned.

"Come on, you've seen it. You both have, hell I bet Amber has." Cinder said, gesturing to the little girl who listened to them. "The Branwens aren't here, and Shay is starting to make a play. We've all seen him going back and forth, into Raven's Tent where the Trove is, and he has been talking to everyone in the Tribe super suspiciously. He's been challenging Raven's Leadership, how much do you wanna bet he is gonna try and take over in her absence? So then he can make this tribe be just like all the others, killing, terrorising and robbing innocents instead of those who actually deserve it? It's what he wants, and with Raven gone he has the perfect opportunity." Cinder explained.

"What about Valravn? He's an asshole not an idiot, and he knows not to mess with Valravn Branwen." Oscar stated.

"Valravn… is gone." Cinder told them.

"What?" They both questioned.

"Yeah, I went into his Tent and he wasn't in there. All I found was a burnt map on the floor, he was headed somewhere. My guess? From the glares he has been throwing at Ruby and his obsession with the Branwen Family? I think he's following them to the Atlesian Wildlands." Cinder explained. This made it all become a reality. They had hoped that with Valravn being here that Shay wouldn't try something as dangerous as a mutiny… but now all the Branwens are away from the camp – therefore giving him the chance he needs to launch a coup.

"Shit… this is bad, this is really bad." Oscar softly said, pacing around the forest.

"Okay… but we can't just abandon the Tribe, Cinder. Raven gave us everything, a new purpose, a new shot at life." Vernal explained, Cinder sighed.

_She's right, she helped me find a new path, a new future for myself, away from Salem. And… I like to think I have become a slightly better person because of it. I dunno if I deserve redemption for my crimes… but I will take this as a victory._

_I'm no hero, the world can burn for all I care, but… if Amber can have a future?_

_A happy future? Well… that will be fine by me. As long as she does not become like me, because she must be better than me._

"I honestly think the Tribe is doomed. Whether or not Raven comes back, Shay is gonna turn them against her, or even if she does regain control – the Black Gallows will be coming for her. We cannot stay with them; Amber cannot stay here." Cinder explained, holding her hand out to the little girl. The two of them looked at her and Vernal gently caressed her head.

"I don't like this… but I trust you Cinder. You're my best friend." Cinder genuinely felt her heart flutter when she said that, nobody had ever said anything like that to her before. "So what do we do?"

"Shay is gonna cause the collapse of the Branwen Tribe, and I wouldn't be surprised if he will start killing those who disagree with him. That means us – and I don't wanna tear this tribe to the ground if I don't have to. I was thinking of a way out, a way we can live peacefully without the Tribe, and without the law coming for us." Cinder explained, and she closed her eyes, remembering what Lavinia Vasillias had said to her back at the Vasillias Cartel.

_Take that little girl and buy some land. A farm, somewhere far away from the Kingdoms. Show her a better way… and in doing so? You will teach yourself as well. Be better than your past and finally live._

Her words had been lingering in Cinder's mind ever since they left the Vasillias Cartel, and after seeing how things here at the Tribe have been crumbling due to Raven's Absence? It just made her want this idea to become a reality for them. "Lavinia suggested that I buy a farm somewhere – maybe Vale – and we clear our names. We live peacefully together, safe and lawfully, create a better future for her and ourselves. I have more than enough power to defend us from Grimm and other Bandits, and you two are great fighters anyway." Cinder explained, Vernal looked at Oscar.

"Where would we get the money?" Oscar asked her, and Cinder sighed.

"Raven's Tent – we steal the money from Shay before he can use it to arm the Tribe and turn them into monsters. We can use the money and jewels in there to buy ourselves a fresh start." Cinder explained. "One where we aren't the monsters anymore… just like we've always wanted."

Oscar looked at her and then at Vernal. "Raven spent many years building that trove for the Tribe. After everything she has done to us… if we steal it… I dunno, isn't that wrong?" Oscar asked her.

"I'm certain she would rather us use it this way than let Shay use it his way." Cinder explained, Vernal nodded her head.

"You're right… I don't like it, abandoning the Tribe… but you're right. Shay's Grunts are already loyal to him, but there are plenty of others who will follow him out of fear or simply because he is the strongest one there right now. And like you said… this little one deserves a happy and safer life." Vernal sweetly cooed to her.

Amber giggled.

"So what's the plan? We just waltz in a steal the trove?" Oscar asked with a chuckle in his voice.

"I doubt it will be that simple, we need to play it smart. Just be ready, I'll think of something." Cinder assured.

Some time after their discussion, they returned back to the Tribe with some dead Deer that they managed to locate to not spread suspicion of their intentions. Shay clapped his hands as he approached them. "We-ell would you look at that! I love me some gals who gets dinner and doesn't expect me to put out!" Shay laughed, Vernal rolled her eyes as she walked with Cinder towards the Cooks, slamming the Deer down on the tables so they could be gutted and skinned.

They split up, acting normal.

But they knew that soon, the peacefulness of the Branwen Tribe was about to shatter like glass.

* * *

**Pyrrha**

* * *

They were watching the footage over and over again of Ruby cutting off Killian's Arm. It was chilling to see her of all people do such a thing. Weiss stared at it, and she felt… guilt. It was what they all were starting to feel right now because they knew Ruby well.

And they knew that she would never do this without good reason. The only people who were not in the room with them were Ilia and Sienna Khan, who were helping manage the situation below. Many people were killed in Jackdaw and Penny's breakout from their cells. Yet that was not what was on their minds. "I was angry at her… because I felt that she didn't trust us. And I guess I still am, but now? After seeing her do that? I'm worried for her." Weiss admitted, watching the recording as she shot forward and cut his arm off. There was so much blood, and Ruby did not even seem phased by it.

"I know what you mean. That isn't like her." Jaune said as he sat down with Pyrrha next to him. He pushed his hands through his hair, and Winter was sat down at the table with a mug of coffee. "I've never seen her do something like that before."

"I know Ruby – she would never try and kill someone unless she truly had no other choice. They kept on talking about the Atlesian Wildlands, that they had to get there before Jackdaw did. We've been so focused on trying to bring them in that we haven't once even considered the possibility." Weiss sighed as she stood up. Pyrrha looked at her as she walked around.

"What possibility?" Pyrrha asked.

"They mentioned a man – Watts? Some Doctor…" Weiss said as she pinched her chin, pondering. "They were convinced that he was related to Salem somehow, that he is a part of her scheme. I thought she was lying at first, just trying to get us to let them go. We've been so… afraid… of the U.G.R and what they'll do if we don't bring them in that we really have been pushing them away." Weiss explained. She sat down and buried her head in her hands.

"What changed?" Jaune asked her.

"Huh?" She replied.

"You've been adamant about bringing them in. I mean we all have, because at first, we thought it was the right thing to do. Was it really just what she did to Killian that made you change?" He asked her.

"Not just that – they fought ferociously. You only do that if you know something is bad. And what we saw out there in the wild? Tyrian, Mercury and Emerald. Hazel and Adam? The Feral Ones? The Apathy? Salem's reach is growing by the day, and our entire society is more divided now than ever before. Who else would be behind all this?" Weiss questioned as she turned to them.

"I know – the thing is, I think we have screwed up. They all think we're against them just because of Killian but we're not. Sure we disagreed on the Consensus but really it was because they left us. But now… now I'm starting to wonder if we're the idiots in all this and not them." Jaune said.

Blake walked away from the kitchen and she sat down with her tea. "The thing is… like we've already said – they're convinced that this Doctor Watts guy is working for Salem. The very thing that caused all this was an E.M.P from an unknown location. Which was set off again when Cordovin sent airships to try and stop Jackdaw and the others from escaping. It feels like Jackdaw is not the only threat in all this anymore – and I'm starting to wonder if they know that." Blake said as she sat there, circling the rim of her cup with her finger.

Jaune looked at Pyrrha – and she nodded. She already knew what he was about to tell them.

_They need to know… about what Killian told me about the U.G.R._

"I've been having doubts for a while now, about whether or not we picked the right side. Earlier I was… well I was trying to convince myself that we were right. But Killian told me something, something that has lingered in my mind ever since." Jaune explained, they all looked at him. "About the U.G.R."

"And you believed him?" Winter questioned.

"This may be the first time I know he was telling the truth. The U.G.R care about control, it's all they have ever cared for. Hell the Black Gallows are essentially used to enforce that control and that peace they created. Killian told me about the things that they are willing to do in order to stop things from happening – like another Great War." Jaune explained, Weiss' eyes widened. "It's called the Inhumane Necessity – and by the way, you cannot tell anyone about this, or they _will_ kill us."

"We promise." Weiss assured.

"Of course." Blake agreed.

"Won't have to worry about anything leaving my lips." Winter promised.

Jaune blew out a shaky breath. "The Inhumane Necessity is essentially a Societal Reset button, and he told me that they could use it to wipe out entire cultures who stand against their rule. And they already tried four years ago."

"Beacon?" Blake gasped.

"Yeah, Killian's whole mission there was via an order from the Unified Governments of Remnant."

"But… why?" Weiss questioned.

"Because of Professor Ozpin and what happened during the Vytal Festival. It was causing unrest, and when we survived the first attack – they wanted to make sure they could use such a _tragedy_ to unite everyone under their rule again. To make sure it would never happen again." Jaune explained.

"That's why they're creating the Vytal Consensus… isn't it?" Winter realised as she stood up.

"I think so. To have the Academies all under their thumb, and also under the Military's Thumb. That way they have full control over us, and they can get what they want. Of course Killian agrees with their logic when it comes down to his personal view on the Academies and how they work, but even he told me that he despises them. Because all they genuinely care about are themselves." Jaune explained.

There it was – the truth.

And it changed everything for them, because they all suddenly realised what fools they had been, and that Ruby was actually the one in the right. Weiss buried her head in her hands. "Oh gods… what have we done?" Weiss softly stammered.

The Hunter's Resolve was falling apart, the truth of the Unified Governments of Remnant and their regime? Well… that could break anyone's loyalty to a cause.

The doors opened and they turned, seeing Sienna and Ilia walking into the room where they were. They did not want to risk telling them what they knew, at the end of the day they did not know those two as well. "The situation is under control. Although I am afraid to inform you than Ilia and myself are not going to follow you to Atlas." She told them.

"You're not?" Blake asked with concern.

"I'm sorry, Blake… but I can't. Too many bad memories." Ilia said with a sigh in her voice, but she was not the only one here. Veronica was here as well, and they could hear her on her scroll talking to someone.

"… just be ready. I'll be there soon."

Veronica entered after she ended her call. "I understand." Blake said, giving Ilia a warm hug.

"I will be joining you though. Killian has been arrested by the U.G.R and has already be sent on an Airship to Atlas where he will be treated and be taken to the Black Tower." Veronica explained, their eyes were wide.

"Arrested?" Jaune asked with confusion.

"I don't know all of the details, but he made some decisions that they did not agree with. I think they are going to remove him from his position in the Black Gallows." Veronica explained.

_That's a relief._

It may be the first piece of relieving news so far, but they also remembered that Veronica was indeed still his girlfriend. So they bore false grief for her. "Oh… I'm so sorry to hear that."

"Your poker faces are crap, y'know?" Veronica chuckled as she planted one hand on her hip. Sienna looked at Blake as she stood there.

"Ilia and I are going to head to Menagerie and inform your parents about what has happened. They need to know about Adam and the Feral Ones." Sienna assured, gently squeezing her shoulder.

"Thank you, High Leader." Blake smiled.

"Come on, kid – I think we've been through enough for First Name basis." Sienna chuckled, she and Ilia walked away from them and they left the room. Veronica was about to leave as well but she stopped and looked back.

"Oh and by the way, Pyrrha?" Veronica spoke.

"Hmm?" Pyrrha replied.

"General Cordovin said she wanted to have a word with you." Veronica told her, she looked at them all and Jaune nodded at her.

Pyrrha walked through Cypher's Ridge and entered the elevator. Their discussion had indeed been very pivotal in their day. It had completely changed their views on what they had been doing all this time – and whether or not they should follow them – but to help them this time?

Perhaps they could still atone for their mistakes…

Pyrrha arrive up in Cordovin's Office, and the doors of the elevator shot open. She walked inside, and she saw the many photographs of her when she earned a new medal. She had them all on display, and there were so many pictures of Ironwood with her, so many ceremonies. She turned and saw her stood before the large window that overlooked Argus. "General Cordovin." Pyrrha greeted, and the General turned to her.

"Miss Nikos, please sit." Cordovin gestured to the table. Pyrrha took Akoúo and Milo off her back and set it down against the wall. She sat at the table and Cordovin sat with her. "Tell me, how much do you know about General Ironwood, gods rest his soul?"

"Um… not much really. I just knew he was one of the best Generals they had at Atlas Academy and was why he got two Council Seats instead of just one." Pyrrha explained.

"Indeed, you see I actually trained that man. He trained with Killian himself, and I studied their behaviours. Where Killian was a strategic mastermind and cunning to his core, Ironwood had the innate gift of being able to lead anyone. No matter the rank, everyone felt they could follow him to hell and back. I admired him, and I feared Killian. I do not have much concern for Killian's arrest, if you ask me the man has become quite dangerous due to the amount of choices he has had to make as Commander of the Black Gallows. But General Ironwood? He deserved better than the fate that he got." Cordovin explained, and Pyrrha nodded his head.

"He deserved better than being killed by a bomb from a madman." Pyrrha said.

"He did – but after his death, I have officially been placed as Standing General in his stead until a proper replacement has been chosen. It seems to me that Ironwood and Ozpin, alongside the rest of the Headmasters, were involved in something that related to you in particular, Miss Nikos. I went through some of Ironwood's old discussions of Professor Ozpin – and they always referred to you as _their Guardian_. I am curious to know what it is that they meant by that." Cordovin said, and Pyrrha felt her stomach fill with nervous butterflies.

_She's talking about the Vault and the Fall Maiden power…_

_I can't tell her, Ozpin specifically asked me not to, and so did Ironwood._

"As would I, General. After the Battles of Beacon they never did approach me about it again. I guess we will never know." Pyrrha lied, rather convincingly too. Cordovin nodded her head. "All I know is that they did what was necessary."

"Yes… so why do you think we're talking?" Cordovin asked her.

"I have been wondering that, to be honest." Pyrrha admitted. Cordovin stood up from her chair and she held her arms behind her back as she approached the window again.

"Ironwood was cruelly butchered by a madman who should have been kept under Killian's custody, but he escaped multiple times. The man is beyond redemption and he must be cut down. But your friends have been running rough shot on this operation for far too long. They have played right into Jackdaw's hand, and as a consequence have caused many people a great deal of hardship. The destruction of Lake Matsu, the battle in Vacuo and now the attack in my base. Many people have died because of this, and it makes me very, very angry. And in turn – it has angered the Unified Governments of Remnant." Cordovin explained, turning on the spot to face Pyrrha.

The Invincible Girl stared back. "What is it you are trying to tell me, General… and why did you ask me to come here and not Jaune?" Pyrrha asked.

"I asked you here because I am afraid that I do not trust that boy's judgement. If we are being honest, I feel that _you_ should have been the leader of your team, not him." Cordovin explained.

_How dare she… Jaune is a better leader than you could ever imagine you pint-sized…_

"But, to answer your question – I am telling you that you and your team are off this mission from here on out. After your failed attempts to apprehend the Rogues it has become clear to the U.G.R that you all have far too much personal attachment to the criminals, and therefore will no longer be involved and must return to Beacon Academy until Jackdaw Branwen has been terminated, and the Rogues have been apprehended by the Black Gallows. Dead or Alive." Cordovin explained, Pyrrha's eyes widened.

"Dead… or alive?" She gasped.

"Yes, they have caused far too much damage for there to be any room for error now." Cordovin explained. "You and your team best pack up and return to Vale."

Pyrrha glared at her and she contained her composure. "Yes, General." She agreed, turning and walking over to Milo and Akoúo, connecting them to her back as she walked away. Cordovin turned with some last words.

"Miss Nikos – that man butchered a dear friend of mine. Anyone who gets in the way in apprehending those responsible for his and so many other deaths will be punished accordingly by the U.G.R." Cordovin stared Pyrrha dead in the eyes. "Anyone."

Pyrrha nodded her head. "Understood."

But as Pyrrha walked away, she knew that they were done being the puppets for the Unified Governments of Remnant. She returned back to the Former Hunters, and she immediately gave them their weapons. "We need to leave, pack your things. We're headed for Atlas."

"What?" Jaune asked her.

"Cordovin is sending the Black Gallows after Jackdaw and our friends – and they have orders to apprehend them, alive or dead." Pyrrha explained. "We're no longer on this mission officially… it's time we make things right. Ruby needs our help now more than ever."

They all looked at each other.

Weiss nodded her head.

"It's time to make amends…"

* * *

**Author Note - I guess we're all rogues now...**

**Jaune took one hell of a risk telling them all what Killian told him about the U.G.R, let's hope that the U.G.R don't learn about it. But now they are all gonna be hunted for also turning on the Government like this. But it's about time they realised they were on the wrong side, and now are gonna have to try and catch up to help them. It's honestly relieving to write that part after how difficult it was to write them fighting XD**

**Ruby is not doing so hot, but man... I love writing the World Building in these stories, the Great War Era is so fun and interesting, especially the stuff with the Atlesian Pagans and how they changed into who they are now. The Atlesian Wildlands are gonna be terrifying to behold.**

**And we finally got to see how things are going for Cinder and the Branwen Tribe... and things are BAD! But the real question is: where is Valravn Branwen?**

**And Killian is finally facing punishment for his decisions.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**\- Matt**


	49. Atlas

**Chapter 48 – Atlas**

* * *

**Ruby**

* * *

Ruby was stood up by the window with her arm rested against the wall, staring out at the thick clouds. They were still making their approach, but as they flew, the clouds started to thin and depart. "If you've never seen Atlas in person, you're not gonna want to miss this." Qrow said as he turned to them with a smile. Ruby, Yang, Nora and Ren stood up and they walked over to the cockpit, and they stared ahead whilst Raven and Eryka flew through the clouds.

"Weiss and Winter always told us stories about Atlas, but I've never seen it in person." Yang said as she crossed her arms, preparing to see it.

"Is it weird that I'm kinda nervous?" Ruby asked, and Qrow chuckled.

"Nah, it's always pretty crazy seeing this place." Qrow assured. The Atlesian Airship pushed through the clouds, and before them they saw it. The divided cities of Atlas and Mantle, one planted on the ground and the other was up in the sky, with massive anchoring cables holding the two together. Atlas was massive, overshadowing the far smaller Mantle below them, with a massive dome of Hardlight dust that protected them from the elements of Solitas' icy cold climate. Spiralling highways for the traffic to easily move around, and the glow of all the buildings with lights constantly online.

Then down below was Mantle, far less advanced than the rich city above them, it still echoed back to the Great War. Scars of the war were surrounding the city, decimated towns outside the walls, and craters where bombs once fell. There was a massive wall that wrapped around Mantle, protecting the people inside, and there was a constant orange hue about the place. The Heating Grid was constantly online, preventing the snow from falling and the cold from killing everyone down there. Some believed it was one of the only reasons that the Cryostorms in the Atlesian Wildlands could not reach them, due to the amount of climate management happening.

Yet there was evidence of the Cryostorms growling larger and larger with every decade. Something was happening out there – and from up here upon their approach? They could actually see the Atlesian Wildlands, or at least they could see the stormy clouds and the white blur of the Cryostorms. It was frightening to see from all the way over here, because they could not see the actual landscape inside of that place, as if it was some sort of barrier.

But as Qrow and Raven stared at the Kingdom of Atlas, they all knew that something was wrong. "Qrow? Raven? What is it?" Eryka asked as Dulcis chirped curiously beside her.

"The Atlesian Fleet…" He said with wide eyes, staring at them all. All of their Dreadnaughts were in defensive position, constantly guarding Atlas. "What the hell are they doing? They're set up like they're expecting an attack."

"They lost Ironwood, the leader of both their military and the Academies. He held two seats on the Council of the U.G.R. Can't imagine that helped their paranoia." Ruby said as she looked at them all. The smaller Airships – like their one – were flying around like swarming vultures, constantly patrolling the skies.

Raven looked around, then her eyes widened again. "Look!" She pointed, they all followed her finger and saw exactly what it was that caught their attention. There was a freshly crashed Atlesian Airship outside of Mantle, a couple of miles out from the walls themselves. Qrow stared at it, and so did Ruby.

"That was the same Airship that Jackdaw stole." Ruby said.

"He must have ditched it, used his bird form to enter the Wildlands. He has a better chanced out there than we do, he will be able to avoid the storms faster and get to shelter. It won't be that easy for us. We need to get those Ice-Claw Boots." Raven explained, Qrow nodded his head. Jackdaw was not a fool; he knew that flying into Atlas via one of their Airships would just lead to him being shot down. Entering it in his Corvid Form would definitely give him a better chance for success.

"He might have had the right idea." Ruby revealed, and they all looked at her. "Cordovin definitely would have tagged this Airship when we left Argus. I wouldn't be surprised if they Fleet is gonna throw everything at us as soon as we enter their scanning range."

"We haven't come all this way just to get shot down by the U.G.R." Qrow growled as he held the back of Raven's seat rather tight.

"I'll set us down by Jackdaw's Airship. Should be out of their range enough so then we can get to Mantle." Raven said as she looked ahead.

"How are we supposed to cross all that snow? And even when we're inside, we kinda stand out." Eryka asked as she gestured to her blue hair and Ruby's red cape. Raven did not have many ideas in that regard, they did not have much in the form of stealthy gear. She pondered – then she remembered that they were indeed going to need snow gear to survive the cold out there. The Cryostorms may be a death sentence no matter the gear you wear, but the natural cold outside of those storms was still deadly, and therefore you would most certainly need thicker clothing than what they were wearing.

"We will stick to the shadows before we can get our hands on some snow gear. I know some areas where we can steal some." Raven explained. "It will help us get into the Schnee Dust Company Mining Branch down in Mantle. Once we're down there, we're gonna have to find those Ice-Claw Boots to steal. It won't be easy, but once we have them, we will have a chance out there in the Wildlands." Raven explained as she brought the Airship down and landed it down on the ground.

The landing gear folded out from the belly of the Airship and it settled down on the snow. The soft surface of the snow sunk and crumbled as the feet of the landing gear pushed down into it. The rear end of the Airship opened, and they walked outside, feeling the cold of Solitas' climate. Eryka walked over to Jackdaw's Airship that he crashed, it was still on fire and she pushed her hand against the steel. "What are you doing?" Ruby asked her.

"The hull is still really hot from the flames, and the flames are still fresh, they haven't died down at all. He must have crashed this at most a few minutes ago." Eryka said, somehow that made it sting all the more. They were so close to catching up to him, but he still managed to get away from their gaze.

"That's more than enough time for him to have flown to Mantle." Qrow explained, massaging his wrist as he looked around. There were no tracks at all – as to be expected from him using the Corvid Shapeshifting Power that all the Branwens were capable of using. Yet all were different, and Valravn's was the most unique of them all. And none of them realised that he was following them for some mysterious reason.

Yang looked around, and she softly touched the side of her head, hearing the whispers again. "Valravn…" They were extremely faint, but she heard it. She looked around, but she could not see Valravn anywhere, but they travelled with him long enough to know that sound. Ren looked at Yang, noticing her looking pretty shaken.

"Yang? What's wrong?" Ren asked her.

"I thought I…" She sighed since the feeling was gone. "… it's nothing. I thought I heard something, but I think I'm just rattled."

Ruby looked at her, noticing that little reaction she had. Ruby did not hear it, but that similar look was present on the faces of Qrow and Raven, but nobody else. Eryka stood up from the wreckage of Jackdaw's Airship. Dulcis landed on her shoulder and gently chirped. "I dunno if bringing you with us into the Atlesian Wildlands is a good idea pal. Jackdaw might be able to avoid the storms, but you? You're an Eagle, he's smaller and faster than you. Stay here in Mantle, and out of trouble. Just as we planned, okay buddy?" She asked him, he sadly chirped and nuzzled his head against hers lovingly. "Aw… it's okay baby… we'll come back soon. Just stay safe, you're by best bud, remember." She cooed, letting him fly up into the air.

He circled for a few moments before following her command, heading towards Mantle. "Have you done this before?" Ruby asked her.

"Yeah, sometimes when I was heading somewhere when him being there could ruin the mission, I'd ask him to stay nearby, but stay out of trouble. He knows the drill; he will move around Mantle and wait for us to come back from the Wildlands. I don't want to risk him out there, it's too cold for him. And that's saying something." Eryka explained as she held Constantine Damascus in her hands before she attached it to the magnetic strips on the back of her outfit.

"Come on, we should get inside Mantle before the cold kills us." Qrow said as he walked with them, packed up with everything they needed. They all walked ahead but Nora stopped.

"Nora?" Ren said.

"Well… might as well cover our tracks." Nora said, spinning around and firing Stormur Skeggox's Grenade Launcher towards the landed Airship. The pink grenade erupted into the side of the Airship, then the entire Airship exploded into a cloud of orange flames. It bounced up in the air before crashing back down to the ground, smoke rising high in the sky. "Now we can go, now they can't track us in case they already were."

"Good thinking, c'mon let's get moving." Ruby said, looking over her shoulder for a moment when she saw Valravn. She double took, but then he was gone once again. The whispery voices were not there, but she knew… she knew that she saw him for a few moments there.

They walked towards Mantle, keeping a low profile and struggling through the snow. Ruby stayed close to Yang, and she looked at her. "Yang… I know you better than most… tell me, what's wrong?" She asked her, Yang looked at her and she sighed.

"I heard the Whispers of Valravn." She told her, Ruby glanced at her sister, and she started to piece it together.

"That's… concerning… because I could have sworn, I just saw him." Ruby said, looking over her shoulder again. There was that constant feeling there, like when your hairs were standing on end the whole time. Yang looked at Ruby and her lilac eyes were wide now.

"Oh gods… I thought that maybe I was being affected by those damn whispers because of how long we were with him… but do you think he's been stalking us?" Yang asked her with worry.

"I don't know, but we should be careful. I spoke to an old lady back at the Summit's Claim, she told me a lot about the Branwens and the Silver Eyed Tribes back in the Great War and the history between them. Long story short, there is a lot of bad blood between the tribes. And she told me not to trust Valravn Branwen. And… I don't know if we should be trusting everything Qrow and Raven say." Ruby explained.

"Yeah, I'm with you on that. They're hiding something from us, Jackdaw is many things that he keeps mentioning that they are lying to us about something – if he was bluffing then why do they both have such a strong reaction to it?" Yang agreed as they walked, speaking softly, keeping their eyes on the Branwen Twins.

"Why would they lie though? We're family." Ruby wondered.

"I dunno – but I think we need to be ready for anything." Yang said, Ruby nodded her head.

"Yeah, whatever is out there in the Atlesian Wildlands that Jackdaw is searching for… we're gonna get the truth. One way or another." Ruby explained as they kept walking. Ruby turned and she saw the Crows and Ravens that flew through the air over their heads, she could not hear them, but those whispery voices were still there.

"Valravn… Valravn… Valravn…"

It took them some time before they got to Mantle, but when thy approached the walls, they could feel the air warm up, and the snow on the ground started to disappear, melted away. They all stood against the walls, looking up at the top where guards should be located – yet nobody was there. "Where's the Guard?" Raven wondered, and Eryka narrowed her eyes.

"Dulcis is still up here, he could still help us see." Eryka said, she closed her eyes and connected her vision to her Altum Eagle's. _Hey pal, we need to see where the guards are on the walls, find them._ She looked through his eyes as the big Eagle soared through the sky, and he spotted them. His eyes managed to highlight their thermal readings; they were around the walls but were guarding a specific location.

"There's… a hole in the wall, something happened here." Eryka said as she crouched down, listening through his ears. He landed near the soldiers and he listened to what they had to say.

"Sir?" A civilian was stood on the other side, he must have recently come here as well. "What happened here? This hole wasn't here last time I came to Mantle."

"Terrorist attack, sir. A new faction, we think a splinter group from the White Fang, they planted a bomb on the wall. We had a lot of Grimm get inside because of it; we're still working on repairing it. I'm afraid this area is off limits, so please remember to stay clear of this part of the wall." The Atlesian Soldier explained.

"Okay, thank you." The civilian responded, leaving the area as requested.

Eryka left her Eagle's mind, and she turned to them. "The Feral Ones. They planted a bomb on the wall, but considering how he talked about it? It must have been an inside man in Atlas who planted that bomb. They were relying on the Grimm."

"And with so many soldiers guarding that one point they could strike the Prison here." Ren realised.

"Do you think they would try and hit the Black Tower up in Atlas?" Qrow wondered.

"I dunno… that place is one of the Black Gallows Prisons, it holds some of the worst of the worst. Mass Murderers, some have been done for wiping out entire towns." Raven said as she stood there. "But they've already managed to do a lot of damage, and with Adam on their side? Working with those guys Jaune mentioned, Hazel and Tyrian, and therefore with Watts? They could probably break in and free them." Raven explained.

"If they do that, then it will be chaos in the streets. There's a reason why they didn't just put these specific people in maximum security prisons like in Argus. The Black Tower was designed to hold powerful maniacs, specifically Fallen Huntsmen or Fallen Angels." Qrow added as he looked around.

"I thought we didn't know where they were taken?" Ren asked.

"Certain individuals. People like this were known across the world for their monstrous deeds, therefore lots of people would rather know that they are suffering in the worst place imaginable. But we don't know where the Black Gallows Headquarters are, and lots of people disappear. People like Jackdaw, and many others. People who are taken before they can take lives, or people who know too much about dangerous information. Nobody knows where those people go, but the Black Tower is where extremely dangerous people go that the world already knows about." Qrow explained.

Ruby scoffed. "Wouldn't it just be simpler to take them all to a place nobody knows about?" Ruby sighed.

"You may have just summed the Black Gallows and the way they do things in a single sentence there, kiddo. They never do things simply." Qrow scoffed.

"Do you think that's where Killian would have taken us when he captured us back at Lake Matsu?" Nora inquired.

"No, I imagine he would have made us _disappear_ at their secret Headquarters. To make sure that where we stand on the Vytal Consensus cannot affect the population." Qrow answered, yet none of them knew that the Vytal Consensus had essentially been thrown in the trash by the Unified Governments of Remnant.

Things were… complicated… to say the least.

"Okay… so how do we get up this wall?" Ruby wondered. Eryka started to climb her way up, using the slash marks and chunks broken off the concrete from the many Grimm attacks that Mantle had suffered from. They all watched her as she climbed her way up. "That… works." They all clambered their way up the wall, and as soon as they got up, they took cover, making sure that the Atlesian Soldiers that were on duty could not see them.

They dropped down off the other side and they looked around. They stuck to the shadows, since the Atlesians were everywhere, and they knew that they were being hunted by the Atlesians now. Nothing made that clearer than the large Holographic Boards that were on the streets in many locations with their faces.

* * *

_Citizens Beware – Dangerous Rogue Huntsmen and Huntresses are loose in Mantle & Atlas_

_Ruby Rose – Age 19 – Rogue Huntress_

_Yang Xiao Long – Age 21 – Rogue Huntress_

_Lie Ren – Age 21 – Rogue Huntsman_

_Nora Valkyrie – Age 21 – Rogue Huntress_

_Eryka Vasillias – Age 26 – Rogue Huntress_

_Qrow Branwen – Age 45 – Rogue Huntsman_

_Raven Branwen – Age 45 – Rogue Huntsman_

_If you see these fugitives, please report this to the nearest Atlesian Soldier you see and show them where you last saw them. These people are extremely dangerous and are murderers, please be careful._

_Thank you_

_Unified Governments of Remnant_

* * *

Nora scoffed. "They write it like a damn letter… I dunno who's worse anymore, the U.G.R or the Black Gallows?" Nora said as she walked with them.

They stuck to the shadows, and as they approached the Markets, they saw the Schnee Dust Company Mining Corporation Branch directly ahead of them. It was placed practically in the centre of Mantle, and it was massive, where there were huge shipping rails that moved the dust towards the anchor cables. The Dust was pumped through those powerful anchors and sent up to the Factors inside of Atlas where they could be refined and sold. It was an amazingly simple and genius method, but from here they could see the labour that the Faunus Slaves suffered. They were scarred and in pain whilst the Atlesian Soldiers in their clean armour paced around them with loaded rifles. Some had Stun Batons, ready to discipline the Faunus if they stop.

"There it is… it's bigger than I was expecting." Ruby said.

"Of all the Kingdoms, Atlas and Mantle are technically the youngest of them, due to what happened to Ionspyre in the Atlesian Wildlands. Nicholas Schnee built the Schnee Dust Company at the end of the Great War, there was so much damage, so he helped build and work the mines with both Humans and Faunus. He wanted the Atlesians to move on from their Pagan Ways, and he knew that they had to share. Solitas was known for having the richest Dust Mines, but the largest were lost from the Cryostorms up North. They used the Mines to start Dust Trade with the Kingdoms so they could rebuild and have a viable fuel source for the rebuilding projects. This of course, helped Atlas become the most profitable Kingdom thanks to Nicholas, but after Jacques Schnee married into the Family Name… the S.D.C has become a dark stain on Atlas' name." Qrow explained as he watched the poor Faunus Slaves being poorly treated by the soldiers, paid by Jacques.

"That facility has what we need, the Ice Claw Boots and the Snow Gear… it just means that we need to get inside." Raven explained as she watched.

They avoided the view of the Atlesian Patrols and drones that hovered down the paths, they stuck to the alleyways, hearing the soldiers commanding people to stay in their homes per the Curfew put in place. Things were getting worse and worse after the death of General Ironwood. "I take it the Unified Governments of Remnant took advantage of the Dust Trade that Nicholas invented?"

"Of course they did. The original founders of the U.G.R were like him, and he was one of the representatives. They wanted to rebuild, to help move on from the War that nearly destroyed all life on Remnant. But the new Councillors? I fear the Dust Trade has clouded their minds with greed, because they all are shareholders in the Dust Trade, and are therefore extremely wealthy." Qrow said.

"Politics…" Eryka sighed, it was so tiring to talk about it and all of its problems. They approached the buildings nearest to the S.D.C Mining Corporation building, and they heard a voice that they were not expecting to hear.

It was Jacques Schnee.

"Get a move on! We have a shipment to deliver, and you know where you will go if you animals disappoint me!" Jacques yelled with anger at the Faunus. They couldn't help but notice that the only civilians allowed in the streets, even at night, were the Faunus Slaves. Being worked day and night for the S.D.C.

This was not what Nicholas would have wanted.

_What is he talking about? Where does he send them if they let him down?_

"Jacques?" One of the Schnee Dust Company Higher Ups approached him. "We cannot work these people this hard, people will start standing against us."

"Not if they want power to their city they won't. Do not judge me for how I do business, what we do here keeps the lights on for the world. Now, make sure these animals get the job done, I must go to the Foundations of Sovereignty. Killian is on trial, and I can't wait to see that arrogant bastard get put in the Black Tower." Jacques said.

Their eyes widened.

"Killian… has been arrested?" Yang gasped, eyes wide.

"What the hell is happening?" Ruby could not stop getting that question out of her head, but none of them knew that Valravn was watching them from the catwalk of the a nearby building. His burning red eyes constantly watching.

The whispery voices constantly echoing around him.

"Valravn… Valravn… Valraaaaaaavnnnnnn…"

* * *

**Jaune**

* * *

They were getting ready to become the very things that they were hunting – Rogues.

"Isn't it kinda ironic that we're going rogue now?" Weiss asked Jaune.

"Uh… yeah, y'know what I think that is pretty ironic." Jaune agreed, laughing.

Weiss sighed. "I bet Ruby is gonna go crazy at us for how stupid we've been." Weiss groaned as she started packing her dust vials into her case. Jaune chuckled, doing the same with his fire dust crystals for Crocea Mors.

"Gods… I'm just waiting for the _I told you so_ from Ruby." Jaune agreed, turning as he saw Pyrrha, Blake and Winter joining them.

"So, are you all ready?" Winter asked them.

"Ready to do the exact same things our friends did? The very thing we judged them for? Becoming Criminals?" Jaune listed, they all looked at him and he shrugged his shoulders. "Eh, why not?"

"I must admit, Winter – I am surprised that you of all people are okay with this." Blake said as she slung her bag over her shoulder. Filled with ammo and dust crystals for her semblance.

"Why's that?" Winter asked, and Weiss just gave her a look with a raised eyebrow.

"Really? You? C'mon." Weiss laughed; Winter quickly figured out what they meant by that.

"Look, back when Ironwood was still alive, I was loyal to him, and you, and Eryka. The only reason I chose your side, Weiss – was because of you. I couldn't leave you, not when it felt like your family was being torn apart. Again." Winter explained as she gently held Weiss' shoulder. "But now – we can't keep looking the other way. The Unified Governments of Remnant are too dangerous for us to trust, and sure, Killian may be arrested. But I wouldn't count on him staying that way, that bastard has measures in place and is a lot smarter than I first took him for." Winter explained as she walked over to her sword, sheathing it into her belt. "Ruby and the others have no idea of what they're heading into out there and neither do we. But we have to help them." Winter said, and Weiss nodded her head.

"Ruby's gonna have a field day with this." Weiss scoffed.

"Will she though? I mean… it's Ruby. We all know her, she'll either be really annoyed and yell at us, or she'll just be cool with it and focus on the matter at hand." Jaune said, resting his head on his shield.

"Wanna take bets?" Weiss asked them. "I'm gonna say she goes crazy at us."

"Calm." Jaune wagered.

"Calm." Blake wagered.

"Crazy." Winter wagered.

"Crazy." Pyrrha also wagered.

"Ooh… two on three." Weiss said as she turned to Jaune, and he shrugged his shoulders.

"I guess we'll see when we find them." Jaune said, they all looked up at the Intercom System when they heard the voice of Cordovin speaking to everyone.

"All staff please report to the mess hall, we have important things to discuss." She told them, they all looked at Winter and she nodded her head at them. This was the best chance they were ever going to get, they needed to get down to the Airstrip as quickly as they could but after the battle they had against the Rogues, there was no way they were going to be able to get down there without being questioned by the Atlesians. But now that Cordovin has commanded them to go into the Mess Hall – as planned – they have a window.

"Come on, we need to get moving. Act natural, don't arouse any suspicion of where we're going." Winter told them as she quickly walked down the spiralling metal staircase, which was heading down towards ground level. More Atlesian Staff and Soldiers were entering the building to hear what Cordovin was going to tell them.

"What do you think Cordovin is saying to them? At this meeting?" Blake asked as they quickly moved down the stairs.

"Ruby and her team. You heard what Pyrrha said, she's sending her forces to hunt them down, dead or alive. I wouldn't be surprised if the Ace-Ops up in Atlas have already been informed." Winter explained.

"Ace-Ops?" Pyrrha asked with concern.

"Yeah, Atlas' best of the best. They were once Ironwood's personal Huntsmen and Huntresses, just like me. But these guys are different, they take their orders seriously, so seriously that they are more like machines." Winter explained as they arrived at the ground level.

"That's not good. Do you think they'll come after us in the Wildlands?" Jaune inquired.

"Out there? I doubt it, they may be the best of the best but they're not stupid. Like us." Winter said which made them all chuckle, but then she stopped, holding her hand out to stop them. There were still Black Gallows soldiers stationed here, they were speaking to each other but there was something rather concerning going on, something that Winter caught onto immediately. "They have their voice scramblers activated… they don't want anyone hearing what they're saying."

"Huh? What's so weird about that?" Jaune asked.

"Come on Jaune, use your head. If they're using those scramblers its because they have been ordered to not give away classified information. Or orders." She said, she felt a lump in her throat from that impending fear she felt.

"Lemma guess, you think this is linked to Killian?" Jaune asked. "How, he's been sent to the Black Tower."

"Like I said, Killian is smart. I wouldn't be surprised if he had an order put in place to help him weasel his way out of this. Dutch wouldn't give the order though, he's a good man. Confused but good." Winter explained.

"Veronica?" Weiss suggested.

"No, she doesn't have connections to the Black Gallows other than Killian. He has other people loyal to him in the Faction, I wouldn't be surprised if they were prepared for this. Be careful, don't let them suspect us." Winter advised, she walked ahead, and they followed her, acting normal as they passed by the Stockholm Troopers. One of them glanced at Pyrrha, and those burning red visors of theirs were quite frightening, like the eyes of the Grimm. They kept walking ahead and Pyrrha glanced back at them, the soldier was talking to the other again.

_I don't think they suspected us…_

They approached the doors but then they heard Cordovin's voice down the hallway, giving the order. "You have your orders. Find the Rogue Huntsmen and Huntresses who have butchered innocents for their quest for revenge. Show them the unstoppable might of the Atlesian Military! And do not worry if you kill them, the Unified Governments of Remnant have authorised lethal force if they fail to comply." Cordovin informed.

That was it – there was no disputing it. The U.G.R were cutting off loose ends, but for what purpose? They were deciding to go against the Vytal Consensus after all of this last time Killian spoke with them. Why were they still so hell-bent on trying to execute the Rogues now?

Jaune knew that they were corrupt, but heartless? Unforgiving? That was not something he believed in, that was not something he was willing to stand with.

They opened the doors and looked across the Airstrip, the Airships were locked down and there were many Gunships in the sky. They were not going to risk another Airship being stolen, but luckily that was not their plan. They would never make it if they tried to steal an Airship, bug there were other ways to get out of here. "Okay, stay behind me." She said, holding a very heavy bag of Lien Cards, enough to make a man rich for the rest of their lives.

_The pros of being a Schnee is that near bottomless bank account of theirs._

They walked towards one of the landed Merchant Airships, there were Atlesian Knights helping load the heavy crates of Dust for the Schnee Dust Company into the cargo hold. The pilot was stood by the hull, smoking a cigarette. He was not a wealthy man, that much was certain from his simple clothing and laboured face. He lifted his gaze when the two Schnee Heiresses approached him.

"My, my… the Schnees are in the presence of such a humble merchant. How my I assist you?" He asked them curiously.

He was not a tall man, with a shaved head and he held his hands together, a smile on his face. His brown eyes looked upon them. "What's your name, sir?" Winter asked them curiously.

"I'm afraid my name would mean nothing to you, I am merely a humble merchant, and in some ways a soothsayer…" He said, smirking at them as he bowed charismatically.

"Huh… well… Mr Soothsayer, I guess… we need your help. But it kinda requires you to… smuggle us." Winter explained, and he looked over her shoulder at the other Huntresses and Huntsman behind her. Pyrrha timidly waved with a smile and a small laugh.

"Ooh… breaking the law? Well where would you have me smuggle you?" He asked them curiously.

"Mantle." Winter answered.

"Well it's a good thing I am heading there right now… however… it is going to cost you. I do not smuggle people for free you know?" He said to them, but Winter grabbed his hand and slammed the pouch full of lien into his hand. His eyes widened as he looked inside at just how many lien cards were in there.

"Is that enough to pay our way?" Winter asked him curiously, he chuckled as he threw the pouch up in the air, catching it again.

"Yeah, I'd say that covers you… and then some." He chuckled. "Go, get in, before anyone spots you."

They all quickly got inside of the Airship, before the Atlesian Knights could notice them, and he pulled a curtain in front of them so then the loaders could not spot them. They crouched down and took cover behind the crates. They heard him speaking with the crew who were down there with him, finishing up this end of the job. They were all ready for a fight as they listened, but then he turned and walked towards the cockpit, climbing inside as the rear door closed behind him. They all held on tight as the Airship lifted off the ground, leaving Argus behind.

"Next stop – Mantle." The Pilot told them.

That was it – they were fugitives as well now. Because it was not going to be awfully long before Cordovin would figure out the truth of their betrayal.

They're all Rogues now.

* * *

**Cinder**

* * *

The Fall Maiden watched as Shay's Grunts walked around the large tent that belonged to Raven Branwen. Today was the day, they were ready to steal that chest. The day to build a new life for themselves away from the life of crime, to try and make things right and live a real, normal life. Cinder had her arms crossed as she watched Shay, his eyes were on Traynor the whole time, the young man was sat there with a pen and was writing a letter. None of them knew who that letter was going to be sent to, but that was not the priority. They needed to get all that money away from Shay before he could use it to hurt anymore innocent men and women.

Oscar walked up to Cinder. "Vernal is with Amber, we're ready to move whenever you're ready." Oscar whispered into her ear. Cinder nodded her head in agreement.

"We have to do this. The kid needs a better future, hell we all do. Get Amber out of here, if I get spotted trying to haul that thing out the other side of that tent then all hell is gonna break loose." Cinder explained, and Oscar nodded his head.

"Shay informed Killian about being at Lake Matsu, do you think he might have already informed Killian about where we are?" Oscar asked her with concern.

"It's possible, one extra reason for us to ditch this joint. I will not let that little girl suffer in a Black Cell for the rest of her life." Cinder said, clenching her hand into a fist. "You know your half of the plan?" She asked him.

"Yeah – distract Shay and the Grunts somehow. I got a few ideas on how to do that." Oscar assured with a mischievous grin on his face. That made Cinder chuckle.

"That's my man." Cinder praised, patting his back. "Okay… let's…"

BANG!

They all jolted with shock and awe, as Traynor's body slumped off the chair and hit the ground, blood pouring out the side of his head. Shay was stood by his corpse, holding his Revolver there with that disturbing smile on his face. Smoke trailing from the barrel. He holstered it and he picked up the letter, giggling as he held it. "Aw… he was gonna mail it to his mommy! Poor little baby… she's not gonna know now, is she?" He asked his corpse on the ground, before he brutally kicked his head, multiple times.

Cinder watched with anger in her Amber eye as he beat the poor man. Traynor was not a bad man, he was one of the good ones. "Shay? What the hell're you doing?" One of the Tribesmen questioned as he walked towards him.

"Oh! Are you gonna question me? Huh?" He yelled, before suddenly driving his knife into the man's stomach. He fell to one knee and screamed in agony. "I don't think you understand the situation here, do ya? Raven isn't coming back, and because of that it is time for new leadership. Better leadership for this fine Tribe!" Shay yelled, before he grabbed him by the head and slowly pushed the blade of his knife through the side of the Tribesman's throat, he choked in pain, before he ripped the knife out, blood hissed from his throat, and he wriggled and jolted on the ground as his blood tainted the soil.

Vernal watched with angered eyes. "Now… Cinder… Oscar?" He said, staring at the two of them with blood on his vest. "Drag these two out into the woods will ya? Let the Grimm have 'em."

Shay walked away with an insane smile on his face. Cinder felt the storm build around her, but she knew that if she unleashed the Fall Maiden on Shay, the Tribe would fall apart into a firefight, one that could kill Amber in the crossfire. That was not what she wanted, she wanted to do this smart of not at all. She calmed her rage down and she walked over to Traynor's corpse on the ground. She looked at his letter, most of it had been ruined by his blood, or from the mud beneath him.

All she got out were the first few sentences.

_Hey mom,_

_Just wanted you to know that I love you, and I'm sorry for running off the way I did. I have made a lot of bad choices… but… I met a girl… she's pregnant, mom… I'm gonna have a baby soon! I wanna leave this place… but… it's falling apart-_

It ended there, and Cinder closed her eye with grief, but she then crouched down and closed his eyes for him. Oscar picked up the other body and grabbed a shovel, despite even what Shay commanded. They carried their bodies out into the woods, the fog was dense around them. "The bastard is insane. He shot them because they disagreed with him. If I ever doubted you before, I'm sorry…" Oscar said, but Cinder stopped him when she carefully lowered Traynor down to the ground.

Because of what she saw ahead.

"Look…" She whispered, pointing towards the treeline, she could see a man also dragging something – something heavy. It was James Flynt, and he was dragging… the Chest! The chest they were planning to take the valuables from.

"He's taking the chest!"

"Argh!" Oscar grunted, collapsing to the ground as Shay suddenly shot him in the back of the leg and knocked him unconscious with the barrel of his Revolver. Oscar hit the ground and Cinder's eye ignited, and she was about to unleash her fury on the rat.

"I wouldn't… unless…"

She turned, and her eye widened, seeing Vernal and Amber with knives to their throats, held by two of his grunts. "Shh…" One of them cooed into Amber's ear, making her cry in fear. Cinder snarled with anger.

"Yeah… that's how it is…" Shay chuckled, keeping his gun on Cinder's head. "You could easily kill us right now, but you won't. Because of this family of yours. Of all the stories I heard about Cinder Fall… a pathetic bitch was not one of them." Shay laughed, shaking his head at her. Cinder stared straight at him with hate in her amber eye. "You were planning to rub us, her? Steal all our earnings for yourself? Yeah… well… good luck with that. And as punishment for that? I have something extra special for you and your little family." He promised, nodding to the other who snuck up behind Cinder, and suddenly slammed a Baseball Bat against the side of her head.

Cinder's ears began to ring as Shay crouched down above her, staring down at her sinisterly. "Oh… I have been wanting to see if you can cry for so long… Fall Maiden. I guess we're gonna find out." He said, before he knocked her out.

Cinder had one option left… the riskiest one…

* * *

**Author Note - Shiiiiiiiiiit**

**God I hate Shay, does everyone else hate Shay? Because I hate Shay. But I also love writing Shay because of how much I hate Shay. Shay's a bitch XD**

**I guess we can safely say though that Cinder's plan went up in flames real fast, simply because of Shay's paranoia and wanting to get rid of anyone who is loyal to Raven. Nasty piece of work. And now Ruby is in Atlas with her team, it was fun to write the history of Atlas and Mantle in this, of all the Kingdoms and their past in the Great War I think Atlas is my favourite in Eclipse. You had the Valerian Vikings, the Mistraalian Immortals, the Vacuo Mongrels and the Atlesian Pagans. The fact they were once Pagans is just so fun to explore for me, especially when you see them now.**

**Now they have to steal some Ice Claw Boots and Winter Gear before even venturing out into the Atlesian Wildlands... god I cannot wait to write the Atlesian Wildlands. If you are a fan of David's artwork for Eclipse and have seen his Atlesian Wildlands pieces then you know about the Ice Claw Boots. If you haven't then definitely check out his art! It's bloody awesome! He's DavidEllisArtwork on Deviantart and Twitter.**

**But the biggest question of all? What is Valravn up to? I guess we will have to wait and see...**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Sorry for the longer wait here, Writer's Block is a bitch. Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**\- Matt**

**P.S: Knights of Grimm readers did you notice that cheeky easter egg in there? ;)**


	50. The Schnee Dust Company

**Chapter 49 – The Schnee Dust Company**

* * *

**Weiss**

* * *

Atlas…

Weiss stared at the massive floating city as they made their approach from the Airship they managed to smuggle themselves aboard. She felt her heart pound, because she knew that her Mother and Father were up there, alongside her brother who hated her. Normally someone who feel some sort of homecoming feeling when approaching the place that they came from. But not Weiss, all she felt was dread, alongside the anticipation of something happening. She squeezed her large blue eyes shut, then felt Jaune's hand gently squeeze her shoulder. "Hey, Snow Angel." He chuckled, which made her laugh.

"Oh gods, do not call me that. I thought we were done with those nicknames." Weiss groaned as she turned away from the hideous view of that massive floating rock of corruption and greed.

"Fine, Ice Queen." Jaune responded.

"Ugh…" Weiss groaned, looking down at her lap as they flew towards the city, of course it was not Atlas that they were going to be dropped off at. This Airship was headed towards Mantle, which was exactly where Winter said that her contact was waiting for them.

"What should we expect here, Weiss? We've never been to Atlas or Mantle before." Jaune shrugged his shoulders, she glanced at him and then she blew out a stressed breath.

"Corrupt Government, Faunus Racism and the most despicable people you can possibly imagine." Weiss answered that blunt answer was always something that Jaune found strangely charming about Weiss Schnee. She never held back and never coloured her words to look nicer than she intended – she always shot straight with you.

"Well, after everything we have seen and done? I can imagine quite a lot." Jaune said as he slid a whetstone across the blade of Crocea Mors. Weiss looked at him and then she looked back at her hands.

"I'm sorry, Jaune." She apologised.

"For what?" Jaune asked her in return.

"I dunno, you just jokingly calling me Snow Angel reminded me of how much of a… ass… I was to you." Weiss sighed. "How much of an ass I was to everyone."

"Well, to be fair, I kinda did ask for it. And I was too stupid to realise what was right in front of me." He said, looking at Pyrrha who was catching a few winks in the corner, sleeping with Milo and Akoúo close to her chest.

"It doesn't excuse me being so cruel to you though. I shamed you for having a crush on me, and that was wrong." Weiss sighed.

"Weiss – you were not the one at fault. I was. I wouldn't take no for an answer, and it was hurting Pyrrha in the process. You have nothing to apologise for, trust me." Jaune said, gently patting her knee. Weiss smiled as she sat there.

"You have become much more capable too, Jaune. I remember back in the early days; I honestly didn't think you would graduate. You proved me wrong – normally I hate being proven wrong. But that time? I've never been happier to be wrong." Weiss said with a smile on her face. Jaune smiled and he gently put his arm around his friend.

"You've softened up." Jaune joked.

Weiss gasped. "I have not." She laughed.

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, Ice Queen." Jaune joked, which made Weiss roll her eyes. They turned and saw Blake sat looking down at the city of Mantle as they made their approach. Weiss nodded at Jaune and he stood up and walked towards her. Winter was also sharpening her sword; they were going to need their weapons to be in the best possible condition for the monsters that were waiting for them out there in the Atlesian Wildlands.

Blake was sat on one of the S.D.C Dust Crates, her head rested atop her hand as she stared at the city. "Hey… are you okay?" Jaune asked her as he sat down next to her. He was not stupid, he knew that coming to Atlas would be difficult for Blake as well, having to come to the very place that has caused so much pain for her people. So much discrimination thrived here in this Corrupt Society, where Humans stand above her kind, even though that kind of Discrimination was something that Nicholas Schnee fought against for so long in the Final Days of the Great War.

"I dunno… it's a weird feeling, Jaune. This is where it all stems from, the systemic suffering my people have endured. Where Adam became the monster he is now… I can't imagine how many other poor people like Adam are trapped there." She said with sadness in her voice.

"You almost sound like you pity him." Jaune commented.

"I don't – Adam has become a monster, and he will pay for the things he has done. To me, to Yang and so many others. But… I'm also not ignorant, I know that he was not born that way. It was because of Jacques Schnee, the Schnee Dust Company and the Unified Governments of Remnant. I nearly went with Ruby when the choice was there, simply because of where I stand on the White Fang. But I didn't want things to get worse…" Blake explained, and he sighed.

"Yeah, seems we were wrong on that front. I think things were always gonna go this way. If it weren't us then it would be someone else who would have stood up against the U.G.R and Killian." Jaune explained, Blake nodded her head.

"I hate this… things are hard enough now that Adam is out in the open. I just wanna go to Yang and… say that I'm sorry. For everything." Blake explained.

"You're not the only one. We made the wrong call – I made the wrong call." Jaune said as he stood up.

"No, Jaune we all did. This was not just on you." Blake said.

"Wasn't it? I was stupid enough to seriously think that the U.G.R wanted what was best for us. And I don't trust Killian as far as I can throw him, but I know he was telling me the truth about what happened four years ago. I could see it in his eyes – knowing that they ordered Killian to make sure that Beacon fell? It just made me realise how naïve I was to ever trust them. The only people they really care about are themselves." Jaune said as he stared out the window, directly at the most corrupt of all the Kingdoms.

"I should have seen it." Jaune said as he closed his eyes.

"We all should have, Jaune. Don't blame yourself for our mistakes – we're all equally at fault, and now we can make it right by helping Ruby and the others take down Jackdaw once and for all. They're gonna need the backup, he managed to fight all of us at once and get away. I can't even begin to imagine what he has waiting for us in the Atlesian Wildlands." Blake said as she stared at the city of Mantle, getting closer and closer.

"Y'know if you told me when we first met that we would be going to the most dangerous location on the planet to help our friends? I'd probably call you crazy." Jaune said as he looked at the distant terror of the Atlesian Wildlands.

"Well – here we are. With the peace we've enjoyed in the world hanging by a thread." She said, thinking about Adam and the Feral Ones more and more. Winter lifted her head and she stood up.

"We're heading in for landing. Pilot? Where're we landing?" She called out.

"Downtown Mantle. I need to drop off some of these crates to the Heating Grid before I go to the S.D.C Mining Centre." The Pilot responded from his cockpit seat.

"Good, shouldn't be much of a walk then to get to him." Winter explained.

"Okay, who is this guy we're looking for?" Weiss asked curiously, Pyrrha softly moaned as she woke up.

"His name is Professor Pietro Polendina." She answered, their eyes widened with disbelief at hearing his surname.

"Polendina? As in Penny's Father?" Jaune asked with shock in his voice.

"The very same, he works down in Mantle. I recently damaged my Ice Claw Boots; he's always done a better job at repairing them than anyone else. And he owes me a favour, or two, he has quite a few of the Ice Claw Boots, though sadly these ones aren't like mine or the ones in the S.D.C Mining Centre. They're cheaper, older and used – ones that the Miners use." Winter explained.

"Wait, Jacques Schnee has Miners going out into the Atlesian Wildlands?" Blake asked with horror in her eyes.

"Oh no, even he wouldn't be able to get away with something as heinous as that. But there are over Mines in the Tundra, giving the Miners those boots protects them from frostbite, and makes them work faster and harder. Which reason do you think Jacques invested in these boots is?" Winter wondered, and Pyrrha scoffed, rubbing her eyes as she stood up.

"Lemme guess, it was the latter, right?" Pyrrha presumed.

"Congrats, Pyrrha. You get a cookie." Winter said with a smile.

"… do you have a cookie?" Pyrrha curiously asked.

"What do you think, red head?" Winter asked, Weiss chuckled. "What?"

"Oh nothing… you're just sounding more and more like Eryka." Weiss answered, Winter blushed and looked away from her.

"Shut up." She mumbled shyly.

"Alright, you are no good stowaways, here we are. Welcome to Mantle, and if I were you I would keep a low profile." The pilot informed as he brought the Airship in to land on the platform. The landing gear folded out and then the rear door opened. They all walked out from the ship and Winter nodded to the pilot.

"Thank you." She said, giving him some extra lien she had on her. The pilot smiled; it was a job well paid.

Weiss' eyes were wide as she walked through the streets, the air meddled by the Heating Grid, the snow that fell was melted into a sprinkling of rain. Of course when there was a heavy blizzard, that would instantly turn into heavy rainfall. But that was not what had her worried, it was the massive Military Presence down here in Mantle. Atlesian Knights patrolled the streets, Atlesian Soldiers and even some Paladins were at Military Checkpoints.

"Uh… is this level of Military normal down here, Weiss?" Jaune asked her.

"No, I've never seen our forces deployed so aggressively before." Weiss answered.

"Is there a disease? Some kind of Quarantine?" Pyrrha asked, since that would honestly be the best explanation for such a massive presence of Military Forces here in Mantle.

"No that I know of." Weiss answered.

"I heard things were tense up in Atlas after the death of Ironwood… but I wasn't expecting to see this. What the hell are the U.G.R…" Winter stopped, and her eyes widened from what she saw on the massive Holographic Screens on the side of a building.

It was a recent recording from Atlas… an acceptance speech.

_Congratulations to Jacques Schnee, new Councillor and Chairman of all Mining Operations in Remnant_

_"Thank you, thank you! This is all thanks to you! With my new seat in the Council, the income for not just our Kingdom, but all Kingdoms, shall be increased tenfold! Dust shall help us power our cities and protect us from the terrible things in the world, and thanks to every single one of you who voted? We will be able to save the world from the terrible choices of the people in charge._

_If you stand with me, we will never have to struggle again. We will become something genuinely great. This I promise."_

_Thank you Jacques Schnee!_

"Shit…" Winter softly snarled, clenching her hand into a fist. "With our father having a seat on the Unified Governments of Remnant… he will make things harder for people. The Faunus in particular, and maybe even the Academies. He could be even worse than Killian was." Winter explained.

"Worse? How can anyone be worse than Killian?" Jaune asked.

"Trust me, my father despises the idea of the Academies. He always has the assumption that no individual should have the power than we have, the freedom we have. He would purposely revoke legal purchasing of Dust with Legal Huntsmen and Huntresses, and he would _only_ favour the Military. He's literally Killian but… twice as bad. Killian wanted there to be a balance between Military and Huntsmen – but my father will just completely remove the Huntsmen from the equation… it's always been his way. To remove the competition, one way or another." Weiss growled; she clenched her hand into a fist.

"Like Flynt Coal's father?" Blake asked curiously.

"Yeah, it's a small correlation but an accurate one." Weiss agreed.

Winter scowled at her father's face on the screen as he continued to spout more bull upon everyone. "Come on, we need to get to Pietro as fast as possible." Winter said, they walked through the streets and they tried to stay as calm and normal as possible. Atlesians were everywhere down here, Cordovin was not kidding when she said things were delicate right now, after the Death of Ironwood.

Blake turned a corner with them, but she paused, and her eyes widened when she heard a little boy crying. She turned, and saw him huddled up in the corner, sniffling as his mother cradled him. They were both covered in grime, and they were cut up and bruised. She quickly noticed the uniforms on them, and she knew immediately – these were Faunus Slave Workers. Weiss walked with Blake, and she saw the two of them. "Are you okay?" Blake asked them gently as she crouched down.

The mother wiped a tear from her eye. "Please… we can't talk to you… my baby, he spoke to someone and… the soldiers…" The mother whimpered, the little boy looked at Blake and her amber eyes widened.

_S.D.C_

It was branded over the little boy's eye, and for a split second she saw Adam's face, when he was younger. He was a Taurus Faunus just like he was, and it was freshly burned. She closed her eyes with grief for them. Weiss reached into her purse so she could give them some Lien, so then they could at least help him get something to treat that brand. "Here…" Weiss begged them, but they shook their heads.

"Please, just leave us alone." The mother sniffled, picking her son up to return to the S.D.C Facility at the centre of Mantle. Weiss lowered her hand and Blake's ears flicked up, and her eyes narrowed with anger at the symbol.

"I know you're not them… but… I despise that company." She snarled, and Weiss nodded her head.

"So do I. I hate that I now share the same last name as the monster who married into our family. We were renowned as good people once – but now? We're no better than the Grimm." Weiss said, turning with Blake to catch up with Winter, Jaune and Pyrrha.

They approached a house, where the door opened, and a Faunus Worker emerged with a new Cybernetic Prosthesis. "Stay safe now, and no more heavy lifting, you hear?" He called out. Winter smiled as she walked inside of the warm room, and he looked at her.

"Hello, Pietro." Winter greeted.

Pietro was an elderly man with dark skin and short, balding white hair. He wore a green cap with oval-shaped glasses. He also wore a red vest over a cream shirt with a pink bowtie. His dark mustard pants and leather boots matched with his cap and red-brown belt. "Ah yes… have we met?" He asked her.

"Uh-Oh." Jaune winced.

"I left my Ice Claw Boots with you a few weeks ago? Were damaged by a Teryx in the Tundra?" Winter said to help jog his memory. He narrowed his eyes, then he joyfully clapped his hands together.

"WINTER! Ah-ha, my apologises, it's been quite difficult to keep up with everything since we last met. Lots of people needing prosthetics ever since… the changes. But how have you been, my dear?" He asked her.

Pietro used a special chair to aid himself with movement. This chair was built to have four moveable legs, and was white and green in colour, with yellow accents. They could recognise the similarity to Penny's colours pretty much instantaneously, this was certainly the same man who built her. "It's… been a stressful couple of weeks for us as well. With all the Political Warfare going on." Winter said as she followed him towards his wall of contained projects. He opened one, finding a Cybernetic arm, another with some Optical Implants.

Eventually he found hers and pulled it out. "Here we are. Your Ice Claw Boots, they were pretty damaged. That Teryx did quite a number on you." Pietro said.

"Oh trust me, I remember." Winter laughed as she opened the box. Inside were her boots, they were very stylish too. Slender and covered with white metal, designed to look like heels too. "Like they were built yesterday." She complimented.

"Oh now, now, no need to make me blush!" He laughed, Pietro turned to the others and he smiled. "Ooh, who're your friends… wait… you're Weiss Schnee, Winter's sister!" He realised as he looked at her.

"Oh… hi?" She sweetly waved.

"You're Blake Belladonna, and you're Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos." He said. "I remember all of you."

"How? This is the first we have met?" Jaune asked, he smiled.

"I know… because my daughter told me so much about you… before… before she was taken from me." Pietro explained, that immediately started to raise alarm bells.

"She's alive." Blake pointed out.

"I know – I was the one who rebuilt her after the Battle of Beacon. Her body was brought to me, I don't know how someone managed to get her off the Amity Arena, especially with how many Grimm are on that thing now." Pietro explained. "Ironwood tasked me with rebuilding her, but after I finished saving her and her memories… she was taken away. I have not seen her since – how do you know she's alive? Have you seen her?" Pietro asked with worry.

"She was in Argus – and something is very wrong with her. We think someone who was linked to the Battle of Beacon is responsible behind it." Pyrrha explained as she walked over to him.

"You don't know who took her away? Or who brought her to you?" Jaune also asked.

"No, I'm afraid not. I was brought her body, and Ironwood wanted me to repair the damage and save her. So I did, I wanted to save my little girl after all." He explained, coughing in pain. "But as soon as she was able to walk again, Black Gallows arrived and snatched her from me, telling me it was a Dark Ops Matter."

"Wait… Black Gallows soldiers took her?" Winter questioned with shocked eyes.

"You don't think…" Jaune gasped.

"No, Killian is many things, but we can never question his loyalty to the people of Remnant. He does not want a repeat of the Great War, it's why he does things the way he does. Unless… that Arthur Watts guy…"

"Wait… Watts?" Pietro's skin turned pale at the mere mention of his name.

"Yeah… do you know him?" Winter asked.

"He worked for me for a few years. Although I suspected that Watts was not his true surname, but he never did give me an answer. He was always quite the suspicious fellow, but his genius was unrivalled. He was the one who started the Paladin Project alongside the Grave Dust Project, originally designed for Micro-Surgery. But then he repurposed it for weaponry, after that he vanished – presumed dead. How can he possibly be linked to all this?" Pietro asked with concern.

"Because Ruby Rose was adamant that he was the one behind it, and that they chased him." Weiss answered.

"And how do you know he could possibly be related to what is happening with my little girl? He and I never really saw eye-to-eye, but we were never enemies." Pietro said.

"Well, Penny has some sort of Virus in her. The same one that hit the Cross Continental Transmit Network when Beacon was under attack four years ago." Blake answered. "As soon as it takes over, Penny was gone, and she was literally a killing machine."

"Gods… my baby girl…" Pietro covered his mouth.

"I know this is a lot of pile on you, but we need to find our friends. I can't really bore you with the details, but they're tracking an extremely dangerous man and he went into the Atlesian Wildlands, and they're doing the same. We need gear to follow them – something big is hiding out there, something that could blow the lid off this whole mystery." Winter explained, and Pietro nodded his head.

"Well… I guess I do owe you one. But consider this one on the house – for my daughter's sake." Pietro said, he walked towards one of his other rooms, and they followed him. Inside were lots of Blizzard Gear. Warm thick coats and trousers, hats and balaclavas to cover their faces. Alongside plenty of Ice Claw Boots, of course these ones were not perfect, they were old and rusted, used and not exactly in the best condition. "If I had newer ones I would offer them to you, but I mainly equip the Faunus with these, to help give them a chance out there in the Tundra." He explained.

"I appreciate that." Blake said with a smile.

"We're all in the same boat. Humans and Faunus, we shouldn't be treating each other differently when we have a common enemy – the Grimm." Pietro explained as he looked at the gear in here.

"Thank you, Pietro." Winter said as she gently held his shoulder.

"Winter… if Arthur Watts truly is the man behind this? Be careful – he is one of the most dangerous men in the whole world. Do not underestimate him, because if you do you won't get a second chance." Pietro advised, and Winter nodded her head.

"We won't."

* * *

**Ruby**

* * *

The Schnee Dust Company… so much blood on their hands, yet they could not see the claret through the amount of dust that was layered on top. It made them so much money, and since they were such a staple in the New Era, nobody would dare challenge the way they did things.

Ruby, Yang, Nora, Ren and Eryka moved forward, whilst Qrow and Raven flew through the air in their Corvid Forms, getting a better look from the sky. There were soldiers everywhere, and Ruby kept her head low. They moved through the loading bays, as Atlesian Knights and Paladins carried the freshly cut Dust Crystals transported from the many mines being worked across Solitas to the transportation tubes. The tracks all came to the centre of Mantle, yet they split apart, and covered nearly all of Solitas to gather as much Dust as they could at once. Of course, all but the ones hidden in the Atlesian Wildlands.

And yet… there was a track that led there, but nobody ever used it. It was as if they put it there just in case if the Cryostorms would come to an end some day. But that was wishful thinking, they never stop, they never dissipate. They just continue to get worse and worse and worse, destroying and freezing anything caught in its wake.

Ruby ducked down just in time as one of the soldiers jumped down from one of the cranes, rifle in hand. One of the Faunus Slave Workers tripped on the floor, accidentally dropping one of the Dust Crystals onto the ground. "Hey! The hell're you doing, you beast?" The soldier yelled at the young man.

"I-I'm sorry, I tripped." The Faunus whimpered fearfully.

"Oh, are you trying to say that was my fault?" The soldier scoffed.

"W-What? No, no I'm not!" He defended.

"Are you calling me an idiot now?" The soldier added.

"P-Please sir, I'm sorry. I'm sorry." The Faunus stammered, but then the soldier punched him in the face, and started to beat him to a pulp against the ground. Ruby gritted her teeth, wanting to go after the disgusting soldier, but Eryka stopped her.

"What're you doing?" Ruby whispered.

"There's nothing we can do, Ruby. If we blow are cover, we're screwed. I want to help him to, but if we try anything he could die… we just need to get the Boots and get out." Eryka told her. Ren, Nora and Yang scowled at the soldier as he continuously punched that poor Faunus over and over again. It hurt, but they knew that there was nothing they could do to help the poor man.

"Alright, Corporal, he's had enough. He can't work if he's bleeding from every orifice." One of the other soldiers commanded, and he let off the poor man. They snuck past the soldiers and headed towards one of the parked cargo trucks. The wheels of the beast vehicle were utterly gigantic, they made the team look utterly tiny next to them.

"Okay, where's their stuff located?" Yang wondered as she looked at the large facility ahead of them. It was a straight shot inside, but they still needed to get the stuff they needed and get to the Border of the Atlesian Wildlands. Qrow landed next to them, exiting his Corvid Form.

"Raven and I found the supplies, they're in the room on the far left, marked _I.C.S._" Qrow informed.

"Good work." Ruby said, she looked back at the poor suffering Faunus Slaves. "We have to change… we need to fix this…" Ruby said as she stared at the racism against the poor Faunus. They all deserved better than what they had. "I thought we were beyond this sort of hate, wasn't that was the End of the Great War on Vytal was supposed to achieve? Equality for all? It doesn't seem very equal to me." Ruby growled with anger.

"Greed is a terrible monster, kiddo. It'll take a hell of a lot more than kind words to remove it, alongside hate and the old ways. Some families still believe in the side their families fought in. A stupid way of thinking, since that world, that era, is long dead. People should be banding together, not apart." Qrow said as he stood with her.

"Every day I see things like this… makes me appreciate where I stand on the Vytal Consensus and the Unified Governments of Remnant." Ruby said.

"Amen to that." Yang agreed.

They quickly moved ahead, keeping low and avoiding the Atlesian Forces that were keeping the area locked down. They could hear – and even feel – the Dust being channelled up those massive tubes inside of the anchors that held Atlas and Mantle together. The Dust flew all the way up to Atlas, where in the Underbelly of the Floating City, it could be refined into the crystals bought in shops everywhere. They rushed forward, using the cover of the Atlesian Night Sky and the shadows to their advantage. Raven opened the door from the other side, and they all ran in.

Nora's eyes widened, because there was a dead soldier on the ground, killed by Raven. His throat was slit open. She may have killed before… but that did not mean she was numb to seeing dead bodies. There were large lockers, filled with the same Advanced Ice Claw Boots that Winter had, alongside thick coats, hats and leggings. "Come on, get these on. We can use them as disguises." Raven said, quickly putting on the huge fluffy coat around her body. They all put on the Ice Claw Boots as well, they were exceptionally large, and they carefully fit their legs inside.

Once their feet hit the elevated platform, the plates closed tightly around their legs, locking together. Ruby pulled both her red hood and her fluffy hood up, and she pulled her gloves on too. They were all very warm in their big fluff coats, and they looked back. "That was… easier… than I was expecting." Eryka said.

"Well… I guess the hard part is just coming." Ruby said, knowing what they're about to step into.

* * *

**Jaune**

* * *

A few moments later…

Pietro had taken them to the old decommissioned Atlesian Wildlands Miner Base, it was build directly on the border, and they could feel the cold already, not even the Heating Grid could combat it. Pietro was risking a lot bring them here, nobody was allowed to come here anymore, simply due to how many miners had died out here for the Schnee Dust Company. He was sat in the Door Control room, making sure everything was ready, whilst they all got their many brands of clothing from his lockers and the Ice Claw Boots inside.

Preparing for what they were about to head into.

"Okay." Winter huffed tiredly, whatever she was dragging made loud metallic scraping noises. The older Schnee groaned as she hefted up and slammed onto the table what she was carrying. "Say hello to our 'Ice-claw' boots."

Jaune and Pyrrha stared at them, tilting their heads to try and make sense of the mess of wires and thick heavy metal, all attached to a thick insulated sock. The long thigh high socks were ribbed and triple layered, but the bulky mechanics attached to them were hardly top of the line.

They appreciated Pietro's generosity… but these things… they did not spell out _reliable_.

"They smell!" Weiss whined, pinching her nose.

"Yes, well Atlesian ice-claws are under lock and key, we can't risk that kind of heat, stealing them from the S.D.C Mining Centre here." Winter frowned, completely unaware that Ruby's team literally just managed it. Jaune rubbed his face.

"Are these things safe?" He shook his head, not overly trusting in them, Pyrrha nodding.

"Yeah, these things look like they'll come apart if a snowflake hits them." Pyrrha placed her hands on her hips.

"Hey!" Winter snapped, startling the youth. "These are all we got, and without them? We'll be dead for certain! The Atlesian Wildlands are hell on Remnant. If you are not prepared, it will chew you up, and spit you out!"

Silence reigned as the graduates stared at her fearfully. Weiss scoffed, crossing her arms. "Well, aren't you a bundle of sunshine!"

Winter huffed. "Put these Ice-Claws on and get as many layers on as you can carry. I take it you brought the Snow Gear in those lockers?"

Jaune nodded, picking up his plastic bag. "I like Pietro's style. Pumpkin Pete's do insulated jackets now! Apparently… first I've heard of it." He looked at the huge Pumpkin Pete's Snow Coat that he found in the locker, and that was not the only familiar brand that Pietro had on offer.

Winter pinched her brow. "Of course they do." She looked at the others. "Any sensible attire from Pietro's stock?"

Pyrrha shrugged. "Looks like he's friends with one of my merchandise distributors is in Atlas." She picked up her large bag, setting it on the nearby seat. "I grabbed as much as I could from the new locker. These are the "Winter Collection" ones too. High quality." Blake looked over her shoulder, gasping as Pyrrha held up some warm 'Nikos apparel' socks.

"C-Can I have some socks?" Blake tentatively reached, like a cat. Pyrrha smiled, handing her some.

"I grabbed as much as I could." Pyrrha rummaged. Weiss dumped her own bag down too.

"As did I." Weiss held her chin high. "Behold. Schnee wear." She gestured to the gloves in her hands. "Now in a variety of colours."

"How many did he buy?" Jaune wondered, Pietro told them to take as many layers as they could to survive the cold out there. Normally people would just use a single locker, but that was only in the Tundra. The Atlesian Wildlands were a totally different story.

Yet… they were still acting like kids, amazed by Pietro's amount of high-quality clothes built for the cold.

Blake gasped. "I call purple, it goes with my jacket!" She grabbed the gloves, skulking over to her jacket and gear.

Winter threw her head back, groaning. "I'm going to die in the Wildlands, surrounding by imbeciles."

So, they went about dressing themselves. Jaune stayed in the loading bay, while the girls went to the nearest bathrooms. Winter was already dressed, staring at Jaune as he shivered in just his underwear, trying to pull his first layer of thermal pants on.

"C-Can I have some privacy?" He asked. Winter continued to stare at him. "Or... maybe look away? Blink? Something?!" Winter sighed, rolling her eyes, before turning to face the other wall. She was already thickly wrapped in her warm insulated gear, with her personalised navy-blue jacket on top - fur lined to keep in as much warmth as possible.

Jaune breathed out, pulling the leggings on. When Weiss and Pyrrha walked back in.

"Well, I believe that 'Schnee Wear' is very fitting. Yes, it's expensive, but so's Nikos apparel!"

"My merchandise isn't expensive!" Pyrrha blushed.

"Five hundred lien for a 'Nikos Apparel' leather jacket?" Weiss raised a brow. "You sell-out."

Winter groaned. _We didn't even buy these… why are they one-upping each other? Gods… I didn't think this was how I was gonna die._

"Weiss is being mean to me!" Pyrrha whined, Weiss snorting. They both looked at Jaune with raised eyebrows. Jaune sighed.

"Can I get some privacy?" He bounced from bare foot to bare foot on the cold steel. "PLEASE?!"

Pyrrha giggled and covered Weiss' eyes. Weiss snorted.

"Oh good, this is much better. Less pale skin to see." Weiss bit her lip to stop giggling, Pyrrha snorting. Jaune sighed.

"I'm pale cos I don't get much sun, we're in Atlas, it's cloudy all the time!"

"We were in Vacuo not that long ago." Winter said, Weiss giggling. Jaune frowned.

"What is this, bully Jaune day!?"

Winter clapped. "GET! DRESSED!"

"Okay I'm trying!" Jaune cried.

Blake soon remerged, buttoning up her thick fur lined coat. She tugged at the coat tails and padded over to the workbench, looking at the stack of ice claws.

"Hey so - Jaune? Not dressed yet?"

"Ho-ho, don't push me Blake!" Jaune laughed through the anger. Pyrrha and Weiss turned to Winter as she stood a heavy Ice-Claw up on it's spiked soles. She cleared her throat, and Weiss grimaced at the dirty boots. They were clunky, once white now faded beige. Streams of rust stained down the steel from screw heads, and the thick sock it was all attached to squelched in Winter's hand.

"This, is a Mantle Ice-Claw." Winter said, and they all sighed softly. Of course it was. Winter's boots were knee high, smooth glossy white with perfect machined fixings and greased cleats. The Mantle ones were built around socks, squeaky hinges creaking as Winter hefted it down and onto the floor with a thud. "Things to remember. Keep fingers away from the spike suspension. When you put them on, press this button and it'll turn them on."

"Then what?" Blake asked.

"Then they'll act as air suspension. They'll lift you up off your feet by a few inches, so just the ice cleats are on the ground. To lower them, pull this valve to vent the air." Winter explained. Weiss whined.

"Why do you get the good ones!"

"Because I am a specialist, and these are my personal ones." Winter smirked. "Pietro did a damn good job fixing these though, that Teryx nearly blew them to bits." Winter said, admiring his work. Not even a blemish left on the metal or the paint. Weiss sighed, shaking her hands.

"Fine. If it was good enough for the Faunus then..." She sighed, grimacing as she held the sock. "It's good enough for me."

Blake smiled at her. "Wow. That might be the biggest sacrifice you'll ever make."

"Ew, they're sticky!" Weiss dropped it. "O-Okay. I can do this... I can do this."

Winter huffed, rolling her eyes. "It's either style... or you die."

Weiss paused, tilting her head in thought. Jaune scoffed, tugging the zipper on his jumper up. "Oh please tell me you're not thinking about it?"

"I'm weighing it up!" Weiss frowned. "Fine!" She stuck her Schnee Wear wrapped leg into the sock, grimacing as it slid up her leg. "Ew! It's cold and wet! And it smells!"

Blake giggled, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure the slaves did exactly that."

"Shut up I'm trying, okay?!" Weiss whined, looking at the huge clunky boots now on her legs. "These do not match my ensemble."

Pyrrha gasped, loudly. "Oh no, whatever will you do!" she smirked, Weiss' eyebrows raising.

"You know sarcasm!?"

"Occasionally." Pyrrha smiled, zipping up her maroon 'Nikos Apparel' winter coat. She set her armoured corset over the top, sorting the fluffy collar out. Winter paced around the metal room, pulling a few levers and pressing a few buttons.

"Room ventilation clear! pressurising vault chamber!" She called to the workers outside the room. A loud hiss sounded through the pipes and all their ears popped, Pyrrha rolling her jaw and patting her ears.

Jaune sat on one of the benches by the featureless steel wall, tugging the sock up his leg, tucking everything in. Blake sat beside him, sighing as she finished her second boot.

"Can you imagine how the miners must've felt? Before the Mines in the Wildlands were sealed off? Being in this cramped little room, waiting for that door to open? Unsure if they'd freeze to death or die in the mines?" Blake sighed heavily. "Poor souls."

"Yeah." Jaune nodded solemnly. "They need to be remembered."

Blake smiled. "As long as we talk about them, they will be."

"Atta girl." Jaune winked, patting her knee before standing up. Pyrrha was sat opposite him, smiling softly as she worked her second boot on, trying to bunch the wires out of the way. Weiss stood on the loud clanking boots, pressing the button as a loud thrumming sound started. Then she rose up a few inches, so just the spikes were on the ground. Everyone opened their mouth, Weiss lifting her palm.

"So help me, if I hear a height joke!"

"I-I can't hear you all the way up there, Weiss." Jaune said, grinning as she frowned deeply. Winter paced by them, snapping her snow goggles onto her forehead, blanc fringe settling over the pearlescent visor.

She handed everyone some goggles, but Pyrrha stopped her. "Oh umm, thank you, but..." She reached in her duffel bag, pulling out a circlet with built in snow goggles and earmuffs. "I was offered a deal a few years back by a skiing company, but it never went further than the prototype. They gave me them as a good will gesture." She settled the circlet onto her head, seating the pearlescent visor over her brow.

"Where have you had that the whole time?" Weiss questioned.

"My bag." Pyrrha answered. "We were headed to Atlas; thought they could come in handy."

"Fair play." Weiss shrugged her shoulders.

They all stood up, fully dressed to brave the icy wilds, Jaune clipping his rucksack onto his armour, while Blake went about tying her hair into a bushy ponytail.

"Now." Winter said, standing at the front with authority. "These lands are no joke. The Atlesian Wildlands have killed more people than the Grimm, than humans, than Faunus, than anyone! It nearly wiped the Atlesians out at the end of the Great War. It is an inhospitable environment. Cryostorms will set your blood solid in seconds and kill you. Liquid Nitrogen fog will break you down into tiny chunks and kill you. It often rains six feet tall icicle hail, that will spear you and kill you. The days are Minus forty degrees, minus two hundred at night. You will die if you get lost. You will die if you are out of shelter at night. And if the weather doesn't kill you, the Grimm will. Frost Grimm are lethal and fighting them in these temperatures is almost suicidal. So..."

She looked at their terrified stares.

"If you're ready to go into the Atlesian Wildlands... please, step forward."

They knew what this was. This was to make sure they were truly ready for this. If they weren't, they'd die. They'd be no going back once that huge steel door lifts. They would die if they weren't. Jaune breathed out a cloud of fog, looking at his friends. Weiss gave him a small smile, Pyrrha a supportive one, and Blake a determined nod.

Jaune blew out a breath and stepped forward on the loud steel grates. Pyrrha stepped up next to him, then Weiss, and finally Blake. Jaune shuddered, and not from the cold. From fear. This was it. "We're ready."

Winter nodded and grabbed the leaver on the wall. "TEAM OF FIVE, HEADING OUTSIDE!" She called out, tugging the lever down loudly. A deafening hiss sounded, and mechanical gears started to slowly lift the huge metal door. Winter stood beside Jaune. "I hope so."

A bright bulb went from red to green, and a loud alarm blared. Winter pulled her goggles down over her eyes as the bright whiteout began to filter in under the lifting door.

Winter looked back at Pietro who nodded his head at them. "Good luck!" Pietro called out.

They needed that right now…

Pyrrha looked down as snow blew in around their boots. She gasped at visibly seeing the ice crackle and spread over the metal walls and floor as the door lifted.

They activated their boots and lifted onto their ice spikes, tugging goggles down over their eyes as the whipping winds stung their exposed faces. The sudden temperature change was a gut punch, sudden and aching. Blake tugged her mask up over her nose, shuddering as she moved the goggles over her eyes.

The snow blindness was hurting, as Weiss quickly seated the goggles over her eyes. She looked down at Myrtenaster sheathed at her hip, seeing the handle coat in crystallising ice.

Winter looked at Jaune as he took the first steps out, feeling the thick snow crunch under his boots, yet he felt light. Felt like he could still sprint thanks to the raised stature and wider spread of weight. The Ice-Claws weren't pretty to look at, not like Winter's Atlas ones, but they definitely helped. Soon Pyrrha followed, then Winter, Weiss and Finally Blake, looking back as the gate began to lower, sealing them in the land beyond.

This was it…

… the most dangerous land in all of Remnant.

The Atlesian Wildlands.

* * *

**Author Note - Finally... the Atlesian Wildlands.**

**No joke, this place was one of the big reasons why David and I wanted to bring this whole series back. This whole landscape is just so terrifying, awesome and important to the story. It was pretty funny showing Jaune's side being jokey with each other, and teasing Jaune and Weiss and so forth. Important to show that they are all still really close friends.**

**Showing the corruption in Atlas is always quite interesting to do, especially that part when Blake sees the Bull Faunus Kid, and he has the same scar over his eye where Adam did. Little things like that are stuff I love, how in a couple seconds scene can sum up someone's backstory.**

**And Pietro revealed some startling facts about Watts - I wonder if you caught onto the big one there? The fact that Watts is not his real Surname? Makes you wonder who he truly is.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter - The Atlesian Wildlands**

**\- Matt**


	51. The Atlesian Wildlands

**Chapter 50 – The Atlesian Wildlands**

* * *

**Jaune**

* * *

You don't know cold… not real cold… until you enter the Atlesian Wildlands.

Nothing could have prepared them for just how inhospitable the Wildlands were. The winds were relentless, blasting the coldest air they'd ever felt into their faces. True, the whiteout had let up enough that they could see a good twelve feet ahead of themselves, but that still didn't lessen the horror of seeing Frost People stood in the position they died. Though it wasn't as mentally scarring as walking into them during the whiteout.

And when they emerged from the Facility – and into the Wildlands? Darkness claimed them, the sun was constantly blocked out by the powerful storm clouds above them, which meant that there was an Endless Long Night. They did not forget her warning about how cold it would get at night – it was still the middle of the day, yet it felt like it was in the middle of the night. It terrified them to imagine how dark and cold it would become out here when the sun sets behind the horizon.

They had six hours, tops, until the sun sets.

Pyrrha was still shaking - and not from the cold - from walking into a frozen woman, died in the position she took to running in, one arm outstretched and one foot off the ground.

"I told you!" Winter snapped. "These Wilds are monstrous!" She called over the weather. Soon enough the unrelenting blizzard let up for a moment, letting them catch their breaths and wipe the running snot from their red noses.

"Haven't seen any Grimm yet." Weiss commented, lifting her goggles up onto her hat. She rubbed at the sore red outline of the goggles on her nose. "I'm guessing they're tough but rare?"

Jaune looked at her sighing. "You've heard of jinxing, right?"

"Oh please." Weiss scoffed.

"The Grimm out here are completely unpredictable and unknown – the only thing we know for certain about them? It's that they cannot be killed, no matter what you throw at them, they will just regenerate." Winter explained, walking through the snow, feeling her Ice Claw Boots dig into the surface but keeping her feet out of the sub-zero conditions beneath them. Their eyes widened when they heard her say that.

"I didn't mishear that, did I? Did you say they're _unkillable_?" Blake asked with fear in her voice.

"Keep your emotions in check we don't wanna wake them up. They could be right underneath us as we speak." Winter advised – that didn't help their fear. "And yes, people haven't been able to put down Beowulves because of this weird condition they have."

"Condition?" Jaune asked.

"Look I don't know the details; I don't think anybody knows the exact details. But these Grimm are not like any others across the planet, I don't think they even serve Salem. They never leave the Wildlands and even if some do, their invincibility seems to vanish. I don't know what it is about this place that makes them this way – but the ones that are in here? Have been here ever since the storms first started." Winter explained.

That… that made them feel sick with fear. Everyone knew that Ancient Grimm were by far the most dangerous due to their knowledge. But Ancient Grimm that were invincible to any damage? That was a whole new ball game, and now they were easily starting to understand why nobody ever made it back from this land before.

Weiss advanced forward, and she gasped with horror from what was right in front of her. It was a Beowulf, roaring and reaching out for her – or at least it was reaching out for someone. Because it was frozen solid. The Beowulf was roughly twice the size of your average Alpha, which made it very frightening to look at.

"That's just a Beowulf, looks like he got caught in a Cryostorm. We should keep moving before it manages to break out from its stasis." Winter explained.

"How do you know these things don't serve Salem? I mean we all saw them at Beacon, they answer to her. All of them." Jaune said as he walked beside the Atlesian Specialist.

"Well I guess I don't really know if they do or not, never stopped to ask one. But they just… lurk out here. I've seen them attack each other on site, rip into each other. It's like they're despondent, broken inside. Insane." Winter listed.

"Crazy Grimm? I didn't think such a thing existed." Pyrrha scoffed.

"Don't let the fact they don't seem to follow Salem fool you though. These things will attack us as soon as they catch our sent. If they do, run or just try to slow them down. You won't be able to kill them, but they will kill us." Winter assured, she kept moving forward, but then they slowed down, and their eyes widened. They found a couple huddled up by a rock, frozen solid.

Their throats were slit, and they were just dumped out here in the wildlands.

Blake's eyes widened as she stared at them, and she covered her mouth with horror at who they were. "Blake?" Weiss softly said.

"I… I know who they are…" She said as she stared at the two Faunus, once a happy married couple, now just a frozen echo of who they were.

"Who… were they?" Jaune asked.

"It's… Adam's parents." She revealed, that shocked them all when they stared at her. "He told me… back when I… was blinded by him… he told me that Jacques Schnee had his soldiers murder his parents right in front of him when he was only a child – and that he was the one who personally branded his face with the S.D.C Symbol. He said that their bodies were thrown into the Wildlands… after everything I assumed that was one more lie to keep me on his side. He was telling the truth." Blake said softly as she looked at their bodies, closing her eyes with grief for them.

Adam was a monster now – but the boy he was? He did not deserve what happened, his parents did not deserve what happened. The tragedy was real, everything else? It was merely forged from that suffering. "I'm so sorry…" Weiss said, at first Blake thought her friend was saying that to her – until she saw Weiss looking down at their frozen bodies. Rot had not even set in; they could not really decompose out here. They looked as fresh as they were when they were murdered.

And that… for some reason… made it feel so much worse.

"I always knew my father was a despicable excuse of a man – but this? I never thought he was callous enough to carry out such monstrous acts. Why the hell did he do this to them?" Weiss snarled with anger in her voice.

"Because they wanted to flee with Robyn Hill. She was only a teenager back then, but people believed in her. And she wanted to free so many poor Faunus from those mines – they wanted the same, but some Faunus had become… indoctrinated… but the S.D.C, Stockholm Syndrome. And they sold them out to Jacques." Blake explained to them, Weiss' eyes widened.

All of them felt a chill when they heard that word – Stockholm – it was strange, because now whenever they heard it they would immediately think about Killian's Military of Mentally Ill Soldiers.

"We're supposed to be better than this…" Weiss softly said, wiping a tear from her cheek, before it could freeze onto her skin. She kept moving, squeezing the fluffy coat close to her small body inside.

Blake looked at their bodies one last time. "I'm so sorry this happened to you…" Blake said, standing tall again. "And I'm sorry your son… is what he is now."

She left their bodies – there was nothing they could do for them now, except remember them.

They waded through the snow, past the leaning mountain above them, sheltering them minutely. Huge skyscraper tall icicles protruded horizontally from the mountain, stretching across the sky. The ice creaked and groaned above them; Blake tapped Pyrrha's shoulder to look up.

"Wonder which way the wind blows, huh?"

"I'm guessing that way, yes." Pyrrha chuckled. Then they all snapped to attention at a loud roar. It echoed across the land, and a few weaker icicles fell with a thud into the snow.

Fear settled in their gut, knowing that it was a Grimm and not just the wind. "What the hell was that?" Jaune stammered, his teeth chattering from the cold.

Jaune looked up at the mountain's cavernous side and his eyes widened in horror. A Beringel leapt from the cavern, huge in it's stature. It was yellowy white, with black markings - a colour flip on the standard Beringel.

"Yeti!" Winter yelled, drawing her swords. The others gulped, following suit. They watched the huge Grimm jump down the rocky face, grappling over the ice and snow. It's entire left side was covered in horizontal icicles, showing exactly which way it had stood in the storm. It must have only recently thawed enough to move from its icy hibernation.

Jaune growled and ignited the flames up his sword, Weiss sliding her fingers up Myrtenaster and doing the same. Pyrrha and Blake readied their weapons and the team sunk straight into a tactical state of mind.

"What do we do? We can't fight it!" Weiss reminded.

"No… but we can still slow the bastard down long enough to make an escape. We need to beat the Cryostorms, remember?" Jaune advised, tactically sound as ever.

"Watch the ice on it's left side, it's gonna use it as armour and-" Winter could not finish her sentence.

The Yeti jumped off the rocks into the snow a few yards ahead of them. It had to be at least three times the size of a standard Beringel. The beast grabbed a large icicle off the side of it's head, snapping it off and launching it at Jaune, slamming into his shoulder and sending him hurtling back into the snow. The icy melting liquid ran down his neck as he groaned and pulled the icicle from his shoulder, staring at the reddened tip of it.

"That's new." He groaned, using some of his semblance to heal himself. "Watch for Icicle projectiles!" He screamed over the howling winds and beast. The Yeti slammed it's fists into the snow and spun it's hands to try and lift something beneath the snow - like trying to get your fingers under a tray.

They gasped as it lifted a slap of rock and used it as a shield to get closer.

"I told you, the Grimm in the Wildlands are older, and wiser!" Winter snapped, opening her glyphs to move aside rapidly. The Yeti growled and hefted the huge slab of rock up and threw it like a shot-put at them. Pyrrha yelled and rolled aside, watching the huge rock explode against the mountain.

Above them, huge icicles began to crack and shatter. The Yeti stomped around, getting a feel for his enemies. Pyrrha spun Milo into rifle form, unloading heavy fire into it's hide. The Yeti growled at the bullets and snapped another icicle off, throwing it at Pyrrha. She rolled aside and heard the ice spear hum as it disappeared into the whiteout around them.

The Yeti thumped it's chest and roared to the sky, but it hadn't noticed Weiss drop to a knee atop her glyph, summoning Arma Gigas. The white knight dragged itself out of the glyph and held it's sword aloft Weiss.

Jaune ambled over to Pyrrha as she fired at the pacing Yeti. "We need to seriously watch this thing!"

"Should we run?" Blake asked.

"It'll just pick us off, we need to down it so then we can escape!" Winter replied.

"We need a new strategy!" Pyrrha said.

"Yeah I'm working on it." Jaune sighed. "Buy me time?"

"As much as I can!" She nodded. "Where's Blake?"

Said Belladonna was climbing the mountain, digging the ice claws in to get much better traction. The Yeti stared it's red eyes at Jaune in the blizzard, then followed his trail of vision up to the climbing Faunus. The Yeti didn't like that. It ripped an Icicle from it's side and threw it at Blake.

She rolled over and watched the ice embed itself in the rocks, using it as a climbing platform to get higher quicker. Jaune gasped as he watched her.

"W-What's she thinking?!" He said. Then he looked up at the windswept icicles on the mountain's peak. His eyes widened. "We beat it at it's own game."

"Huh?!" Weiss snapped as she sent the Gigas towards the brutish Grimm. Jaune got closer so she'd hear.

"We take it down, with those! It should give us enough time to escape whilst it regenerates!" He pointed up at the icicles, and Blake's ascension. Weiss nodded.

"I can get her up there quicker!" Weiss said, painting a line of glyphs up the side. Blake looked at them and stepped onto them to run up the mountain.

"Protect Weiss while she get's Blake up there!" Jaune yelled, igniting Crocea Mors. The Yeti roared and ducked under Gigas' sword, coming up behind the knight and slamming both fists down onto the hard light's back.

It picked up Gigas by the head and slammed the head into the icicles on it's left side, killing the knight as it collapsed into fragments of light. The Yeti dropped the dissolving pieces, roaring triumphantly. Jaune stared at Weiss, panting.

"Honestly. Has that Knight ever survived longer than five minutes?"

"Record's one minute! Now shush!"

Pyrrha ran forward and Jaune nodded, unsheathing Crocea and opening his shield. He crouched, shield over his head, while Pyrrha stepped atop it. He yelled and pushed up, vaulting Pyrrha up into the sky, as she reeled her arm back and threw Milo's spear form deep into the Yeti's eye.

The Grimm staggered back and slammed into the mountain, roaring and trying to pull the spear free. Pyrrha landed and called Milo back with her semblance, ripping it down the Yeti's face and stumbling it.

"Yes!" Jaune grinned, fist pumping. The Yeti roared and charged forward, the team screaming and leaping aside to avoid being trampled to death. The huge Grimm stumbled to a stop when it realised they weren't goop on it's feet, turning in the whiteout to see a discus shield bounce off of it's face. As it rebounded, Jaune turned flaming Crocea on edge and smacked the shield right back, now a flaming disc.

The fire melted the icicles off of it's left on the collision, aggravating it enough that it charged back towards them, slamming it's fists into the snow. Winter swung her sword around and buried it into the middle of her glyph, forming several murky white Boarbatusks. The beings of light cartwheeled through the snow and slammed into the Yeti's knees, dropping it into the snow, as Blake reached the large cones of horizontal ice. Holding onto the wall, she swung Gambol and it simply glanced off the surface. Not ideal.

Biting her lip, she looked down at the Yeti below as the other's fought it, attempting to keep it beneath her. Blake had to think fast. So she did. She threw Gambol shroud over the icicle, wrapping the ribbon around it. She caught Gambol over the other side and looked down at the Grimm. Pressing her feet into the icicle, she stood upside down, supported by her ribbon.

She aimed her pistol, squinting down the sights. She fired at the Grimm and the Yeti looked up at her. Holding it's wrist above to shield her bullets, it broke a large icicle off it's hide and readied to throw.

Jaune and Winter lay at the ready, Pyrrha sprinting with Weiss around the other side. The Yeti bellowed and threw the icicle. Blake swung on Gambol and the icicle slammed into the bigger one, cracking and bending it downward. Blake shimmied out on Gambol to add more weight to the end. The further she got, the bigger the cracks got. She shimmied quicker and quicker, as more icicles rained up from below. She dare not look down at the roaring monster.

"C'mon, c'mon." She panted, shimmying on her ribbon further.

Jaune and Winter leapt forward and sliced their swords along the front of it's knees, slitting the skin. Then Pyrrha and Weiss came in from behind as the beast instinctively straightened it's back legs to the attack. They slit both Achilles heels and severed the supporting connections to the legs.

Meaning the Yeti fell forward, Pyrrha and Weiss threading the needle between it's legs and out the other side as it's head bounced off the ground.

"Now!" Jaune yelled. Blake cursed him.

"Wish it was that simple!" She jiggled and bounced to try and coax the icicle to snap. it was so close. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon."

"Blake!" Jaune growled as the Yeti's eye opened on him, snarling venomously. It tried to sit up.

"I'm out of range, I can't shoot the icicle." Pyrrha aimed upward. Blake screamed and bounced her weight as hard as she could.

"Just BREAK!" She screamed, and a loud bang echoed. Her stomach lurched as the icicle fell forward.

"Back up! Weiss, catch Blake!" Jaune yelled as everyone backed up from the roaring Yeti. It clambered to it's knees and roared to the heavens, just as the huge icicle speared down it's throat and through it's gut, the widening base of the icicle parted the skull of the beast… they watched it as they normally would see one disintegrate upon death. But the Yeti in fact was not disintegrating, Winter was not exaggerating about the danger and mysteriousness of the Grimm out here in the Atlesian Wildlands.

They really could not be killed.

It gargled, slowly starting to regenerate itself, but the plan worked. They had more than enough time to make some time trekking across this hellish terrain and away from the Yeti. "That did it!" Jaune clapped his hands together.

Blake yelped as she fell, only to land on one Glyph, then tumble off to another below it.

Eventually, she was down on safe soil, panting. Patting her coat, she chuckled as Weiss hugged her.

"That..." Winter scoffed. "Was... AWESOME!" The Schnee laughed, startling all of them. She caught herself, standing up straight. "Apologies. It was impressive."

"Yeah it was. Good work guys. Blake, you did amazing." Jaune smiled, shaking his head. "I mean man, good thing you're heavy right?"

All the girls stared at him with deathly glares. "Huh?"

Jaune took his hands from his hips. "Hmm? Oh umm... y-yeah well, what I meant was -a-as a person, the weight of the body! Plus all the layers and stuff! You know? Like-I-I'm not saying-"

"He called me fat, didn't he?" Blake was enjoying his squirming. So were all the women.

"I believe so." Weiss smirked.

"I cannot believe you." Pyrrha grinned.

"Abhorrent. Commenting on a woman's weight." Winter chuckled. Jaune whimpered and whined.

"Why am I more scared now than before?"

"Because women are scary?" Pyrrha patted his cheek as she walked by, Blake giggling.

They ran in the other direction, heading deeper and deeper into the Atlesian Wildlands to try and find Ruby's team. They had to be nearby; they must have used one of the other Decommissioned Hatches to get out here and finding tracks in these storms was next to impossible.

But they knew that they were out there… somewhere…

… they just needed a clue.

* * *

**Ruby**

* * *

The Leader of Team R.W.B.Y stood in the cold; her eyes wide as she stared at what was before her. Yang was by her side alongside Ren and Nora. Qrow, Raven and Eryka were just behind them, and they looked at it with similar awe in their eyes. "By the gods…" Ruby gasped as she stared at them.

"I didn't think there was anything left of this place… I thought the Cryostorms buried them under their glaciers." Qrow said as he stared at them. From a distance they could be easily mistaken as mountains, or perhaps giant ice formations, but they were not that simple. They were the old bones of Ionspyre, the original home of Atlas, where the Pagans once lived, who sacrifice Non-Believers of their Faith in the Northern Lights to their gods. There was not much left of this ancient city, only a few skyscrapers and decimated buildings, smothered in snow and ice.

Ruby walked first into the remnants of this huge place, clutching her fluffy hood as she looked around with Yang next to her, holding her soft scarf around her neck, gently pressing it up to her mouth and nose. Ruby stared at them all with horror, there were so many frozen people. Running for their lives when the first Cryostorms hit, their clothing was so different to what they were used to. These people had been standing here for hundreds of years after the Great War came to a decisive end on Vytal. And yet ever since, here they were, still standing.

Still trying to run away from a fate that was coming for them whether they liked it or not.

There was a mother who tried to hide, crawled into a corner as she held her baby close to her chest, but the icy cold storms still claimed her and her infant child. Ruby felt her lip quiver, there was something about seeing civilians like this, people who were innocent, dying so needlessly… it hurt. It always hurt; it was the main reason behind why she wanted to become a Huntress. She wanted to put a stop to it, so then nobody else would have to die such a needless death.

So then no more children would have to live without a mother…

"You can hardly see a thing out here." Eryka strained, holding her hand before her eyes to stop the icy cold flakes of snow from blinding her. The clouds were so thick it nearly blocked the sun out completely, making everything around them dark, nearly night time.

"I bet Blake is having an easier time navigating than any of us are." Nora said as she walked through the remains of Ionspyre.

Ruby looked at the other frozen people. "Do you think this could happen somewhere else? I mean we've seen that things are changing on Remnant; in Vacuo the droughts are just getting worse and worse. Before that we had this happen to Northern Atlas. What's next?" Ruby wondered as she looked at them all.

"I dunno. The Drought was easier to predict and prepare for, we all saw it coming and so did the people of Vacuo. Evacuation and abandoning the Kingdom is inevitable. But will there be more climate changes as sudden as the Cryostorms here in the Wildlands? I have no idea – I hope not, this nearly wiped the Atlesians off the face of the planet when it happened. There aren't many of these frozen people left standing, probably because most of their bodies have been destroyed by the storms, or by the Grimm." Qrow explained, still holding his trusty Harbinger tight and close to his side.

"I'm surprised we haven't seen any of the Grimm out here." Yang commented.

"Be careful what you wish for." Ren replied as he looked around.

"Yeah, c'mon. Don't jinx us." Ruby walked further into the cold, feeling her Ice Claw Boots easily navigate the terrain. She could not help but wonder how long they would have lasted out here without these things; they probably would not have made it a couple of miles.

"What do you think is waiting for us out there?" Ruby asked Yang.

"At the place Jackdaw is searching for? I have no idea – but if Watts is interested in it then it must be bad news. Especially if he is sending Jackdaw out here on his own." Yang answered as they crossed the terrain. Ruby looked back at Qrow and Raven, they could not help but notice how nervous they were seeming, the closer and closer they were getting to Jackdaw.

Suddenly an alien roar echoed across the Wildlands, or at least across the Ruins of Ionspyre. Ruby halted them with her fist held up. They could hear this unnatural growling sound, alongside the sound of what they first assumed were rocks tumbling down from one of the buildings. Except they were too fast and almost rhythmic to be so random – no those were the sounds of something moving. Something with many legs. "We've got something near, get ready. It could be anything – and remember, we can't kill these things. We just have to try and get past it." Ruby explained as she looked around.

"Sounds like the jinx worked." Nora shrugged her shoulders.

"Greeaaat… nice one." Eryka said to her as she drew Constantine Damascus. Eryka was the one who noticed it first, and all she saw was its dark silhouette as it charged across the ruins towards them. It was fast, and massive, with six razor sharp pincer-like legs. It was heavily armoured with a long-coiled tail that arched over its head like a Scorpion's, however this was no Deathstalker, and definitely no Manticore or Sphinx. It also had one glowing red eye as well, and it was getting closer and it jumped across the destroyed buildings.

"Oh shit… it's a Nightmare!" Raven called out.

"A what?" Ren questioned, but before they could wait for her answer, the monster suddenly jumped down in front of them. It was roughly the same size as a Nuckelavee but was definitely more lethal – even if it was not an Atlesian Wildlands Variant. It immediately stomped one of its sharp legs down at Ren, but he rolled across the snow, sprinting as fast as he could in his Ice Claw boots, running across the ruins of Ionspyre.

"Avoid its tail!" Raven called out, and it instantly swung its long tail towards her, but she transformed into her Corvid Form and flew through the air, cawing. Qrow ducked down, firing the shotgun inside of Harbinger into the armoured body of the Nightmare. It growled at them, creating a deep thrumming and clicking sound, like it was using echolocation. It swiftly moved across the terrain, not being slowed by the snow at all, and it suddenly shot multiple burning hot quills from its tail at Ruby. She gasped and spun Crescent Rose, deflecting them up into the sky.

The Nightmare roared at them, before it charged towards Ruby, and it brought both of its legs down in front of her, narrowly missing her. Ruby fell down onto the snow, and the huge beast pinned her coat down, and Ruby rolled as hard as she could, causing some of the fluffy fabric to be torn off, left in the snow. The Nightmare turned and snarled, as Yang and Nora both erupted through the snow towards it. Yang punched it across the face, aiming for its eye in one swing, whilst Nora yelled with Stormur Skeggox, channelling lightning into the head of the axe. She smashed it down one of the legs, but the armour plating locked her in. The Nightmare staggered as she dangled from its leg, and the tail wrapped around her throat, smashing her down against the icy surface beneath them with immense force. The Nightmare roared at her, inside of its mandibles were thousands of saw-like teeth.

Suddenly an arrow lodged into the creature's eye, and the Nightmare screamed with agony, staggering backwards from the impact. Eryka rolled across the snow, just dodging the incoming quills from its huge tail that targeted her. They stabbed into the snow behind her, and she fired three more arrows towards the armour. They broke off plates of armour, and the Nightmare staggered from the attack with black smoke pouring from the wound, however it immediately started to heal the damage, rebuilding the armour as it fought. "We've gotta down this thing!" Ruby called out, blasting towards it, but the Nightmare spun around, its eye had already regenerated, and it knew she was making her attack. It swung around and slammed its tail into Ruby's chest, knocking her into one of the buildings and out the other side.

She flipped and dragged Crescent Rose into the ground to steady herself, looking up to see the Nightmare jump up onto the ruins, rearing back with a roar before it jumped down towards her and slashed its pincers at her over and over again. Ruby dashed out of the way in a flurry of petals. But as she fired Crescent Rose over and over again at it, Qrow suddenly appeared and slashed Harbinger across the face of the monster, causing it to stagger backwards.

"We won't be able to down this thing, it is regenerating too fast! These bastards are hard to bring down when they can be killed, but out here? We're just asking to be killed!" Qrow told her as he protected her.

"There's gotta be a way!" Ruby said as she looked around.

Yang blasted through the building behind the old Nightmare, and it turned, instantly swinging its tail at her, but she blasted out of the way and slid across the snow. It steadied its own body against the harsh winds, and it snarled at them. The Nightmare paced back and forth, plotting how best to fight them – it was showing its age and intelligence by how it was not attacking stupidly all the time. Nora and Ren arrived as well with Eryka running across the ruins. But Raven was flying through the air in her Corvid Form.

The Nightmare charged forward suddenly, thrusting its massive tail down towards Ruby, only narrowly missing it. "Do you think you can freeze it with your Silver Eyes, Ruby?" Yang asked her.

"I… I dunno! I'm still learning!" Ruby said, she knew it was emotional, but she still had not mastered the ability of her eyes. She stared at it, and she continuously tried to set them off, but nothing would happen. There was no way that they could fight this thing and win, they had to run and get away from it somehow, somewhere it could not follow them.

Raven suddenly landed behind them and she pointed Omen towards some of the ruins, where there were some natural formations as well, mainly covered in ice, but there was an opening. "I found a cave! Come on, follow me, it's too big to follow us in there!" Raven called out. She slashed Omen towards the monster and cut one of its pincers from its forearm and the Nightmare screeched in agony, but the black smoke was already beginning to reconstruct its injury.

They all ran from the huge monster, and it roared back at them, sprinting after the lot of them. It was much faster than them, so Nora spun around, and she transformed Stormur Skeggox into its Grenade Launcher form, and she blasted six grenades at once. They all exploded into the face of the Nightmare, breaking off multiple chunks of heavy bony armour. Smoke leaked from its face as it staggered, dazed from the attack, and it bought them some time to run.

As Yang ran, she looked ahead into the tunnel, and her eyes widened of who she saw stood there.

It was Jackdaw, and he was pointing into the darkness of that cave with a sinister smirk on his face. She blinked and he was gone – it was him, but he was not really there.

_The Branwen Connection… he knows we're here; he wants us to find him…_

The Nightmare snarled deeply, and it roared, sprinting towards Yang again, but Ruby grabbed her sister's hand and pulled her into the caves, just in time too. Because the monster smashed against the roof of the cave and was stabbing its sharp pincers against the ground where they were. It scuttled backwards, pacing back and forth as it tried to get them, but it knew it was too big to follow them inside.

After a while, the Nightmare took off – but it was still out there.

Ruby's team descended into the dark caves, but they were soon going to learn that nowhere is safe in the Atlesian Wildlands.

Not above ground, and not beneath it.

* * *

**Jaune**

* * *

They were roughly ten minutes behind Ruby's team, and Blake was already finding clues of them being here. The fresh damage from their battle against the Nightmare was the clearest sign that they were just here, spent casings from Crescent Rose and Ember Celica were across the ground. "They were here, definitely." Blake said.

"But how long ago?" Weiss wondered as she looked around, shivering from the cold as she stood beside her friend.

"Hard to tell exactly, the cold out here has always turned these shells icy cold. They must have been ten minutes ahead of us, at the very least." Blake said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Hey Blake?" Jaune called, he crouched down and shoved the snow aside and pulled the rag of torn fluffy material from Ruby's coat and he held it up to here.

"We've got some arrows too, looks like Eryka's." Winter said as she held one of them in her hands. "They were fighting something here, they must have took off in a hurry."

"Do you think what they're fighting is still nearby?" Pyrrha asked as she held Milo in its Rifle Form in her hands. They were constantly looking around, but the weather was beginning to take a turn for the worse. The sky was darkening, and it was getting colder – but they still had a few hours left of sunlight, which meant it was not nightfall, not yet.

"Well we need to figure out where they went, they must have got away from whatever it was that chased them. I mean look around; these Ruins are easily the first recognisable landmark we have come across." Weiss explained as she walked around the area. Jaune rubbed his hands together as he stood beside his girlfriend.

"What're you thinking?" Pyrrha softly asked him.

"Not sure – in this weather it's impossible to really track them, the storms don't stop, they just continuously cover up their tracks." Jaune said as he looked around the area.

"What about the Grimm? Looking at some of this damage? It must have been a big one." Pyrrha said as she shrugged her shoulders, completely unaware of it rising up from the snow behind them, the long tail arched up over its head and the Nightmare's eye glowed a bright red. Both of them slowly turned around with wide eyes as the Nightmare stared directly at them with a feral snarl.

"Oh… crap… FOUND IT!" Jaune yelled, swiftly opening his shield as it thrusted its powerful tail down towards him. A loud metallic bang erupted as the tail smashed into him, tossing him through the snow. Pyrrha through Akoúo into the armour plating of the Nightmare but it did absolutely nothing to the beast. It just double-took at her before it rushed forward. Pyrrha ran towards it and slid across the snow, just missing its leg as it brought it down to try and skewer her.

"The hell is this thing? Never seen a Grimm like this before!" Blake yelled.

"Try and hold it off as long as you can!" Weiss yelled, blasting fire from her Glyphs into the armour plating, attempting to soften it up. The fire burned across its entire body and the Nightmare screamed with pain, writhing violently as it staggered across the snow. Winter stabbed her sword down into the ice and she stared at the creature, summing a Manticore which flew directly into the beast. The Nightmare dug its legs into the ground, growling viciously as it pushed back against the biting jaws of the Manticore. Suddenly it wrapped its entire tail around the neck of the Manticore and lifted it above the ground and proceeded to pummel its skull into the snow over and over again until the creature was dead.

"Crap… that didn't work…" Winter groaned, she stared at the Nightmare whilst the others made their attacks, but as she stood there… she felt a cold chill… colder than what they were starting to become accustomed to.

This was much… much colder.

The air was becoming more and more frigid, like ice was literally blowing in the wind, she felt like her skin was splitting. Then she heard and felt something – quakes and whistles could be heard, like missiles shooting down from the sky and exploding. Even the Nightmare stopped attacking them and turned to the sky. "What the hell is this? Is this an Earthquake?" Weiss softly questioned, Winter turned, and she saw the very same cave that the others ran into, completely unaware that they went this direction as well.

But with what was about to strike? That cave was their salvation.

"Worse…" Winter answered Weiss' question because the biggest fear was here. Suddenly a massive spike of ice – roughly six or eight feet tall and three feet wide – shot down from the sky and crashed into the ground, only narrowly missing Jaune in the process. More of these huge Icicles continued to fall, falling at a forty-degree angles from the sky, crashing straight through the ruined towers and bring chunks of rubble crashing down into the snow beneath.

It was here.

"CRYOSTORM!" Winter screamed, and they felt sick with dread. "RUN!" Winter screamed.

"RUN WHERE?" Jaune yelled back over the howling winds as the air became colder and colder. The Nightmare glared at them and roared, Winter turned to that cave and she immediately sprinted for it.

"THIS WAY!" She screamed. They all followed Winter, and the Nightmare pursued them, still ferally wanting to rip these Huntresses and Huntsman apart with its pincers. They ran as fast as they could staggering as those massive icicles crashed into the ground around them. Jaune looked back with horror as the Nightmare pursued them, but he also saw the towers, and ice started to form around them with such speed… it was genuinely terrifying. The Cryostorm looked like a giant hurricane filled with ice as it spun in the sky, crackling with deep blue lightning.

They got closer and closer to the cave and they threw themselves inside. Pyrrha tripped and she crawled backwards into the cave as the Nightmare sprinted at her. Jaune grabbed her and pulled her away from the Nightmare as it lunged for her, but then they saw the stone on the ground become covered with frost and ice, and the Nightmare slowed, still reaching for them and its roars faded as ice suddenly encased it completely, freezing it solid.

Pyrrha panted with horror, nearly hyperventilating from how close that was, but she made it. The Nightmare's eye was still staring at them outside the cave and Jaune helped Pyrrha back to her feet. "Are you okay?" He worried, but she replied by passionately kissing him, wrapping her arms around him. He held her close, arms squeezed around her body. When they broke, they gasped with relief.

"That… that was too close." She whispered to him, still catching her breath.

"Never… do that again." He chuckled at her, and she blushed, pressing her head to his.

"So that's a Cryostorm, huh? By the gods… that was terrifying…" Weiss stammered as she listened to those screeching winds, feeling the quakes of those massive chunks of ice that plummeted from the sky, decimating the land and destroying anything they touched. Weiss lit a flame on the end of Myrtenaster, and her blue eyes widened, and she gasped.

"What is it?" Blake asked, she walked over to her, and her eyes widened too from what she saw revealed in the firelight. Everyone else stood with them, and they felt sick at what was before them.

This was no cave – it was a Schnee Dust Company Mine.

And there were dead Faunus Slaves here, piled over each other, frozen solid… they were trying to get out from the cold.

But they couldn't – they were abandoned, just left to die out here in the Atlesian Wildlands.

And the truth that made Weiss sick to her stomach? This was no old Schnee Dust Company Mine, back before the Atlesian Wildlands earned its infamy.

No – this one appeared to still be in use a few years ago, because of the dates on all the crates. Jacques Schnee never stopped the practice of using the Dust Mines in the Wildlands.

He was sacrificing innocent Faunus Lives – for his own greed.

* * *

**Killian**

* * *

_I never should have trusted those bastards…_

He was filled with anger and self-loathing, he knew down to the bottom of his heart that the Unified Governments of Remnant were a cancer on the people of this world, driven by greed and power and nothing more. Why did he never think that they would betray him? He truly hoped that part of them actually wanted what was best for Humanity and the Faunus – but seeing Jacques Schnee become part of the Council? A renowned racist and abuser of their entire people?

He was not blind – they wanted him on their side, because he was one of the wealthiest businessmen on the planet.

It was killing him, knowing that they were going to spread their corruption like a plague – and here he rots in the Black Tower, mutilated. He felt his chest tighten and he gasped for air, swiftly using his other hand to pump the healing drugs back into his system, repairing the damage the Grave Dust was starting to do to him. The magnet inside pulled the dust back where it had to, but sometimes the power would weaken, letting some particles escape. It felt like his lungs were on fire.

Once his chest felt back to normal, he sat upright on his bed, he had not slept since, bags under his eyes and he looked pale. He looked at the stump on his arm, covered in a sling bound to his chest, and he pushed his hand through his hair as he rested his elbow on his knee.

_I actually hoped they would prove me wrong… that they could be the leaders the world needed them to be… some days I wish I never banded with Salem because of the things she can do. Using the Grimm, the people employed by her?_

_And yet she only has one thing she wants – what is rightfully hers – the right to rule, as she did for years before._

_Every day… I see them prove her right – that she is truly what this world needs. An iron fist, a strong leader who can strike both fear but also trust into the people. Fear into those who would cause harm, and trust to those who are willing to adapt…_

_We all must adapt… if we can't… then we will be washed away into the sea of distant memory._

"Done wallowing in your own self pity?" The voice of Arthur Watts asked him, his eyes widened, and he turned to the bars in his cell, seeing the Doctor emerging from the darkness with that conniving smirk on his face.

Killian stood up from his bed when he saw him emerge with Grave Dust swirling around his glowing rings on his fingers.

"Or shall we get to work?" Watts asked him.

* * *

**Author Note - God I adore the Atlesian Wildlands, one of the coolest environments simply by how mysterious it is, alongside the backstory for the Atlesians and how they were once Pagans and what happened to them, and the Grimm (any theories on their invincibility?) and finally the Cryostorms. So many mysteries of this location, and it is honestly one of the most important places in the Eclipse Series.**

**It's great to finally write the Atlesian Wildlands, been waiting to do it for quite a whole now. And the Grimm lurking in there are just so cool and terrifying - I personally love the Nightmare. And the Yeti was badass too, how could we resist to put a Yeti in there?**

**And finally of course - we have Killian at the end. Nice to see the bastard wallowing in his self pity, like Watts said - but now Watts has managed to infiltrate his way into the Black Tower. Which cannot be good - evil is plotting and they are getting stronger and stronger.**

**Also - Jacques Schnee is an evil piece of shit and I hate him :D**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I certainly enjoyed writing it! Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter - Dark Deeds**

**\- Matt**


	52. Dark Deeds

**Chapter 51 – Dark Deeds**

* * *

**Killian**

* * *

Killian stared at Arthur Watts who was stood outside of his cell, that connivingly sinister smirk always present underneath that moustache. "How the hell did you get in here?" Killian questioned.

"The Black Tower has some impressive security measures, I will admit – but none of them can contend with me." He said as he walked over to him, and the Grave Dust formed into a perfect match for the key needed to unlock his cell. He opened the door and walked inside; he accomplished the task so easily that it was almost insulting. "Now are you going to answer my question?"

"Why the hell would you still want my help? I failed, screwed up the whole plan – I wouldn't be surprised if Salem will kill me outright." Killian explained as he leant his head back against the wall, it was basically what he was waiting for. The punishment for his failure to follow their initial plan. Watts chuckled; he held the side of his Winter Jacket as he looked down at him.

"Worry not, Salem is not so hasty with her punishments. Especially when your defeat has actually opened up the perfect opportunity for us." Watts explained, Killian raised a brow.

"How so?" He asked.

"The Huntsmen and Huntresses we have been playing with are currently in the Atlesian Wildlands, following Jackdaw's Trail. It won't be long until they either destroy themselves or will be divided forever from what he is preparing for them. However that is besides the point, he has already managed to transmit the codes for the Inhumane Necessity Order to me. I have everything I need to command the entire Military to carry out the Order." Watts explained.

"But?" Killian could feel it coming.

"But… with the Unified Governments of Remnant still operating under their corrupt and selfish rule – it will be null and void to issue the order. Thus – they must be eliminated once and for all." Watts explained as he walked around his cell with his arms behind his back. Killian then heard a soft giggling behind Watts, and he saw that Tyrian was with him – alongside Hazel and Adam.

"Looks like the whole gang is with you. How the hell do you mean to take down the U.G.R? The Foundations of Sovereignty is the most secure building on the planet, the only way to take them down is with a massive army. We need to preserve our forces for the Inhumane Necessity itself." Killian explained, Watts raised a brow and he crouched down, staring Killian in the eyes.

"Tell me – do you understand what needs to be done now? You tried to win over the Government and the Academies with loyalty, friendship and even offering apologies for your past mistakes. Hell you even told Jaune the truth of what the U.G.R did four years ago. Yet despite all of that, they all ignored you. Do you understand now that these people are simple animals who cannot accept gestures of good faith? Do you understand that they must be motivated by fear, and the trouble makers must be eradicated?" Watts asked him, Killian looked him in the eyes, and he sighed.

"I tried to do things the good way, the peaceful way – and here I am. Yes – I know what needs to be done now, it's time to start the Inhumane Necessity on the Academies." Killian agreed as he looked at Watts. The Children of Salem smirked sinisterly as he stood around him.

"That's what I like to hear." Watts said, patting his shoulder.

"So is it finally going to happen? I can kill the bastard who did this to me?" Adam snarled.

"When the time comes, he is all yours." Watts assured as he stood up, and Adam grinned, touching the blood covered blade of his sword.

"How many did you kill to get to us? Do they know you are here?" Killian asked them.

"Come now, Commander – we're professionals." Tyrian chuckled, which made Killian softly chuckle as well.

"So what's the plan?" Killian asked him as he stood up, wincing from the pain in his chest after his respirator failed to stop a couple of the Grave Dust Particles from reaching his lungs.

"We can take down the U.G.R in a single night and then take control of the C.C.T Tower. With Ruby Rose, Jaune Arc and the rest of those brats off playing in the snow, they will not be able to stop us. Once the C.C.T is shut down, we will activate the Necessity through a private channel and strike the Academies before they even know what hit them. Salem will personally lead the assault on Beacon." Watts explained.

"Salem?" Killian asked with surprise in his voice.

"She pretty much called dibs on it." Watts shrugged.

"For Ozpin, most likely. She wants all of us there when it begins, the rest of your forces will destroy the rest of the Academies at the same time." Hazel explained as he leant against the bars.

"Sounds like she's done playing games in the shadows. We still have the problem of the people who have been releasing information about me and my dealings, I have my suspicions of it being the soldier with that X-Shaped Helmet." Killian explained, but Watts shook his head.

"I already know who the perpetrator is." Watts assured.

"You do? Who?" Killian questioned.

"All in due time, my friend. First, we have some other matters to attend to. First of which…" Watts poked the stump on his arm where Ruby cut it off. "Does it hurt?" He asked.

"A little – why?" He asked. "You have a prosthetic?"

"Something like that… call, it a clever play on irony." He said. "Lie down, this will take some time." He said, he dropped his bag and nodded to Tyrian. The Serial Killer crouched down and his new Cybernetic Tail that Watts built for him opened it up. Inside was a new device that he built, and it created a powerful sphere of energy, Hazel walked inside, and he closed the door.

Soldiers walked past and did not even notice that the five people who were in that Cell were completely invisible. "Fancy bit of tech, huh?" Watts chuckled.

"Always making stuff." Killian said as he laid down on his bed. Watts crouched down and he tinkered with the device on his chest, and then he pulled out a Magnetic Device, activating it. "Wait what're you doing?"

"Giving you an upgrade. You're skilled, but with your arm missing you are less effective than you were. Salem needs you at your best – and besides, this will make you stronger than you were." Watts assured.

"Great…" Killian sighed as he leant his head back, Hazel crouched down behind him and he held the new respirator that Watts brought with him.

"This will put you under whilst I give you the upgrade. And trust me – nobody will ever dare mess with you again when you see this." Watts assured with a laugh in his voice, and then when Hazel gently put the mask on Killian's face, everything slowly faded to black.

And Watts started to work away.

* * *

**Jaune**

* * *

The tunnels were terrifying, and Blake stared at the frozen bodies of the Faunus. She held her hand out to them, they were frozen so fast from the cold. Weiss looked back at the ice and the frozen Nightmare. The ground was freezing and getting closer and closer. "We should keep moving… the cold will get in here soon." Weiss explained, and it explained how these poor Faunus ended up the way they were in here. They were crawling over each other to try and escape them.

"This is terrible." Blake softly said as she stared at their bodies, none of them had a funeral, none of them were remembered. Just cast aside, so then it would not harm Jacques' name in any way. Weiss walked over to Blake and she gently held her shoulder.

"Blake… we need to go… we can't stay here. We all saw how quickly the Cryostorm froze that Nightmare solid. If we don't keep moving then the cold will kill us all. Trust me, my father will pay for this when we get out of here – we know about this now." Weiss assured, and Blake squeezed her amber eyes shut. She opened them again and looked at Weiss, softly nodding her head.

"Yeah… okay…" She sighed.

"C'mon… if the others came through this tunnel then maybe there's a way out of here." Jaune said, he ignited the blade of his sword and used it to light the way. There were more Frozen Faunus down here, and the walls glowed many colours from the veins of dust that were trapped in here. Luckily though it did not feel like they were agitated crystals since the air was not extremely hot. That was a telling way to know if the Dust in the mines were about to get set off. It would not take much to do it either, a spark could ignite the entire cave.

It's happened before in some of the other mines.

Winter looked at the abandoned rusted over crates of Schnee Dust Company property, she opened some of them and there were still crystals inside. She took some of them since they were definitely gonna need some dust when it came down to fighting Jackdaw. "Why the hell would Jacques Schnee continue to send his workers out here?" Pyrrha questioned.

"Slaves." Blake corrected.

"Oh… sorry." Pyrrha apologised.

"The same thing that drives him to do anything. Power and greed, and nothing feeds that greed and gives him power more than Abandoned Dust Mines. And there are plenty of them out here in the Wildlands, it was how the Pagans had such an advantage over so many others before they became the people they are today." Winter explained as she turned the corner, keeping her sword raised up. "Our father would do whatever it takes to win. Whether that means shaking down other weaker Dust Companies so then the Schnee Dust Company can stay at the top of the food chain, or perhaps by sending out entire forces of his Slave Labour into the lethal environment that was the Atlesian Wildlands."

"Or to cut off any loose ends." Blake added, remembering the bodies of Adam's parents that they found.

"Also a very effective measure, sadly." Winter agreed. "Nobody would dare come out here to try and find a couple of their workers if they disappeared. It's the cruel truth." Winter explained as she kept moving forward.

Jaune moved around the corner with Pyrrha beside him, she kept Milo aimed forward. She walked ahead and suddenly gasped with shock from what she bumped into. "Oh you've gotta be kidding me… more of them?" Pyrrha stammered, because frozen in front of them were some Apathy. They were in the middle of screeching when they were frozen – however something was strange. All of them could notice something was off about how they were frozen.

"This isn't ice – it's stone." Jaune said as he touched the jaws of the Apathy.

"Ruby was here, she must have used her Silver Eyes in here." Weiss said, she looked around and kept Myrtenaster handy. There were a lot of Apathy in here as well, not as many as there were buried underneath Brunswick Farms, but there were still a lot of them. They were scattered across the room, frozen in place. They walked past them carefully, looking around as they saw some of them were in their spidery forms, crawling across the ceiling, yet they could not escape the shine of Ruby's eyes.

Pyrrha groaned as she walked, rubbing the side of her head. "What is it, Pyrrha?" Blake asked her with concern in her voice.

"The Apathy… even when frozen I can still feel them draining me." She groaned; they all could feel it. The Apathy were still not technically dead, they were just in stasis by Ruby's eyes. Which meant she could not simply vaporise them with her eyes, which meant that even any Grimm that were buried in the caves here still seemed to be like the ones on the surface. Whatever was going on out here in the Atlesian Wildlands?

It was just screaming the word _unnatural._

Winter walked past one of the frozen Apathy, staring at it with narrowed blue eyes. "Gods I hate these things." She groaned, walking ahead. They gasped and found the skeletons of some other Faunus workers, ones that must have made it through when the Cryostorms hit, only to be dragged into the nest of the Apathy. They were ripped to pieces, bones scattered across the ground.

"Jacques needs to pay for what he has done here." Blake snarled with anger, and they were all in agreement.

"I remember something my father did to maintain his power – he never did tell me what happened himself but I'm not dumb." Weiss began. "Someone was working hard to try and bring my father down, digging into the archives to find plenty of evidence against him. He found information about how… he hurt my mother… and me… and Winter and Whitley." She explained, gently gripping her forearm. "My mother warned him to drop it, it was too dangerous, and that Jacques would do something to make sure that he would never let that information leak."

"What did he do?" Jaune asked her.

"He leaked it anyway, except he already paid people to remove it from the web as soon as he loaded it on there. They managed to track him down – and he was never seen again. That same week? He turned over a few billion credits and was living pretty in my Grandfather's home. My guess? He hired Mercenaries who murdered the Private Investigator and they dumped him somewhere out here in the Atlesian Wildlands." Weiss explained.

"Weiss… I'm so sorry. You deserved better, both of you did." Jaune said as he looked at her and then Winter.

"It's okay – we did get better. We got all of you." She said with a kind smile. "But the point is, this is the man we're dealing with. My father will do whatever it takes to win, he always has. And I highly doubt he will flinch to get his two rebellious daughters out of the picture."

"So what are you saying? We keep this to ourselves?" Blake questioned.

"No – I'm saying we need to be smart about it. That Private Investigator was stupid enough to upload the whole thing onto the web, allowing himself to be tracked down. If we really wanna make my father be punished for what he has done to the Faunus? It has to be done right, maybe even just give the information to Sienna. There would be nothing he could do to stop that unless he wanted a fully fledged war. Now that he's on the side of the U.G.R, I doubt they would let such a thing slide." Weiss explained.

"You think? The U.G.R tried to wipe us all out at Beacon four years ago just because they wanted to get rid of Ozpin." Jaune reminded.

"That's… true… but surely they wouldn't risk a war for him?" Weiss asked.

"He's the head of Dust Mining Operations. It's like the blood of our people, whatever feeds them with money they will protect it no matter what." Winter explained as she walked with her. "War is on the horizon; I can feel it. It's just a question of when."

Jaune turned the next corner, seeing something huddled up in the darkness. They were not Apathy, that was for sure, in fact it was quite hard to tell what they were. Until they turned their gaze, with glowing red eyes. They were Grimm, named Mandrills. Large Monkey-Grimm with muscular bodies and glowing markings across their armoured skulls. They roared, pounding their fists against the ground over and over again.

And they were not alone, the walls exploded as Centinels – massive Centipede Grimm – emerged from the stone. They shrieked as they spat acid at them all. "That's… disgusting." Weiss softly said, pointing Myrtenaster forward.

"Remember, just down them, cut off their limbs! It'll give us some time to get past them, it's probably what Ruby and the others did!" Jaune advised, he sprinted towards the howling Mandrills as they sprinted towards them. One of them jumped up and grabbed onto the rebar, throwing itself towards Jaune. He held his armoured forearm up and caught its jaws, it slashed its claws across his aura, and he drove the blade of Crocea Mors straight through its skull. The creature split in two and collapsed to the ground, but the black smoke was already starting to reconstruct the injury. Jaune looked ahead and he saw one of the Centinels blast the acid towards him, but he swung his sword, burning the acid in the air. The Centinel scuttled forward, and it snapped its razor-sharp pincers at him over and over again, it reared upright and lunged towards him and snapped the pincers at his head.

Jaune suddenly drove the blade straight through its mouth and he burned through the metal, grabbing it with his other hand and throwing it against the wall.

Pyrrha sprinted ahead and she launched Akoúo into the face of one of the Mandrills, knocking it out of the air after it jumped towards her. It crashed to the ground, tumbling through the frosty floor. It grunted and looked up, suddenly swallowing the Spear Form of Milo, she ripped it out and called Akoúo back into her hand, stopping another Mandrill as it jumped at her. She held the large Primate back as it bit over and over again at her. She threw her shield with the Mandrill hanging on, and then she called it back, and she transformed Milo into its Xiphos Sword form. The Mandrill shrieked, suddenly slashed clean in half, growling and gargling on the ground as it started to regenerate itself.

Weiss and Winter both formed their Glyphs, Weiss skated through the air and she blasted ice and fire down from the sky with her Glyphs, burning the Mandrills as they climbed after her. She jumped off from her Glyphs, slamming Myrtenaster down into the plates of a Centinel so hard that she broke it apart with one strike. The Centinel screeched in pain from her attack, and then she cut it clean in two, the creature snarled as it writhed around on the ground. She ducked down and dodged the jumping Mandrill, it slammed to the ground and sprinted at her once again. It leapt towards her and slashed its claws at her, but Weiss cut the arms off the creature, dropping it down to the ground. The Mandrill snarled with anger, turning to stare at Weiss, still jumping at her with its large jaws open.

Weiss jumped and flipped through the air, cutting the head of the beast from its shoulders. And even then, the head was still alive, the body still pulling itself back together. Winter shot across the ground, kicking one of the Mandrills in the side of the skull so hard that she crushed its skull against the ground with her sharp Ice Claw Boots. The creature was still regenerating beneath her, and then she stabbed her sword down into the ground, blasting spikes of ice towards the Centinels that scuttled forwards.

The spikes impaled them, but they still roared and snarled at her furiously as they spat acidic blood over and over again at her. She held her sword up, creating an icy barrier that stopped the acid from touching her. Blake swung through the air, spinning in a corkscrew attack, holding the ribbon of Gambol Shroud, slashing the blade through the bodies of the Mandrills that surrounded her. Suddenly a Centinel erupted out the ground towards her, but she vanished as soon as its mandibles bit down into her body. It crashed to the ground and looked around, looking extremely confused.

It turned and saw Blake sprint towards it, she cut through the neck of the creature, cutting the head from the bone. It collapsed to the ground, downed for a few moments, and she then fired her pistol into some of the veins of dust, blowing the remaining few Grimm up. They all looked around at their bodies.

"This… I've never seen Grimm like this, do you have any clue?" Jaune asked Winter.

"No idea – I mean I heard the stories but to see it myself? It's like nothing I've ever seen." Winter agreed as she stared at their bodies. They sighed and turned, hearing the nearby howl of the winds outside.

"There's a way out, come on! It's this way!" Pyrrha called out. The group of them abandoned the regenerating Creatures of Grimm and followed Pyrrha towards the exit. There was a hole in the cave, and they could see that the Cryostorm was drifting away from where they were. But that did not mean that they were in the clear, these things were completely unpredictable.

Another could hit any second.

But that was not what shocked them – there was a mountain, mostly covered in ice yet built into the face of it?

Was a structure – manmade and ancient.

Much older than anything the Schnee Dust Company built – and it was not Pagan-Built, it did not match their Architecture.

They did not know it… but it looked scarily similar to Salem's Sanctum.

And that… was where Jackdaw was waiting for them.

* * *

**Killian**

* * *

He slowly came to, his eyes started to get accustomed to his surroundings, seeing Watts stand up after he finished tinkering with Killian's Respirator. Tyrian was stood leant against the wall with his arms crossed and Adam was pacing back and forth, anticipating his revenge on Jacques Schnee. Hazel stood up and took the mask off Killian's face, and then he heard Watts speak.

"It is ready." He said, Killian sat upright, and he groaned. "Look at your arm." Watts told him, Killian lifted his human hand and he closed it into a fist. He looked at his stump and his eyes widened as an arm forged from Grave Dust lifted up as well. He gasped with horror, jolting backwards as he saw the deep grey dust pulsating in the form of his forearm and his hand. There was a deep red glow inside of it as well, and then he looked at his Respirator, the modifications had built some sort of new shoulder as well that he had drilled into his body, and piping connected into the stump.

"W-What did you do?" Killian stammered with shock in his voice.

"Modified your Respirator. Now the Grave Dust in your body can be used in a more effective way, it does mean you have more of it in you now, however it will make you far more powerful than you have ever known. The Respirator can also take in dust crystals, and your arm will be able to channel the time of Dust into it. Like Fire, or Electricity." Watts explained, there was nothing currently injected into it – but he could already feel the power.

The Dust travelled back into his arm, leaving him with the stump again. Hazel helped put Killian's shirt back on, hiding the new upgrades given to him, and they covered the stump up with the cast he needed to keep his arm in position when the injury was still fresh. "That will help give us a helping hand when the fighting starts in the Foundations of Sovereignty."

"How are we gonna get in there? Really?" Adam asked him.

"We have our inside man – Killian is already on trial, why should we cause suspicion by taking him out of there. You see I have also implanted a device into your Respirator, a transmitter that will be able to give me access to their systems. Once I shut down their automated defences and upload the Black Queen Virus into their systems, they will not stand a chance. When their systems are down, we will sneak in and kill some of their soldiers and take their armour. When in disguise, we wait for the right moment." Watts explained.

"And what moment will that be?" Killian asked.

"When they think they have you beat – I will send a signal into their screen behind where the Councillor's will be, a slight blip. That will be enough for you to know that we're ready. The rest will be up to you, Commander." Watts explained as he stood by the bars.

"And once the Councillors of the U.G.R are all dead?" He asked.

"You will go to Ironwood's Office and shut down the C.C.T Network, and we will meet you there in our Airship and head straight to Beacon. Once the Network is down – I will engage the Inhumane Necessity." Watts explained, and Killian nodded his head in agreement.

"Good plan… I think I'm going to enjoy working with you more often, Watts." Adam said as he walked over to him.

"This isn't my first rodeo when it comes down to Espionage. But this is definitely the most enjoyable for me… I have been waiting for this day for an exceptionally long time." Watts told them as he walked around the room.

"Why? The U.G.R did you dirty too?" Hazel presumed.

"Jacques Schnee did." He answered as he approached the wall where he could see the window, staring at the Schnee Dust Company Headquarters. "Watts was never my real last name – not really." He revealed.

"Then… what is it?" Tyrian asked with confusion.

"My real name was Arthur Schnee – I was the illegitimate son of Nicholas Schnee." He revealed and their eyes widened. Killian stared at Arthur, and yet it all started to make sense.

"So that's what Salem promised you? To get revenge on Jacques? Why?" Killian asked him.

"Because my sister and I were both supposed to share the Right to the Company together. No matter who she married or who I married the Company was ours by right. But Willow fell head over heels for that conniving bastard, and instead she and Jacques worked together to take my share in the company and give it to him. Then he took the rest from her after she realised what he was. I was banished not awfully long after the betrayal after my dealings with the Grave Dust and Paladin Projects. Our Family name has been desecrated by his name… and her daughters and son are a failure to its name. Becoming Huntresses and the other being nothing more than Jacques' little lapdog." Arthur snarled, clenching his hand into a fist.

He turned to them all. "You know what Salem wants for us right? All of us will be the Governors of the Kingdoms in her name. She has granted me Atlas, and the Schnee Dust Company will rightfully be mine after tonight." Watts explained as he clenched his hand into a fist.

"It all makes sense now; you never did speak highly of Jacques Schnee – I always had a feeling it was personal, but I never suspected you were actually a Schnee." Killian said to him.

"Ancient History, my connection to that family is gone now. All I want is what was rightfully mine – Salem has promised me that. I will be loyal to her until my dying day. How about the rest of you? She has promised you all many things. Control, justice, power and blood… will you stay loyal to our Queen? Or will you run and hide like Cinder Fall did?" Watts questioned as he looked at them all. Tyrian giggled as he clasped his hands together.

"Our Queen raised me up, saved me from the ashes of what was… she is my mother by choice… I will never betray her." He promised, but Watts already knew that.

"Salem gave me a purpose, a future when nothing else would. Ozpin… created me… this monster – but Salem saw past my form. I am loyal to her." Hazel promised as he looked at his monstrously scarred body, built from dead flesh and organs.

"If your Queen gives me what she promised – Blake Belladonna, in chains? Then yeah, she'll have my trust." Adam shrugged, all of them were disgusted by his goal, but at least they knew he was on their side.

Their eyes fell upon Killian, and he stood up, looking at his stump that was no longer so useless. "I told her I wanted balance… that I wanted both the Military and the Academies to be treated the same, so then no more soldiers would suffer the U.G.R's corruption. She gave me a chance to do it my way and I failed – she gave me the chance, that was more than the U.G.R ever offered me. My arm is hers." He said as the Grave Dust Arm formed from his stump, clenching into a tight fist.

"Good… Icarus is already on a lead to locate the Relic of Knowledge. When he has an exact location… the next step of our Grace's plan shall begin. But first – it is time to destroy the Unified Governments of Remnant once and for all." Watts said as he walked towards the door.

"Wait." Killian stopped him and Watts turned slowly. "You said you knew who it was that betrayed me… tell me. Who is it?" Killian questioned as he stared at him. Watts nodded his head and returned to him.

"Someone who has been very close to you." Watts hinted.

"Who?" Killian repeated.

"Veronica Chamberlain." He revealed, his eyes widened with disbelief and he stood up immediately.

"No… no it can't be…" Killian stammered.

"Don't feel so defeated, Killian. I'm impressed at her ingenuity on this one, she fooled me until I saw her in Argus. And I am not surprised that you could not see through her disguise. She worked extremely hard on building that new identity, and she ever so slightly modified her face. Covered up the moles on her chin and cheek and dyed her hair. But the identity? That was the impressive one…" Watts said as he walked around the cell, Killian listened to every word.

"Identity? What do you mean?" Killian asked.

"She had a new form of Identity Disguiser invented, perhaps from Dear Old Pietro, it tricked even some of the best D.N.A Scanners, and she created an entire background of who she was. One that hid her real identity completely. It fooled me for a while – but I started to dig deeper, and I found holes in her disguise. She had worked her charms on you, and you fell in love with her – I think she even genuinely cared for you as well, despite working against us. She was siphoning every bit of intel she could from you and sending it off into the web. I still cannot identify the traitor in the Black Gallows itself, but I can assure you that Veronica is the one responsible for the public changing their views on the Vytal Consensus." Watts explained.

"How? She made it noticeably clear where she stood…" Killian stammered, still unable to believe this.

"She lied – I imagine it must have been painful for her, to play the part of someone who stood against the Academies, despite hailing from one herself." Watts explained, and Killian stared at him. "She trained at Atlas Academy, but she did not approve of the U.G.R's way of doing things, and desperately wanted to help the Faunus Slaves owned by my Brother in Law." Watts explained, and he started to piece it together in his head.

"She fooled us all, but not anymore… because I know who she truly is." Watts explained.

"Who?" Killian asked, he wanted to hear Watts say it himself.

"Robyn Hill."

* * *

**Robyn**

* * *

She washed the brown dye out from her hair – she was done impersonating the character of Veronica Chamberlain – it was time to be who she truly was. She took off the false appendage and replaced it with her higher tech cybernetic leg, feeling balanced once again as she looked at herself in the mirror. She removed the plastic surgery pieces across her jaw and on her cheekbones that ever so slightly changed her facial appearance. Her hair returned to its natural light blonde and she revealed her beauty marks under her eye and on her chin.

She then got out of Veronica Chamberlain's clothing, and she put on her own clothes. She wore a black sleeveless coat with grey accents over a red double-breasted sleeveless vest, a brown high neck shirt, and a light grey short-sleeved shirt with one right short sleeve that had a black cuff whilst the other sleeve was longer. She also wore a brown belted waist clincher with matching brown pants tucked into black knee-high boots with dark brown cuffs. Around her neck she wore an olive-green scarf with tattered looking tails hanging behind her. She also wore a pair of black archery styled gloves with the index finger missing on both of them.

She tied her hair back into a ponytail, and opened the drawer, finding her Fan Crossbow inside that she slotted back onto her arm. She heard the door knock, and she opened it. "Hey Robyn… you okay?" The young blue haired woman asked her.

"May, Fiona, Joanna… gods I've missed you." She held them close in a warm hug.

Fiona Thyme was a young woman with short messy swept styled white hair. She had sheep ears as her Faunus trait and olive eyes with a small hoop earring on her left ear and a small bell earring on her right ear. Fiona wore an olive-green sleeveless coat with dark brown lapels with the Happy Huntress' Brooch on the left lapel. She sported a green long-sleeved shirt with a white orange trimmed breastplate over it. She wore an orange belt around her waist holding her coat tightly around her waist. She also wore dark brown pants tucked into grey under the knee boots with the tops folded over revealing the white lining. The soles and toes of the boots were a darker grey. She also wore dark fingerless gloves accompanied by white and grey forearm armoured pads with the left arm covered up to her upper arm whilst the right only partially covered her forearm.

Joanna Greenleaf was a tall, tanned woman with masculine features with short dark green partially spiked hair, beige eyes and tattoos on her nose and forehead. She wore a cocoa brown coat with dark brown lapels and white trim and hem detail over a light beige long-sleeved top. She wore artichoke green and white armoured pads with emerald green straps on her arms alongside brown gloves. She sported a pair of brown trousers tucked into black boots with emerald green cuffs. She also wore a light grey and pale green breastplate that sported the Happy Huntress' brooch emblem in the centre.

May Marigold was a fair-skinned woman with medium blue hair, a long butt length ponytail wrapped in white bandage-like fabric, and yellow eyes. She wore a dusty brown coat with a small split in the rear, dark brown lapels with the Happy Huntress' brooch emblem on the right lapel over a grey waistcoat and dark brown top. She also wore dark brown shorts alongside matching forearm length gloves. May wore grey armour padding over her forearms and the backs of her hands. Alongside a pair of grey thigh socks and dark brown thigh-high boots and an orange scarf.

They were her _Happy Huntresses._

"It's good to have you back, ma'am." Joanna said to her.

"Oh gods, it hasn't been that long. We're on first name basis, remember?" Robyn chuckled.

"I'll work on that, ma'am." Joanna winked.

"So, do you think it worked?" May asked.

"Yeah – the guy fell for the disguise; he didn't even realise who I was. Fair play to Pietro on this little guy." Robyn said as she pulled the D.N.A Disguiser out from her breast pocket.

"You sent us a lot, you also sounded like you… kinda cared for the guy?" Fiona asked, and Robyn sighed.

"The plan was always to get close to him, I knew there was bound to be a risk I would start to genuinely feel for the guy. He's got a lot of demons in his mind, but the more things he did I knew what he really was. I hope he can come back from this and recover, but for now it is a good thing he is in the Black Tower." Robyn explained. "But we have a bigger problem – on our date together I asked him who he was working for, and he told me it was someone called Salem. I didn't really make much of it at first but then I heard Jaune and Ruby talking about this same person – and they are convinced she was the one behind what happened at Beacon Academy. That massive Grimm attack? That was her." Robyn explained to them.

"How's that possible?" Joanna asked with wide eyes.

"I don't know – Killian only mentioned her once and it was only by name, but she terrified him. I have a contact in the Black Gallows, he managed to break the Rogues out from the Black Cells after Killian captured them. He said he has especially important information, information that is really – really – bad." She explained.

"Where is he?" May asked curiously.

"He said we should find him at the Foundations of Sovereignty, when Killian's Trial commences." Robyn explained.

"Well – let's do this." Fiona agreed with a smile, Robyn blew out a sign of relief.

It seemed like things were finally going their way.

* * *

**Author Note - Well holy shit, how many of you were seeing that twist with Veronica coming? I laid quite a few hints throughout this Act with her character and who she really is. Great to finally have this moment be revealed!**

**And Watts... that sneaky Wario Son of a Bitch... although I love Killian's new upgrade with his arm, that was initially gonna be something he had from the start, but I felt it would be really cool to see him start to descend into the monster we see him become now. Plus, Prosthetic Arms are cool anyway, but one that forms out of the very thing that is killing you? That's just all sorts of awesome! And we learned Watts' true identity too and one of the things that Salem promised him - revenge and getting what is rightfully his - the Schnee Dust Company.**

**The Unified Governments of Remnant are in some real big trouble right now with Watts here and coming for them, but more importantly - he already has the codes for the Inhumane Necessity, and Salem is coming.**

**Things are about to fall apart - and the teams have no idea.**

**Shit's about to get serious, and terrifying.**

**The Mines were quite a chilling sight as well, seeing what Jacques did and how far he would go to win? Starting to wonder who is worse, the U.G.R or Watts...**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**\- Matt**


	53. The Fall Maiden

**Viewer Discretion Advised - Graphic Violence**

* * *

**Chapter 52 – The Fall Maiden**

* * *

**Jaune**

* * *

It was a straight shot…

It was not even that far of a run either, but Winter knew how deadly these Cryostorms were. And considering the landscape and the nearby howling winds? It was more than likely that they were in the Eye of the Storm. She stared out at the frozen statues of Grimm that were beginning to thaw already. "You're certain that Ruby and the rest of them are in there?" Weiss asked her sister as she approached her with Jaune beside her.

"Where else could they have gone than that structure? The thing is… I've never seen anything matching this Architecture. It's older than the Great War… or maybe from a totally different faction. Either way, this does not match any known Kingdom's Architecture from their time." Winter explained as she stared at the strange structure that was built into the mountain of ice.

"It's especially weird that the front door is still open, you know – not covered in ice like the rest of it." Jaune explained as he stared at it.

"Yeah… I think there's more going on there. It has to be where Jackdaw is hiding." Winter agreed.

They all got ready, checking their Ice Claw boots. They were still operational but the constant running through this thick snow and the cold was making them ware a little thin. That was the big downside with these Mantle Ice Claw Boots, unlike Winter's they were not designed for extensive usage out here, and even then – Winter's were suffering. Nothing was designed to survive out here in the Atlesian Wildlands, not even Grimm.

"Okay, be ready to run as fast as you can. That Cryostorm is gonna be back any second, we haven't got a second to lose." Winter explained as she stared at the darkness. They all stood beside her, bouncing on their toes.

"Three…

… two…

… one…

… GO!" Winter called out.

They all sprinted out from the safety of the cave and back into the blistering cold air of the Atlesian Wildlands. The Grimm that were frozen in ice were already beginning to break out from their cold cocoons. Filled with a wild fury, they started to erupt from their prisons, roaring as the Tundra Beowulves rushed forward and jumped towards Weiss, claws and jaws open wide. Weiss drew Myrtenaster and she cut the beast clean in two with one swing. It crawled through the snow with anger in its burning eyes, the other legs were slowly being dragged back to the half that was still moving, constantly regenerating itself.

Jaune rushed forward with his Shield open and he smashed it into the chest of a Beowulf, causing the beast to stagger from the impact. The monster snarled and then he took its head off with one swing. The body collapsed beside the still growling head on the ground, starting to rebuild itself. "Keep going!" Jaune called out, they all trudged through the thick snow as quickly as they could. The Grimm were erupting up from the sand with monstrous roars, hiding in the warmth of the sand, at least as warm as it could get in comparison to the freezing cold air.

The Beowulf roared, shaking the snow from its thick black fur before it jumped at Blake who slashed Gambol Shroud by its long ribbon, cutting the arms off the monster, and kicking it towards Pyrrha who drove Milo's Spearhead through the back of the beast's skull and out of its open jaws. It collapsed, and black smoke billowed from its wounds, already healing. Winter looked back after she slashed a Creep in two with one hard strike with her sword, hearing the howling winds grow louder and the cold worsen. The whistling sound of the massive Icicles echoed behind them, and they saw them come crashing down as the winds got even worse.

They smashed into the ground so hard that Winter staggered, but they kept on moving as fast as they could. "Cryostorm's here! Keep running!" Winter yelled as they stumbled through thick snow, looking back as the cold started to freeze the recently thawed Grimm back into statues.

They were so close to the entrance, and the icicles bombed them over and over again, like Artillery Fire from the Shadow of Broken Promises. The icy walls of the mountain that the facility was built into shattered but instantly started to freeze over again. Shard after shard wrecked the ground around them as they fled towards the doors. Jaune and Winter got there first, and he smashed his shoulder into them, but nothing happened. "Get the doors open!" Weiss screamed, and Jaune sheathed Crocea Mors into his Shield, and it formed the Claymore, and he ignited the Fire Dust still loaded into it.

He drove the blade in between the doors, cutting through the lock, melting it down. He looked back as the Grimm froze and the Shards crashed into the ground over and over again. Their howls were haunting as they whistled through the air. The ice wall was getting closer and closer, freezing the water molecules in the air into icicles that fell before them. "JAUNE! WE'RE OUT OF TIME!" Blake yelled, Jaune punched the hilt of Crocea Mors down with all his strength and the lock sliced in two, and he barged inside with Winter, and they kept the doors that were nearly blown off their hinges from the wind where they were. They still needed to close the doors to stop the White Frost from reaching them.

Pyrrha and Blake rushed over to one of the large couches and they pushed it towards the doors as Jaune, Winter and Weiss held the doors where they were, pushing them close as hard as they could. Blake and Pyrrha slammed the couch against the doors, and even then, the winds were still pushing the couch across the floor. Pyrrha turned and saw a heavy Vending Machine inside, she held her hands to it and she launched it past all of them and used it to barricade the door, and the extra weight was exactly what they needed.

The doors were still being battered by the winds, and they saw the White Frost started to creep in around the vending machine and the sofa wedged against them… but it was enough to keep it from going any further.

Weiss stared at the windows, covered in ice.

They all took a moment to recuperate, sighing with relief at the fact that they survived all that, the fact that they are the first people to ever make it this far into the Atlesian Wildlands… ever… until they realised something that was especially odd. "Hang on a second… the hell is a Modern-Day Atlesian Vending Machine doing in here? And how come this all looks so… used?" Jaune asked as he stood back up, looking around.

That was the strangest thing of all about this place – from the outside the building looked ancient.

But inside?

It was like it was built merely a few years ago, Winter walked around, and she found some files left on a table. "Well they were definitely here, looks like Ruby and the others felt the same way as you do right now. They were investigating too." Winter explained.

"I don't get it… why the hell would Jackdaw Branwen work so hard to get here? He's a deranged maniac, and sure it seems like he is working with Watts on this – but – why? Why come all the way out here and move through what is easily the most volatile environment on the planet?" Jaune questioned with confusion.

None of them knew what Jackdaw knew, nobody knew about what Lil Miss Malachite told him… about the Command Codes stored here that he had already sent to Watts about the Inhumane Necessity, but also… the Ratway Tunnels into Atlas.

This was that location, and Weiss looked around the room, seeing the nice tables and chairs that were here, alongside a cafeteria. But there was nobody here… not even a body. But Weiss then looked up… and her eyes widened when she saw the terrifyingly familiar symbol.

It was like an Eclipse, but the Phenomenon had a Noose around it…

The symbol was awfully familiar. "That's… the Black Gallows Symbol."

"What?" Jaune gasped as he walked over to her, they all stared at the symbol.

"I don't like this, anything that has ever involved the Black Gallows has never ended well. And with Jackdaw in here somewhere? Ruby has no idea what she and the others are walking into." Pyrrha said with wide green eyes.

Jaune kept his grip on Crocea Mors tight as he looked around. "Well then… let's go find them. They're gonna need all the help they can get."

* * *

**Ruby**

* * *

Ruby carefully walked down the halls, they were deeper into this facility than Jaune and the others were, but they were not far behind. It seemed like they had found more places in this facility, alongside multiple old Elevator Shafts. "Damn… these are really old." Yang said as she looked at them, these did not even use Dust to be operated, these had incredibly old mechanisms to them.

"This place is weird; I mean the Reception Area looked like your sub-standard Atlesian Centre. But all this? This is much, much different. Ancient, almost." Qrow said as he kept Harbinger tight in his grasp. They felt their hearts pounding harder and harder as they walked through the dark hallways.

It was constantly in their mind.

_Jackdaw Branwen is in here somewhere, Yang could see him communicating to her through that Branwen Mindscape of theirs, guiding us to this building._

_He's definitely here and he knows that we are._

_I hate this…_

Ruby could feel her hands shake nervously, but she turned and saw Eryka, Nora and Ren were beside her. The fact that she could trust all of them more than her own Uncle was worrying, she knew that he was hiding something. Their stories were no longer adding up anymore, which meant that there was a factor in their story of what Jackdaw did to Summer that they were avoiding.

Ruby stepped around the corner with Crescent Rose in its rifle form, aimed down the corridor. "Stay alert… could be anything in here. Remember, Jackdaw might not be the only danger." Ren advised, Stormflower held up, ready to shoot anything that moves in these shadows.

But then, there was this creepy female voice, speaking to them with a musical chime at the beginning.

"Welcome to Frostwall Bastion." An automated voice emerged from the speaker systems, they all looked around, on edge when they heard another voice in here. "We – the Black Gallows – will protect you from the horrors of this world, at any means necessary. Feel safe in our embrace, feel safe with our voice, follow her will for a better tomorrow." The voice spoke to them.

"Well… that's creepy as hell." Nora chuckled as she slowly walked with Stormur Skeggox in her hand.

"Oh, do I sound that bad today?" The woman asked with concern in her voice, they all stopped with wide eyes.

"Yo, what?" Yang stammered as she stared at the cameras that were watching them.

"Please, do have a look around. But of course, please put any rubbish you bring with you in the disposal ports in this facility. We excel in cleanliness here in Frostwall Bastion." The voice continued, they felt a cold chill creep up their spines, looking at each other.

"Okay… is there someone else here? That can't be a recording. It responded to us." Ruby said as she turned the next corner, checking everything for any signs of a trap.

"Who are you? Chick on the speakers with that… weirdly sexy voice?" Eryka asked, Raven raised a brow at that one.

"I'm Iris, Miss Vasillias." She responded, and that creeped them out more than anything.

"Okay… that's even creepier. How the hell does this thing know who we are?" Ruby asked with concern.

"Number One: This _thing_ is called Iris. Number Two: Why I have access to your files, of course. I know everything about you." Iris explained to them, they all looked at each other.

"If that's true then how come you are letting us in?" Ruby asked, since she knew they were criminals now.

"You have been granted access in here by the most recent ally." Iris answered, Qrow and Raven looked at each other.

"Jackdaw…" Qrow softly growled in anger as they walked through the hallways. They entered another large room, there were more tables in here and there were Atlesian Knights wandering around – the old 130 Variants as well. They were still glowing red and armoured in black steel chassis. But they were acting very strange, something they realised as they watched them wander. They were… cleaning… constantly.

Some of them had broomsticks, constantly sweeping up the dust and snow off the ground, where the snow had flown in from cracks in the old building. Some were polishing the tables and others were cleaning windows – even the frames where windows had broken. They were stuck in their cycles constantly, one of them could be seen beside a pile of snow, constantly moving the snapped broom handle over and over again, yet it was making no progress.

Ruby looked at her sister with concerned eyes.

They continued through the dark halls of the facility, moving through this huge room where the Atlesian Knights were _working_ away. "Ruby… this place is giving me the creeps." Nora whispered to her.

"Me too. Be ready for anything with this thing. If it's an A.I it could be crazy if it has been here for really long." Ruby advised, they walked towards the next doorway, and they found some old offices. Inside were documents just left behind, they checked them, but they could not make out anything on them. Most of the important information was covered in black ink.

"What is this place?" Yang wondered.

"Must be where the Black Gallows started." Qrow said, walking into one of the offices.

"It's like the Black Gallows Operators here just got up and left. Didn't bring anything with them." Raven added, looking at one of the files, but she sighed. Nothing was readable thanks to all the black ink covering the text.

"Hey, Iris? How old is this place? And what's it used for?" Yang asked the Artificial Intelligence keeping the place running.

"Frostwall Bastion is currently 1237 years, 11 months, 265 days and thirteen hours old. The Bastion was the original Headquarters for all Black Gallows activity, working under the eyes of the Atlesian Pagans before, during and after the Great War." She answered, they looked at Qrow with wide eyes.

"Yeah, this place has been around long before the Great War Started, almost a whole century before." Qrow said.

"Nobody really knows how old the Black Gallows are do they?" Ren asked.

"No… but I think we know now. They've been around for a long time. But they couldn't have been what they are now in the beginning, I mean look at the Atlesians. They were pagans once… the Black Gallows must have been something different as well. I just don't know what they were." Qrow said.

"Do we know if there were any other Kingdoms? Apart from the main four?" Eryka asked, crossing her arms.

"Archaeologists have found old ruins that date back further than the Great War Era, and even some other Kingdoms were destroyed in the early centuries of the Great War." Raven explained.

"So maybe they were part of those Kingdoms…" Ruby shrugged her shoulders, at the end of the day nobody had a definitive answer.

"Yo, Iris? What were the Black Gallows like originally?" Eryka asked curiously as she planted one hand on her hip.

Iris was quiet for a few moments before answering. "I'm sorry, Miss Vasillias – that information is Classified." Iris answered.

"Oooof course it is." Eryka sang, before they kept moving through the facility. They opened a set of double doors and they closed behind them, entering what looked like some sort of large Elevator. It went very deep underground, and Ruby leant over the edge, seeing the darkness beneath them whilst an Atlesian Knight waddled around, wiping dust off the Terminals.

"Hooey… that's a loooong way down." Ruby said with her Silver Eyes as big as footballs.

"I dunno if I wanna trust these elevators, dude. They look kinda… old." Nora said as she touched it, hearing it rattle and clank.

Suddenly they heard something pummel against the closed doors behind them. It seemed like they had locked behind them, but they could hear the pounding grow harder and harder. Somebody was kicking the door at them over and over again. They all drew their weapons, and Ruby kept her Rifle aimed at the door. "It's him… isn't it?" Ruby stammered nervously.

"We're about to find out." Yang said.

"You ready?" Ruby asked them.

"Yeah." Eryka answered, Constantine Damascus drawn all the way, ready to fire at him on the other side.

The door blew open, and their eyes widened to see that it was Winter. She stared at them and Eryka's eyes widened with both relief and dread. "Oh… shit…"

Jaune, Pyrrha, Weiss and Blake were also standing at the ready, but they immediately lowered their weapons. Ruby's side of things were not so quick to judge, however. "You're kidding me right? You followed us through the Wildlands?" Ruby growled angrily, but Winter quickly put her weapon down and she held her hands above her head, Jaune, Pyrrha, Weiss and Blake all did the same.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! We're not here to fight you, we swear it. We're here to help." Winter assured as she walked over to them. Eryka was the first to lower her bow, trusting her girlfriend's word. Slowly everyone but Ruby, Qrow and Raven lowered theirs.

"Help? I thought you were Killian's puppets now? Something about looking out for yourselves?" Ruby scoffed.

"A lot has gone down after you left. Killian's been arrested." Winter assured.

"Yeah we heard Weiss' Dad mention it." Ruby said.

"That and the U.G.R took us off the mission because they're sending the Ace Ops after you. I doubt they're gonna get here thanks to the Cryostorms unless they're stupid. The U.G.R have no idea we're here and we'd like to keep it that way. Otherwise we'd have to arrest ourselves and… well… that'd be super embarrassing." Winter said, planting her hand on her hip.

Ruby scoffed. "Yeah I can't imagine that would look good on your performance review." Ruby joked, making Winter chuckle.

Ruby lowered Crescent Rose, and she looked at Blake and Weiss. "It's good to see you guys." Ruby said with a smile.

"You may as well get it over with." Weiss sighed; Ruby raised a brow.

"Uh… get what over with?" She inquired.

"The whole _I told you so_ song and dance, I know you and I know you've probably rehearsed it. So… c'mon… lay it on me." Weiss gestured to Ruby, grimacing as she looked away as if she were about to get a snowball thrown at her.

"As tempting as it is, I'll have to hold onto that for later. Jackdaw's in here somewhere… there's this creepy A.I Lady talking to us and we just found this really unreliable looking Elevator." Ruby gestured at the large elevator behind them.

"Oh… that… wow. I wasn't expecting that." Weiss said.

"Don't think you're out of the woods yet, Weiss – I have been rehearsing it. You just gotta wait with anticipation for it." Ruby said with a grin, opening the Elevator.

"Oh gods…" Weiss groaned.

They all walked into the Elevator together, reunited at long last as it started to descend down into the Dark Labyrinths of Frostwall Bastion.

Where Jackdaw Branwen was waiting for them.

* * *

**Cinder**

* * *

Her head was hurting bad, she slowly came to, finding herself bound to a tree. Lots of rope was tightly wound up around her, and she could hear a dull thud repeating over and over again, her one good eye came to and she saw Oscar getting pummelled into the mud over and over again. He spluttered blood onto the ground from how many times he had been punched. The man who was beating him was Shay, his fist was covered in blood as he paced back and forth, staring down at the young man who held his stomach, spitting out blood from his mouth.

Shay turned and stared at the Fall Maiden with a smirk on his face, he walked over to one of the barrels and he picked up a cloth, wiping the blood from his knuckles whilst his men sat the dizzy Oscar Pine back on his knees. "Well, well… look who's awake?" Shay laughed, grabbing Cinder by the hair before he punched her in the face as well. Cinder grunted; the punch surprisingly helped her focus her senses.

She looked around and laughed at them. They were back at the camp, dragged back here judging by how muddy they were. Vernal and Amber were also knelt down beside Oscar, and Vernal immediately checked the young man to make sure he was okay until one of the Bandits loyal to Shay slammed the stock of his shotgun into her cheek so hard that she fell down into the mud. "Argh…" She groaned.

"Leave… them be." Cinder warned, and Shay chuckled sinisterly whilst he paced around.

"Let's be clear, honey – you are in no position to be threatening me. You see you need to be made an example of before this tribe. To those who are filled with doubts of what we must become – I'm not gonna kill all of them, not yet. Not unless they can accept how things need to be from now on." Shay explained, picking up a Sawn-Off Shotgun and pointing it at Cinder's face. "Such a shame to ruin your gorgeous face honey." He said.

"Stop! Leave her alone!" Amber screamed, and she saw Shay's Right Hang Man, Flynt, the one who stole the treasure of the Branwen Tribe, point his gun at the back of her head.

Cinder's eye suddenly ignited with fury. "GET AWAY FROM HER!" She erupted, but Flynt pulled the hammer of his gun back, staring her down.

"If I were you, Cinderella, I'd calm the hell down unless you want Flynt over here to blow a hole through the kid's head. Because he'll do it, not the first kid he's killed you know?" Shay chuckled, and Cinder immediately extinguished the fire in her eye, but the hate never faded, she just stayed calm to keep Amber, Vernal and Oscar alive.

_He wants to talk… he likes the sound of his own voice, always has…_

"I should have known you talked; we should have killed you as soon as you showed back up at the Vasillias Cartel." Cinder snarled with rage in her eyes. The rest of the Gang were sat down, watching the event unfold. Shay's Grunts were all on his side, which meant he had roughly twenty guns loyal to him, but everyone else were still loyal to Raven since she saved them. He had already killed a few of them to try and make an example – but kill the Fall Maiden?

Well that would definitely get them to fall in line, Shay wasn't stupid. They needed these people.

Shay stared at her when she pointed out the fact that he lied and ratted them out to Killian. "What is she talking about, Shay?" One of the Bandits questioned.

"He talked, he's a rat and he had a nice long chat with Killian and some point to let him know about our plan to work with Lavinia Vasillias at Lake Matsu." Cinder answered.

"That's a goddamn lie." Shay chuckled with a grin on his face as he slowly walked towards Cinder, hand on the holster of his Revolver.

"Guys… you all know me… that I wouldn't lie to you about this." Cinder said to the people as they listened.

"Yes, listen to the chick you lied her way through Beacon Academy to destroy it, totally trustworthy behaviour." Shay chuckled.

"He disappeared and was the only person to make it back, I don't believe in coincidences." Cinder said.

"You don't believe in anyone but yourself, not even this kid!" Shay laughed.

"It all makes sense now…" Cinder said, scowling up at him. "You've always had it out for Raven, and that was your opportunity to get her out of the picture. So you could do this."

Shay stared down at her – Cinder knew she was right, and he knew that she knew. He pointed his Revolver at her head with his finger on the trigger.

"Stop!" One of the Bandits yelled, standing up, and Shay sighed, rolling his eyes with a growl as he turned around, staring at the man.

"Yes, Jeremiah?" He asked with curiosity.

"Convince us that she's lying? We're not dumb, you killed Traynor and two others because they stood against you. But Cinder has never lied to the Tribe, never." Jeremiah demanded, which made Shay chuckled, pushing his hands through his hair.

"Why trust her? We caught her trying to steal all our riches for herself so she, Vernal, Oscar and this little… PARASITE!" He bellowed at the seven-year-old girl, making her whimper with fear. "She wanted to take everything we had for herself because that's what she is. A backstabbing two-timing traitor. She was always gonna betray us, with or without your precious Raven Branwen." Shay laughed.

"Then where's the money, Shay?" Another Bandit questioned; the young woman stood up too. "I was cleaning Raven's tent like I always did for her; I always knew where that chest was kept. I can't help but notice that it's gone, Shay. Where is it? If you caught her then that means you had it."

Shay chuckled again. His laugh was always deeply disturbing. "We buried it nearby."

"WHAT?" Distress started to grow inside the camp, and Cinder smirked – they were gonna need _their_ help.

"What the hell is wrong with you? That's all our money!" Another Bandit yelled.

"We had to move it so then this little snake wouldn't take it again!" Shay argued.

"You calling me a snake? That's rich." Cinder scoffed.

"Shut it, Cinder!" He yelled with anger, pressing the barrel of his revolver against the side of her head again. He turned back to the rest of the tribe. "Whether you all like it or not, we have to change if we are to survive. Tribes and Gangs like these never survive, Raven never had the stomach to do whatever it takes to keep us going. We kept on robbing over Bandits, other criminals or only the rich! But that paints targets on our backs, and that is why we always go for the poorer settlements. The Governments couldn't give two shits about them! But sooner or later the Black Gallows was gonna find us! Raven had to go, the Branwens had to go! It was time for a change… we are Raiders. And as Raiders we will do what we do best!" He roared as he paced back and forth, lightning started to brew up in the sky as Cinder subtly channelled her power through her body without him even realising.

Shay turned and stared at Cinder. "But first… we have this very… pleasant matter… to deal with first." Shay said as he walked towards Cinder. She stared at him, then she pushed her head into the barrel of his gun. He stared down at her and he chuckled. "You think I'm gonna do you in first? Aw… that's cute, but no… no… I got something else planned." Shay assured, whistling to his men.

Four of them grabbed Vernal by her shoulders and threw her into the mud in the middle of the camp, and they all started to punch and kick her over and over again. Cinder gasped and she pushed forward until Shay punched her in the face, knocking her against the tree. "Go on, Cinder… take a good long look." He whispered to her. "You see we're reasonable men… so we want you to enjoy the show we're gonna put on. First we're gonna beat Vernal to death… then we'll beat Oscar to death… and then little Amber… and then I'll shoot you. Only then will you be dealt with, sweetie. You know, the little girl is gonna be a fun one to deal with – did you know that when it comes to kids… their heads are softer. Kinda like squashing a rotten pumpkin." He said, staring at Amber with a smirk, but he did not notice Cinder's fury building and building in her body and into her eyes.

Vernal cried out as she was punched and beaten into the mud, to the point that the men pushed her down into the mud, to drown her in it.

And then…

CRACK!

A giant bolt of lightning suddenly shot down through the huge ancient tree that Cinder was bound to, the wood fragmented and exploded into splinters around her. The rope burned away, and her eye was burning furiously. She opened her hands and formed her two Obsidian Axes, staring directly at Shay who turned around with wide eyes, and Flynt turned to run. The other who had his gun pointed to Amber's head turned and he gasped. Cinder launched her Axe towards him, and it punctured into his chest so hard that it carried him towards a rock, pinning him to it.

"Oh… shit…" Shay gasped, turning and fleeing from the scene as Cinder stared at the Thugs who were beating on Vernal. They stared at Cinder with fearful eyes. Cinder walked towards the thugs and she swung her axe towards one of them who drew his own axe and swung it towards her, only for Cinder to drive the axe down his arm, cutting it from his elbow. He shrieked with agony until Cinder swung around and slammed the head of her axe into the side of his head so hard that she squashed his head into the barrel. She kicked his corpse from the cracked axe, and she ducked under the machete of the next, swinging the axe up his groin.

He shrieked with agony as Cinder held him there, and then she stomped down onto his knee so hard that it snapped the bone, bringing him down to one knee. She let him suffer as he felt the agony in his crotch with the axe lodged up there, she then caught one of them by the throat as he fumbled his gun to shoot her, and she formed a sword and drove it straight through his skull. The final bandit tried to crawl away with fear of Cinder until she punched him with a burning fist, reaching into his stomach as he wailed. She grabbed his heart from his ribs and ripped it out in front of him, before she burned it into ashes and grabbed him by the skull and channelled fire into his head, burning him inside out.

His shrieks echoed for miles, and the pain? The suffering? The Negative Emotions?

The Grimm could smell it.

Cinder turned to the man with the axe in his crotch, and she ripped it out, making him squeal with agony until she buried it into his head so hard that the axe shattered upon contact. She formed her Bow and drew it on the rest of the Tribe, glaring at them. "All of you – you best pick your side now, because this is over." Cinder told them. "All those years with Raven… all torn down because of that snake. If I were you I'd go, run as far away from here before the Grimm show up." Cinder warned, Shay's thugs were not moving.

Some of the people fled, whilst some stood with the thugs.

None stood with Cinder.

No loyalty… none at all.

She was not surprised but it hurt for Vernal to see. She turned to Oscar, Vernal and Amber. "Get out of here. Get somewhere safe – I'll finish this, and I'll finish Shay and Flynt myself." She assured with furious eyes. Oscar helped Vernal up, putting her arm around his shoulder whilst Amber ran with them, helping Oscar as best she could with his injured leg. Cinder stared at the Bandits in front of her, she closed her eyes.

"All them years… snuffed out in a night." She sighed, before she stared them in the eyes. One of the Bandits sprinted towards her and she fired an arrow which went straight into his head. The clouds darkened above their heads and lightning came crashing down upon them, decimating the tents, leaving burning craters in the ground where the molten light had fallen. She sprinted forward and crushed her Bow down into embers, using those embers to forge two Obsidian Swords. She threw one of the swords into the sternum of a soldier which pinned him to one of the trees. With that hand free she cooled the air down and launched a sharp icicle like a bullet through the skull of the next.

There were roughly twenty-five bandits overall, and she already managed to kill three of them. One of them, rolled out of the path of her fireball, and he slashed his sword across her aura protected body. He then fired his shotgun at her, but she just took the shot. He rushed forward again to try and cut her down, only for her to stop his sword with her hand. She then pushed the blade of her sword through his face and pushed it upwards, splitting his head in two. Another soldier fired his machine gun at her, but she blasted a small tornado of wind at him that carried sharp sticks and one of the swords, which ripped him to shreds in its vortex as he wailed.

The next threw a knife at Cinder, the bandit rushed forward and picked up one of the hatchets and swung it down towards Cinder. Cinder slashed the axe in two, and then she cut the woman's hands off in one swing. The Bandit howled in agony, Cinder grabbed her by her long her and pulled her neck back, driving the sword down her throat so far that the blade hit the soil, leaving her body in that position.

Six down, nineteen to go.

One of the Bandits stood atop one of the crates and fired her Bow and Arrow at Cinder, but she rolled out of the way and blasted a column of fire up at the bandit, burning her alive as she shrieked in pain. Cinder sprinted towards the rest of the Bandits, blasting forward and forming her axes. She drove one of them down into the chest of the first bandit she saw, dragging his corpse across the ground, before she spun and kicked another in the throat. He choked with pain as he staggered back, and Cinder took both her Axes and slammed them down into the shoulders of the next Bandit who tried to swing his machetes at her. He choked with blood and Cinder kicked him away, before spiralling around and beheading two of them in a single strike.

Their heads bounced across the floor, and then she took both of those axes and threw them into two more, killing both instantly.

Six more down, leaving only thirteen.

Suddenly a powerful explosion erupted into Cinder's back, dealing a lot of damage to her aura, and she crashed through the crates. She lifted her head, staring through her strands of black hair. There was a large woman with a Grenade Launcher aimed at her, and she fired again, hitting Cinder in the chest. She was thrown through the bushes but immediately blasted towards the Bandit, and she grabbed her by the throat. She lifted her off the ground with great ease and lightning built up above her head, and she brought the storm down upon the Bandit. The fork of light burned her body alive; she was killed instantly from that hit. Cinder smashed her body down into the ground with a feral rage in her eyes.

Another soldier fired his machine gun at Cinder, which she returned with another Maiden Attack. She lifted her hand up and the Fall Leaves broke away from the trees, and then she froze them, launching them towards him, shredding his body to bloody ribbons. Cinder jumped and jumped again off one of the crates, spinning through the air as she drew her newly formed Obsidian Bow, firing three explosive arrows down at the Bandits. They erupted, blowing two more of them to pieces.

Only ten remained.

Cinder landed and she crushed her Bow down again and formed her swords, sprinting towards the ten remaining Bandits. She slid underneath the Bandit's axe, cutting his leg off from the knee. He screamed with agony as Cinder rose back upright with elegance, slamming the blade of her sword down into the soldier's ribs, finishing him off. She slashed another Bandit across the throat, and he choked on his own blood as Cinder walked past him. One of them fired his Crossbow at her but she deflected the arrow with one impressive swing, and she then grabbed the choking Bandit and used him like a meat shield when she saw one of them pull out a Heavy Machine Gun. Cinder pushed forward towards the Machine Gunner, throwing the bloody mass that was that previous Bandit, knocking him on his back. She immediately caught the arrow of the Crossbow User and she grabbed him by the throat, punching the arrow into his skull.

Three more down, only seven left.

Cinder's eye was constantly burning with anger, she turned and saw one of the Bandits aiming his machine gun at her, until a Beowulf erupted from the bushes behind him. It bit down onto his shoulder and he screamed with both terror and agony. A pack of them gorged on his body, ripping him open as they feasted on his body. Ursae were arriving as well, trampling branches under their weight. Another Bandit was unfortunate enough to be dragged away from the group by the beast. He wailed in agony as the Ursa savagely ripped him apart, slashing its claws and ripping chunks off him.

With the Grimm killing those two bandits, that only left five more for Cinder to finish off. She sprinted towards them and she cut one of their heads off with her dual sword, she shot forward and stabbed one of her swords into the throat of the other, rolling across his back in the process, cutting it through his jugular to make him bleed out. As she rolled over she launched the other sword through the chest of the third, pinning him to the wall. The sword wobbled in his chest, she final rushed towards the fourth and she slashed across his hand and then across his legs, taking them all off before she pinned him to the ground with the sword.

All that was left was one, she turned to see he had something aimed at her.

A Rocket Launcher.

She gasped as the missile exploded into her chest, breaking her aura in the process. She crashed into the ground and groaned in pain. The Bandit walked towards her and pointed his gun at her head. "You're done for, Fall Maiden." He snarled, until Cinder turned and saw the Beowulves surround him. He looked at them with fear and she looked at them. She kicked him in the leg, and he fired, the bullet sliced across her cheek and she snarled with anger. She pushed him towards the Grimm. "No! No! NOOOOAAARGH!" The Bandit wailed with torment as the Grimm swarmed around him, ripping him apart, disembowelling and chewing him from the inside out. "HELP ME!" He squealed, until an Ursa slowly collapsed his skull in its jaws.

Cinder felt nothing for the Bandits, she just got back up, winded from losing her aura like that. She stared ahead and her eyes widened from what she saw staring directly at her.

A Nuckelavee…

She did not know it, but it was the very same one that destroyed Kuroyuri, with the arrows and spears in the Imp's back. And it was not alone, because she saw the massive Ancient Geist approach, formed in floating pieces of armour.

A Praetorian Knight.

It stared at her, and she then looked past it, seeing the armies of Grimm. "The hell… is this?" She questioned it, knowing it could speak.

"Our Queen requested we keep you alive." The Praetorian Knight answered, Cinder's eyes widened as she looked at the Grimm, they were staring but none of them attacked.

"What? Why? I abandoned her." Cinder winced.

"Indeed – However our Queen has a forgiving nature… a one-time offer… to return to her ranks." The Praetorian Knight said to her.

"And… if I just want to live in peace? Away from her and all the problems in the world?" Cinder questioned, and the Praetorian Knight stared at her.

"Then it will be granted – should you not interfere with Her Grace's Plans. But remember, Cinder Fall, Our Queen is always watching." The Praetorian Knight warned. It turned and walked away, taking its powerful army of Grimm towards their target… Haven Academy.

Cinder panted as she watched it leave. "Things… are about to change." She softly said to herself. "I need to find that Treasure…"

"I need to find Shay."

* * *

**Oscar**

* * *

He kept moving through the woods, and Vernal groaned as she aimed her gun forward and blasted a beam of fire through the body of a Beowulf that was about to attack them killing it. "We can't leave her!" Amber told them.

"She told us to go, that's what we're gonna do." Oscar said, but then Amber pushed herself away from Oscar.

"No! I'm going back for her! She's the closest thing to a mom I have ever had!" Amber argued. "I won't leave her behind!"

Oscar and Vernal looked at each other and they both sighed.

* * *

**Cinder**

* * *

Cinder limped through the bushes, that explosion had thrown some of the shrapnel into her body when her aura broke. She kept moving though and she saw that Shay and Flynt had found the Tribe's Stolen Airship was landed nearby, and they were getting the money loaded onto it. Cinder held a gun she had stolen from the dead Bandits and she aimed it at Flynt and shot him in the head, killing him instantly. He collapsed to the ground, lifeless, and she looked around for him.

"SHAY?" Cinder yelled with rage in her voice. "Come on out, you coward!"

Suddenly Shay tackled Cinder into the ground, and he grabbed her by the throat with a mad look in his eyes. "I've gotcha now, Maiden!" He yelled.

"You rat! You rat!" She yelled back.

"I'm a survivor, Cinder! A survivor! That's all there is! Living and Dying!" He yelled, pummelling Cinder's face into the ground over and over again. With her aura down, she could not use her Maiden Powers, which meant that they were gonna have to do this the old-fashioned way.

Hand to Hand.

Cinder clawed his face with her nails to get him off her chest and they both stumbled to their feet, raising their fists up. Cinder immediately rushed him and punched him in the face, staggering him back. They fought beside a sheer cliff face that overlooked Anima, and she punched him repeatedly across the face. Shay grabbed her and pushed her away and he moved forward. "You should've walked away when you could, girl!" Shay yelled at her.

"Shut it, if it weren't for you, this Tribe would still be standing! It's stood for centuries!" Cinder yelled with anger as she held her fists up. Shay rushed forward with a feral laugh as he punched at her. Cinder blocked his punch but then he grabbed her by the hair and smashed her against the wall. He threw his fists into her back and her sides, bruising and causing her to bark in pain. She swung around and punched him hard across the face, so hard that it threw him across the ground. He tumbled and suddenly drew his knife and stabbed Cinder in the leg when she rushed forward. Cinder howled in pain as she felt the knife stab through her thigh.

Shay, fighting dirty to the end, brought his knee up into Cinder's face which knocked her backwards. Limping, Cinder still stared him down with rage in her amber eye. Cinder suddenly grabbed the knife and ripped it from her leg and brought it down towards Shay's throat. The monster grabbed her forearms, holding the knife back from his throat as he pushed against her, still grinning away as he held her back. She pushed with all her might, and managed it drive it through his shoulder. Shay roared with pain and Cinder punched his face hard, making him stagger backwards.

Shay pulled the knife from his shoulder and he threw it aside, and Cinder kicked him in the leg with her good leg. He staggered back and then she tackled him down to the ground. Cinder grabbed Shay by the throat, and she punched him over and over again in the face. He grabbed her thigh and pushed his thumb into the stab wound, she screamed with pain and that helped Shay punched her in the cheek. She tumbled off him and he grabbed her by the hair, punching the side of his hand down into her face over and over, blackening her one good eye in the process. Her nose started to bleed as Shay pushed her face into the ground to try and suffocate her in the dirt.

Cinder grabbed his hand and bit down onto his fingers so hard that blood leaked from his fingers, Shay screamed with immense pain as she bit harder and harder, and eventually bit his fingers clean off. She spat them onto the ground, nearly gagging at the metallic taste of blood in her mouth. She kicked him off her and slowly got back up as he grabbed his hand. He laughed maniacally. "Oh… is that all you got, Princess?" He asked her, grabbed Cinder by the throat again and slamming her against the wall.

He choked her out against the stone wall, staring into her eyes with that smirk. "I don't care if you killed all of them, I'll find more! I'm gonna make sure that no town is safe from us!" He laughed as he choked her out. Cinder smashed her head hard into his, breaking his nose. He staggered back and she grabbed him by his mullet as she swept him off his feet. She smashed his face into the ground over and over again, bloodying his face.

She smashed his elbow into her breast which got her off him and he grabbed her and pushed her towards the edge. She felt his hands around her throat as he pushed her closer and closer towards the edge. "It's a shame… how I would have loved to have a beauty like you in my bed… but I'm gonna just have to settle for watching your body splatter on the ground!" Shay laughed, until suddenly the circular blades of Vernal's Wind and Fire guns erupted through his chest.

He gasped with agony as the blood splattered across Cinder's face. Vernal pushed his body up and fired them both up into the sky. The fire burned through him and he howled to the sky in agony. "Cinder!" Oscar called out, throwing the Axe she had pinned one of the Bandits to the crate with towards her. Vernal ripped the weapons from Shay's back, and Cinder finished him off by swinging the axe into his chest so hard that it sent him hurtling off the edge of the cliff.

He plummeted down and his spine snapped as he crashed down onto a rock with Cinder's Axe lodged into his ribs.

Shay was dead, at long last.

Cinder coughed, wheezing in pain from how badly he had beaten her in that fight, he was a better and dirtier fighter than she was expecting. Oscar and Amber helped her back up to her feet. "What are… what are you doing here?" She weakly questioned.

"You try getting this convincing this one when her mind is set on something." Oscar chuckled, and Amber smiled, hugging Cinder lovingly.

"I'm so happy you're okay." She softly cooed to Cinder, and the Fall Maiden held her close, kissing the top of her head affectionately.

"You're my little hero." She chuckled, then she turned to see Vernal collapse to the ground with a tearful sigh.

"It's all gone…" Vernal weakly said.

"It was Shay… it was always gonna happen… I hope some of them made it… but after I saw that Battalion of Grimm? I doubt it." Cinder said as she spat blood onto the stones.

"So… we're all that's left?" Oscar asked with horror in his eyes.

"Yeah… we need to get out of here… get to Vale. Like Lavinia said… buy some land with what we have." Cinder said, gesturing to the chest and pointing to the Airship Shay was attempting to escape with. "Things in the world are about to change… if we stay peaceful… we'll be fine."

Vernal, Oscar and Amber smiled – they were with her to the end. "Come on… let's get this thing on there." She said to Amber, since Vernal and Cinder were in no state to help. Oscar and Amber both managed to get the Heavy Chest onto the Airship, which made Amber incredibly happy to know she could help.

Vernal sat in the cockpit, she was feeling strong enough to fly at the very least and she started the propellers of the Airship, and they abandoned Anima and what remained of the Branwen Tribe as the Grimm flooded in, devouring the corpses of the Bandits one by one.

Centuries of survival…

… ended in a single night.

The Branwen Tribe was no more.

* * *

**Killian**

* * *

He sat on his bed; eyes closed as he heard them approach.

"Get up… it's time for your Trial, asswipe." The Atlesian Soldier commanded, and Killian lifted his head and he smirked sinisterly.

"Finally."

* * *

**Author Note - The End of the Branwen Tribe, all because of that bastard Shay**

**God his death was so satisfying to finally write, all the crap that guy did, he deserved every single bit of what he wanted, but I also really enjoyed writing such a piece of shit so I wanted him to at least go out with a fight. I always enjoy characters like Shay, ones who are written with the sole purpose to hate them, because I end up loving to hate them most of the time. But he has gotten what he deserved, and if you ask me those other Bandits had it coming too if they were gonna follow him. Was epic writing Cinder just snap with her Maiden Powers, the part where she destroyed the tree with that bolt of lightning was a personal favourite. I imagined that in slow motion XD**

**And the gang is back together! And Frostwall Bastion is one mysterious place... the facility where the Black Gallows began. And with Killian at the end there? Hoo boy... things aren't looking good.**

**Not good at all, especially with that Praetorian Knight and the Army of Grimm headed to Haven. Things are about to go very, very wrong.**

**God I love writing this story XD**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter - The Foundations of Sovereignty**

**\- Matt**


	54. The Foundations of Sovereignty

**Chapter 53 – The Foundations of Sovereignty**

* * *

**Robyn**

* * *

There was a feeling in the air, a cold dread that was never fading no matter what they did.

Robyn, Fiona, May and Joanna moved through the streets of Atlas. The situation up here in the Floating City was not much different to what it was like down below on Mantle. There was a constant military presence here, armed to the teeth and constantly patrolling. Robyn kept her head down because these soldiers were constantly on the lookout. They still had targets on their heads for their actions against the Schnee Dust Company, by freeing so many of Jacques Schnee's slaves? That didn't just make them criminals, but terrorists in his eyes.

But in the eyes of people like Ilia? Velvet? Blake? She was a hero.

They ducked down as a massive Atlesian Paladin marched down the streets, with a patrol of soldiers behind it, Assault Rifles loaded as they looked around. Civilians up here looked concerned, but it was honestly harder to feel bad for them. Unlike the people below, the Atlesians were richer and far more privileged. They were not being treated like trash, or in the Faunus' case, like slaves. There was a massive difference already when you looked around and could count how many Faunus you could see. Up here in the city it was very few, and most of them were still more like slaves than actual free people.

Servants working in houses for richer families or in the restaurants behind the scenes whilst they had Humans be the waiters. It was disgusting how the Northern Society treated the Faunus, it was one of many changes that Robyn Hill wanted to enact, but that kind of way of thinking? It was systemic to its core… not something that can be changed quickly.

Not unless you ripped it out, root and stem, but that method would be bloody. Not the method Robyn wanted… and at first not what Killian wanted.

But now?

It was hard to be sure, it had seemed like Killian had finally snapped.

"I've never been up here before, in Atlas." May whispered as she looked around.

"I was." Joanna answered. "I used to fight in the Illegal Fighting Rings here."

Robyn knew all their stories, but that one always made her laugh at the hypocrisy of the Atlesians and their culture. "The Shining Light of Remnant, huh? Still has its criminal enterprises though, doesn't it?" Robyn scoffed as she walked with them, using the shadows to their advantage.

"The amount of Rich _Noblemen_ I saw betting there was ridiculous. I had enough of fighting in those rings and when I met you… you gave me a way out." Joanna said to Robyn, the Leader of the Happy Huntresses smiled at her, gently squeezing her shoulder.

All of the Happy Huntresses hailed from Atlas.

As Joanna said, she was a Former Pit Fighter, like Eryka Vasillias once was. Sadly as a Faunus, Fiona was once one of the Slaves owned by the Schnee Dust Company, forced to work down in the dangerous Dust Mines. May on the other hand found Robyn after she transitioned and wanted to help the Faunus after a close friend of hers was killed in a Mining Accident. All of them wanted the Kingdom of Atlas to be better than the hand they were dealt, which meant they had to fight for it.

They waited for the Paladin to clear the street, and when nobody was looking the four of them quickly moved through. May was saving her semblance for the right moment, it consumed a lot of Aura to keep them all cloaked. Robyn ducked down when a Drone hovered across the street, it was constantly scanning people, nobody realised that they were being scanned for their identities.

"And I always thought the Atlesians were paranoid _before_ Ironwood was killed. I actually kinda miss him." May admitted as she carefully moved forward.

"I know… it didn't take the Council long to find a replacement for him. I can't believe that they had Jacques fill his space. They didn't even bother give the Atlesian Academy any pull… which worries me." Robyn explained as she walked forward.

"What do you mean?" Fiona asked.

"Killian was adamantly convinced that the Vytal Consensus was the best way forward, to unite both the Militaries and the Academies together into one unit. I never agreed with that way of thinking, having to lie, coming up with all these stories to get him to believe me was hard. But Academies and the Military were kept separate from each other for a reason, the Huntsmen and Huntresses were always supposed to protect the people, not follow the orders of the Government. We were always privately funded and chose our missions with our own freedoms. It's why I couldn't stand by the Atlesian Academy when they started to mould into the Military. But… Ironwood still wanted the Huntsmen to have more freedom than the soldiers did… not much more… but it was better than whatever it is the Vytal Consensus would have done." Robyn explained as she turned the corner, finding that it was clear.

"Why did the Council just ditch the Consensus? Last I checked it was going well." Joanna questioned with confusion.

"I'm not sure, I know Killian's actions were partially responsible. Completely blindsiding the Council at Lake Matsu was hardly the best move of his. But they must have chickened out of it. Maybe some of their shareholders wouldn't have liked it, or whatever. I dunno… believe me I hated the idea of the Consensus… but it raises bigger problems with the U.G.R now." Robyn explained.

"Yeah, people were making their votes for what they wanted. By completely removing the whole thing? Goes against everything the people chose." Fiona said.

"I hate to say it, Fiona, I doubt the U.G.R give a damn." May scoffed as they moved through the alleys.

"I know." Fiona sadly sighed.

"Whatever their reasons were, it's only gonna create even more problems than solutions." Robyn stated. They moved out form the alleyways and they beheld the giant structure that stood before them. Ancient in Architecture and without a spot of dust on its surface, constantly being repaired and looked after.

The Foundations of Sovereignty.

It was a huge building, with the perfect mix of all the Kingdom Architecture. It had the almost Greek style from the Mistraalian Empire alongside the white colours of Atlas. Inside had signs of Valerian Architecture as well, such as the colourful walls and the Vacuan Open Plan rooms. Yet despite all that, it was built in Atlas – the Kingdom that was nearly wiped out by a storm near the end of the Great War. Somehow the Atlesians were always able to crawl their way back to the top, no matter how many bodies were beneath them.

"Alright… this is where the Contact said to meet us." Robyn said.

"Look how many cars are here, people are taking Killian's trial seriously." Joanna chuckled as she stood tall again. They walked across the road when it was safe and approached the steps. They quickly ducked down when two Atlesian Soldiers sat down and shared a cigarette together.

"Wish they'd just put the dude in a cell to rot and be done with it. Hate these kinds of jobs…" The Male Solder sighed.

"I know, hey you wanna go get some drinks at the bar later? I'm buying." The Female Soldier asked curiously.

"Sure, bud. I bet we'll need one after tonight." The Male soldier chuckled.

Robyn stood by the steps and she blew out a breath until suddenly an armoured hand suddenly grabbed her by the mouth. She gasped and immediately opened her Fan Crossbow, prepared to fight. The Happy Huntresses spun around with their weapons pointed at the individual, but then he spoke, and it immediately calmed Robyn down. "Stand down… stay calm." The voice was hidden by a familiar disguiser. He released her and she turned around, and she lowered Fiona's Crossbow Staff. Joanna and May followed soon after.

Stood before them was their contact – the Soldier with the X-Shaped Visor.

The same one who saved the Rogues from the Black Cell on the Shadow of Broken Promises. "We can trust him; he's been helping me gather intel on Killian ever since we started this operation." Robyn assured.

"Then who is he?" Fiona asked with concern in her voice.

"Well… I don't actually know that part yet." Robyn admitted.

"What? Then how the hell can we trust him? He could be working for Killian." Joanna snarled, she and May both raised their weapons once again, but then the Soldier responded.

"Believe me, I want him stopped just as much as you do. He works for an extremely dangerous individual and if he succeeds… thousands will be killed." The Soldier warned them.

"Salem…" Robyn softly said.

"Who is she? Robyn mentioned her before." May asked.

"An Ancient and extremely powerful entity, believe me it was hard for me to actually get that information from Killian." The Soldier told them. "I fear he is going to use the Inhumane Necessity to help her take control of Remnant if he does that… every single Huntsman and Huntress on the planet will be hunted down and massacred. He was trying to prevent there being bloodshed with the Inhumane Necessity, hoping it would force them to serve her without anyone having to die… but recent events have shown that his plan failed. Now the Inhumane Necessity is inevitable if we do not stop him."

"But he's on trial in the most heavily guarded building in the entire world. How can he do anything in there?" Fiona asked.

"He already has. He wasn't working alone and still isn't, I fear that the Unified Governments of Remnant are walking into a trap. We need to get inside and stop the Trial before they make their move." The soldier explained.

"Why not just kill him?" May asked curiously.

"Because he is not the Mastermind behind this. I do not know the full extent of their plan, but someone much smarter than Killian has been pulling the strings." The Soldier said.

"Hmm… before I said goodbye to them, I was listening to Jaune's team from the other room. I remember Jaune and the others mentioning something about an – Arthur Watts. Ruby and her friends said that he was the one behind the massacre at Cypher's Ridge." Robyn said.

"Watts?" The Soldier sounded surprised. "Arthur Watts died years ago."

"After everything that has happened recently? I man coming back from the dead somehow does not surprise me." Robyn said.

"If he is behind this then we need to get in there and stop them." The Soldier said.

"You're right… but we need to distract those soldiers." Robyn said.

"I can handle that." He assured, he messed with a device on his forearm and the sound of his voice disguiser changed and he patched himself into their radios. "Front Guard, there's a disturbance round the west side of the building. Please investigate, Danvers out." The Soldier commanded, his voice sounded exactly like the individual, it was clear since the soldiers took the order seriously and threw the cigarette on the floor, stamping it out. They picked up their rifles and immediately made their way towards the area he mentioned.

But as he was on that channel… the Soldier heard something else.

"All Forces, be advised, the Trial is starting now." A Commander reported, he looked at the Happy Huntresses.

_Now or Never._

They quickly traversed up the steps and entered the Foundations of Sovereignty.

* * *

**Killian**

* * *

The Courtroom of the Foundations of Sovereignty were grand, and the word grand did not even do it justice. It was utterly massive with huge statues of previous heroic figures stood built into the walls themselves, swords pressed down into the ground. One of which was the familiar face of King Thaddeus Rex, the King of Vale that had a statue of him built in the Courtyard of Beacon Academy.

The Huntsman that Jaune Arc always aspired to be just like.

There were others as well, Spartans from House Nikolaos, Nicholas Schnee and the Harbinger of the Dunes. He was the leader of the resistance that finally brought the remnants of the savage Vacuan Mongrels to their knees and ended the rule of violence that plagued those deserts for centuries. Killian was being pushed forward by the Warden of the Black Tower. He was a huge man, clad in jet black armour. Killian walked calmly forward; his amputated arm still sat in the sling as he approached the pedestal where he would be tried.

He stood there and Gravity Dust held him still so then he could move freely around the room. There was a particularly good reason for this too, one of the monstrous criminals tried here once went on a rampage after he broke free from his restraints, forcing the soldiers to gun him down, eventually.

All around him was this massive crowd of people, most of which were faces that he did not recognise, but amongst them there were logos that he recognised.

The Landmark Restoration Society.

The people who were angered after he decimated the Historical Location of Lake Matsu to try and apprehend the Rogues, despite not having the legal authority to carry out such a task.

And there were other familiar faces… Willow Schnee and Whitley Schnee were in the crowd as well, important figures who had to be here to oversee the event. Then directly ahead of him where the pedestals, with a large holographic screen on show behind them.

The Council of the Unified Governments of Remnant.

The Atlesian Councillors; Vance Ackerman, the Councillor of the Banking Companies, and Jacques Schnee, Councillor of Dust and Mining Companies. Then you had the Valerian Councilwoman, the youngest and beautiful Alyx Tanner. Then the Vacuan Councilman, Iso Brock with his arms behind his back. And finally the Mistraalian Councillor – Edward Sino. Killian stared at the five of them with resentful eyes, and it was clear that Alyx did not want things to go down this way, but Killian had forced their hand… or they had forced his?

Vance Ackerman approached his microphone on the Pedestal that he was stood upon, looking down at Nathaniel Killian. "Nathaniel Killian – you are hereby charged with treason, treason against Remnant and its people." Vance revealed, Killian looked betrayed and shocked by the accusation. He stared at Vance with wide eyes.

"What? I never betrayed you, I served the Unified Governments of Remnant faithfully to the very end." Killian snarled with anger at them, if he ever had any doubts about what was about to happen… they were long gone now. But he wanted to hear their little speech first.

"Is that so, sir? Then do you care to explain these clips of footage we found uncovered from Beacon Academy and its archives?" Vance Ackerman asked him, and the screen behind him activated. Killian stared at the screen and he scoffed, he knew what they were doing now.

He was showing footage of when he had his soldiers kill that Atlesian Soldier who was bringing extra medicinal supplies to Beacon Academy, giving only placebos to Jaymes Ickford, leading to his Paranoid Schizophrenia to send him into a frenzy. Killian shook his head.

_You were the ones who ordered me to do that… you wanted Beacon Academy to be destroyed to send a message…_

_You goddamn bastards…_

He stared at them as he continued. "Your actions four years ago caused the death of many people, including young Rouge Daniels and Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck." Vance spoke, and the crowd stared at Killian with hateful eyes.

"My son died at Beacon because of you!" A woman yelled from the crowd.

Killian just stared ahead, directly at the Councillors, because he knew that they were pinning the blame on him when he was simply the one they commanded to carry out the act. They were the monsters to blame for the assault more than Salem was, because they were willing to sacrifice their own people to keep control of their power above Ozpin. "Not only were your actions four years ago abhorrent, but then you unleashed a full attack on the Historical Landmark of Lake Matsu, an attack that completely destroyed the beautiful location, putting many in debts they cannot repay." Vance explained.

"Where's the compensation for my family, Killian?" A man yelled from the crowd.

"And how can we forget the most recent of these betrayals against your superiors? After direct orders to return to your Dreadnaught, you stayed, and tried to kill the fugitive Jackdaw Branwen. Which lead to him escaping in the first place because of your short-sightedness. Our forces were slowing him down, and we could have stopped him, but instead you put your own personal emotions above us all." Jacques Schnee added as he added to what Vance was speaking about.

Killian stared at the slimy politicians with contempt.

"For these transgressions against your people, against the laws and society that we have fought to support, we already have the evidence we require for punishment. Specifically – the Death Penalty." Vance Ackerman said, Killian did not flinch at the words, hell he did not even seem to hear the words. But he saw Alyx's reaction, she looked shocked and dismayed by that.

She grabbed Vance by the arm, turning him, and softly speaking.

"When did we agree to this? You know how I feel about the Death Penalty. We agreed Life Imprisonment at most." Alyx stated, and Vance chuckled.

"I felt differently." Vance pulled his arm from her grasp and she scowled at the old man who continued. As Vance continued, Killian turned, and he saw him…

… Watts.

He was already in the crowd, and he had a small smirk on his face, they had the Councillors right where they wanted them. He looked around the room and saw Tyrian with his head lowered, a mad smirk across his face. Hazel was there too, and so was Adam. They were all in position.

It was all in Killian's hands now to give them the signal.

"The punishment for this criminal's actions will be carried out by the morn. Treason will always be punished accordingly, and this man was responsible for the deaths of so many children. He will pay for what he has done." Vance said, he was about to leave when silence fell upon the Courtroom, because they heard him.

Killian… was laughing… almost maniacally.

He laughed as he threw his head back, wiping a tear from his eye as he stood before them. "Well… looks like he finally lost it." Edward chuckled.

"Took him longer than I thought it would." Iso shrugged his shoulders, hardly even interested in the ordeal.

"You know… for a damn long time… I thought that I was on the right side. That, helping you, the Government? That all of you genuinely wanted what was best for Remnant – but everything that has happened? It's just dawned on me… just how much of a damn fool I was." Killian laughed, staring at the Councillors who stared back at him.

"What are you talking about, sir?" Vance questioned as he stared at him.

"You… ALL OF YOU!" He roared, gesturing to every single person in the room. "You all sit up here on your safe floating island… this so-called safe haven… looking down on the world as it suffers the problems you don't even have to worry about. I have seen things… done things… for the people of Remnant that you could never imagine. All for the fools who stand before you, blaming me for their own actions!" He laughed, pointing at them.

Killian looked at them all and he sighed. "Do you know what I am really on trial for? I am on trial for being a fool." He chuckled.

"No sir, you are on trial for treason, nothing more than that." Iso reminded.

"Oh… yes I am… I have never realised how much of a fool I am until this moment! Every single person you have commanded me to kill, or arrest, every dark deed I have been forced to carry out? I did it all for you! Did it for the people of Remnant, Humanity and Faunuskind alike! Because I wanted to make sure you could all live… in harmony. Without ever having to see the terrifying things that lurk out there in the darkness." Killian explained to them all. "And here I stand… on trial… for protecting you all. And all of you… stare at me… insult me… for saving you." He laughed.

He turned and stared back at the Councillors. "Yes… I carried out my actions at Beacon four years ago… I shan't deny it. But do not pretend to act like you were not the ones who ordered me to do it in the first place." Killian snarled, and Watts smirked, genuinely proud to see Killian let out his dark side at long last.

"Your impotence will be your undoing, Killian." Jacques warned.

"Ha… ain't that the truth… I'm afraid I have been undone for quite a long time." Killian laughed. "And yet… I have never seen things more clearly than I do right now." He said.

His eyes glanced to Watts; he was ready to unleash their power play.

Killian stared back at the Councillors.

"You see… the thing is, dear Councillors of the Unified Governments of Remnant?" He spoke as he stood before them all. "This whole thing? This hasn't been my trial… not really." His eyes hardened and he scowled. "It's yours."

Suddenly the lights flashed red, and the huge screen behind them crackled and the chillingly familiar Black Queen symbol that infected the C.C.T Network four years ago reappeared before them. They turned around and gasped when the Atlesian Knights all flashed red and aimed their guns at everyone… except for the five people who were behind this attack, alongside the Black Gallows soldiers who barred up the doors into this room.

Walking through the crowd was Watts, who slowly clapped his hands as he emerged, deactivating the restraints that held Killian where he was stood. He patted him on the shoulder. "Well played, Killian, well played. Haven't watched a show that good in a damn long time." Watts chuckled, and Willow's eyes widened in the crowd.

Jacques stared at them with shocked eyes as well. "Arthur…" Jacques gasped, staring at him as he stood in the centre of the room. Tyrian threw off the cloak, giggling as he extended the Queen's Servants. Hazel revealed himself, like Frankenstein's Monster, he towered above them all, forged from the parts of dead warriors. Adam also emerged with Wilt and Blush drawn, staring at all the Humans in here, an insane look present in his eyes.

"Your arrogance is so predictable…" Watts said as he stared at the Councillors. "Your defences were child's play, you never thought that someone could just walk in here with two serial killers and a beast… so you didn't even bother to upgrade your security systems after my_ death_? So you just took my dear friend Nathan here, brought him right into your caught which brought us directly to the source of Remnant's so-called leadership?" Watts laughed as the Grave Dust swirled around his palm.

"Oh the poetry of it all… how arrogance can topple even the mightiest of giants." Watts stated, walking forward.

Watts stared at the Councillors, smirking underneath his moustache. "Ah… Brother in Law… it has been a very long time, hasn't it?" He asked him, before turning to Willow Schnee. "And my sweet Sister… my, my this is like a cliché family reunion." Watts laughed as he walked around the room.

"What the hell are you doing here, Arthur?" Jacques questioned.

"Oh, me?" Watts asked as he held his hands to his chest with a chuckle. "Oh I am here to offer you a chance… one chance… no more. I was never one for second chances, after all."

"The hell does that mean?" Jacques questioned, staring the Doctor down.

"You see… you and my sister? You robbed me of what belonged to me. Just as you have robbed the fine folk of Remnant with your Dust Trade… time and time again… cruelly treating the Faunus like second class citizens… or even worse… like slaves." Watts explained.

"You have a criminal's grasp at sophistry, Arthur, I've done no such thing." Jacques weakly defended himself.

"You kill, I kill. You rob, I rob." Watts gestured towards him. "The only difference between us, Jacques, is that I have the decency to choose whom I kill and rob, whereas you destroy everything in your path. I guess that makes you a perfect fit for a Councillor of the Unified Governments of Remnant." Watts chuckled as he stared him down.

"I've heard just about enough." Jacques snarled.

"Tell you what? How about this? You give me what is rightfully mine – the Heirdom to the Schnee Dust Company and you have taste at life on the streets? I'll let you live." Watts shrugged his shoulders, the Councillors – bar Alyx Tanner – laughed at his demands.

"I'll do no such thing!" Jacques laughed.

"You sure?" Watts grinned. "Good… that's good… I prefer it this way." Watts replied, he swiftly drew his Ornate Revolver and fired it straight into Jacques' gut, blood splattered up his white suit and he stumbled to his knees.

Gunfire roared and he turned to the Children of Salem. "This is it Brothers! Get your blades, get your fists out, get your guns! It's time… kill them all." Watts scowled at them and Tyrian laughed maniacally as he threw himself into the defenceless crowd, slashing into their screaming bodies.

Killian stood tall…

… and he smirked.

* * *

**Robyn**

* * *

Gunfire echoed down the halls of the Foundations of Sovereignty; Robyn had her Fan Crossbow already extended as she moved through the halls with her team by her side. Fiona and May kept the rear guarded, whereas Joanna was beside Robyn. "Damn it… this doesn't sound good." Joanna said as they walked down the halls.

"No, it doesn't." Robyn agreed, but as they kept moving. Robyn reached down into her pocket, rummaging around to find her Scroll. "We need to warn Atlas Academy, we need Huntsmen and Huntresses here to stop what Killian is doing." Robyn said, but as soon as she opened her Scroll?

_Connection Blocked_

_Unknown Source_

"Crap! They must have communications locked tight… but this place has its own Communications Relay… every important Atlesian Facility has one in case the C.C.T shuts down." Robyn said with hopefulness in her voice.

Suddenly they heard bloodcurdling screeched echo down the hallway that they were approaching. Robyn aimed down the corridor to see a woman covered in blood fleeing for her life, until a Black Gallows Stockholm Trooper suddenly pushed her against the wall and shot her multiple times in the chest until she was dead. Down the hallway as well were three people lined up by three other Stockholm Troopers who opened fire on them, killing them all. They were begging for mercy, but it was like they could not hear a word that they were even saying.

Robyn stared at the Raven Talons that were down the hallway and they turned to stare at them. "Contacts." One of them lifelessly called out, their voices scrambled by a voice disguiser. Joanna spun her Staff through her fingers, blocking the incoming bullets. Robyn sprinted forward and she jumped up and slashed her bladed fan down the side of the Raven Talon's shoulder. He staggered as sparks flew through the metal, but then he extended a blade from his bracer and thrusted towards her, Robyn caught his arm and twisted it, ducking down under him and she flipped him over her back. She aimed her Crossbow down at his head and fired it, launching an arrow through the visor on his helmet, shattering the glass. She turned as the Stockholm Troopers spun around and opened fire on the Happy Huntresses.

Robyn deflected their bullets with her Fan which opened up, causing the bullets to bounce off the blades. She stared at them and then she shot forward, bouncing off the walls and proceeding to kick one of them up his jaw. So hard that his helmet flew off his head, knocked off by her cybernetic foot. The soldier staggered back, and he immediately fired his rifle at her, ignoring the blood that leaked from his nose. Behind Robyn, the Happy Huntresses sprinted into action. Fiona jumped up and she fired her Staff's Crossbow towards the Raven Talon. He slashed the bolt out of the air with the blades that extended from his arms, and then he fired his machine gun at her again.

Fiona slid across the floor towards him, spiralling her staff through her hands over and over again, before she slammed the staff across the side of his head, so hard that he staggered down to one foot. He quickly rose back up, only for her to smash his head down into the ground with it. The doors barged open and more Stockholm Troopers were headed straight for them.

One of which was an Ebony Sabre, the Heavy Infantry Soldiers that were armed to the teeth in massive armoured Exo-Suits. There were three more Raven Talons – Standard Infantry – and a pair of Shadow Daggers – Stealth Class, designed for fast attacks. Fiona gasped, suddenly hit in the chest by a high explosive shot from the Ebony Sabre's cannon, she flew backwards and crashed against the wall. The Shadow Daggers sprinted forward, using dust to power the powered leggings they were wearing, enhancing their mobility. One of them slashed past Joanna and rushed towards Fiona. The Sheep Faunus held her staff up and pushed the Stockholm Trooper back, staring at the lifeless visors in the helmet as the soldier pushed against her.

Fiona thrusted her knee up into the side of the Shadow Dagger, the soldier grunted in pain from the impact and then she freed herself with a kick to the soldier's chest. The Shadow Dagger suddenly had a smaller turret open up over her shoulder, firing at Fiona. She also held two Dust Charged Pistols in her hand, firing all three weapons at once. Fiona blocked the bullets shot from the Elite Soldiers with her staff before she sprinted forward.

In the centre of the hallway, Robyn battled against the Black Gallows Stockholm Troopers with Joanna and May. Joanna sprinted towards one of the Raven Talons who fired his machine gun at her, but she suddenly vanished in front of him, not only could she cloak others, but she could use minimal aura to cloak only herself. He looked around for her when she suddenly smashed her staff across his face, so hard that the visor shattered upon impact. Shards of red glass flew, and he staggered across the ground and May winked at him. "Now you see me." She said, vanishing again, she sprinted around him and jumped up onto his back, hooking her staff up his throat. She pulled him back and then flipped over his head, landing in front of him, and she spun around, slamming her foot all the way up his neck, pushing him up the wall and snapping his neck. "Now you don't."

Joanna threw her Staff towards the Shadow Dagger that sprinted towards her and the soldier swiftly slid underneath the incoming weapon towards her. Joanna cracked her neck and then her knuckles, swinging her fist forward with a roar. The Shadow Dagger slid underneath her and slashed his blades across Joanna's leg. She fell to one knee and he jumped towards her from behind. The massive woman suddenly swung around and caught the soldier by the throat, smashing him head first down into the ground with all her strength. The ground exploded around his head. The Shadow Dagger kicked her in the chest with both feet, flipping back onto them. The Shadow Dagger fired his mounted gun on his shoulder at the Happy Huntress, but suddenly she sprinted forward and punched the soldier in the face extremely hard.

Powerful energy channelled through her fist, knocking the soldier onto the ground. He grunted and then Joanna suddenly brought her foot down into his face, finishing him off. Joanna cracked her neck again. "Just like old times." She sighed.

Fiona growled as she fired two Crossbow bolts from her weapon at the Shadow Dagger, one of them punctured into her shoulder and she snarled with anger. The soldier sprinted towards Fiona and kicked her in the face, staggering the Happy Huntress backwards. She suddenly swung around, spinning her staff across her shoulder and striking the Shadow Dagger directly in the chest. The soldier slid across the ground and immediately shot forward, until she threw the staff and the entire weapon stabbed straight through her, killing the soldier instantly.

"I wish it hadn't come to this." Fiona sighed.

Whilst May and Fiona handled the last few Raven Talons, Joanna nodded at Robyn and they both sprinted towards the massive Ebony Sabre that stomped down the hallway towards them, charging up the powerful cannon. The pilot fired her cannon and Joanna rolled out of the way, picking her Staff up as she sprinted forward. Robyn jumped and she ran across the wall, firing an arrow towards the Ebony Sabre. It caught the bolt and crushed it in her armoured palm, the other arm had a powerful machine gun built into it.

The three huge barrels started to spin around, charging up and channelling the bullets up onto it, blasting a storm of bullets towards them. Robyn grunted, being hit out of the air from the bullets but then Joanna caught the gun in her hands. She stared angrily at the Ebony Sabre, pushing her back with her immense strength, whilst the Ebony Sabre pushed right back. Suddenly the huge soldier punched Joanna down into the ground, but that did extraordinarily little to her powerful aura.

May and Fiona both took on the final three Raven Talons which remained. Something that they could not fault the Black Gallows soldiers for was their courage, they never backed down from a fight even when they knew they were gonna lose. They always fought to the last soldier. Fiona rolled across the back of one soldier, swiping her Staff up the face of the soldier, breaking their visor in the process. The action knocked the soldier down to the ground, but he rolled across the floor, avoiding the staff from crushing his skull. He immediately stood back up and suddenly blasted flames from the attachment on his forearm. They all had a mixture of equipment, as May was about to find out.

Suddenly one of them fired a Grappling Hook towards her, and she shot forward, May spun her Staff around and slammed it up the chest of the soldier. She smashed up against the ceiling, sending cracks across it, and then hitting the floor again. The soldier rolled aside and retracted the cable of the weapon, immediately sprinting towards May. She slashed her blade towards the Happy Huntress, and May deflected the blows with her Double-Ended Staff. Sparks bounced off from every single impact, until May suddenly dropkicked the soldier. She bounded back up to her feet and ran towards the Raven Talon and rolled under the blade swung towards her.

May grabbed the arm that the Grappling Hook Attachment was built into and she twisted her arm, aiming it at the third soldier that was about to attack Fiona from behind. She fired the Grappling Hook which punctured between the plates, leaving a bloody wound. The Raven Talon snarled in pain, then May retracted the cable forward, pulling the soldier forward. Fiona jumped and spun elegantly through the air, dodging the Raven Talon as he flew into the one she was just fighting.

May spun her Staff upwards, smashing it into the face of the Raven Talon that it knocked him onto the ground, she then fired the bolt through his head, killing him instantly.

_These damn bastards are killing innocent civilians… they never showed them any mercy… neither should we._

Fiona jumped and she bicycle kicked the Raven Talon in the chest whilst the one that May shot with the Grappling Hook weakly stumbled towards them, still fighting despite the bleeding hole in his side. The soldier backed up from Fiona's skilful kicks, then she took her staff and spun through the air, smashing it down the top of his head. He fell onto his face and then rolled aside when Fiona went to finish him off, only for May to kick him in the face. The other slashed up Fiona's back, but her aura protected her from any real damage. She swiped the soldier off his feet with her Staff and proceeded to slam the Staff down onto his face, finishing him off.

May snapped the last one's neck with her foot, twisting his throat with her boot. They turned down the hallway to see both Robyn and Joanna taking on that Ebony Sabre together. Joanna punched the soldier across the face with her fist, denting the armour and causing the huge brute to stagger back. She suddenly aimed her cannon at Joanna and fired, the Happy Huntress gasped as the Cannon shot an explosive round into her chest. The explosion threw her backwards, but she was caught by May and Fiona.

Robyn suddenly jumped onto the back of the Ebony Sabre and she stabbed her Fan Crossbow down into the nape, ripping out cables. "This looks important!" Robyn cheered as sparks flew from the torn cables. The Ebony Sabre pilot roared with rage as she staggered backwards, firing her machine gun wildly as she reached for Robyn to pull her off. She then fired one of her Explosive Bolts into the back of the Ebony Sabre's neck. She could hear the soldier choking with pain, but she was still fighting. Robyn jumped and flipped through the air, detonating the bolt.

The explosion was massive, ripping the suit apart. The Ebony Sabre collapsed to its knees and slumped onto its face with flames crackling out from inside the armour. "Nicely done ladies, we did warn them we'd show our teeth." She said as she helped Joanna up. The powerful Huntress stood back up and she popped her shoulder with a roll.

"Hell yeah we did." Joanna agreed.

They turned and May groaned. "More? C'mon…" She sighed, but their eyes widened. They saw five Stockholm Troopers backing up, firing their guns down the hallway, but not at them. A bullet shot straight through one of their heads, and then suddenly the Soldier with the X-Shaped Visor threw himself into one. He stuck a sticky grenade onto his back, and it detonated behind him, killing the second soldier. He stopped the blade of one of their weapons with his arm and shot him five times in the chest with his pistol. He then ducked down and shot another in the leg, bringing him down to his knee. He pushed the barrel against his head and fired, leaving only one remaining. The soldier sprinted at him with his blade extended, when the Soldier suddenly drew his knife and drove it right up the soldier's jaw, killing him swiftly. He yanked the knife out and flicked the blood off before sheathing it again.

"Whoa… that dude's a badass." May chuckled as he approached them.

"We're too late, the Council are being massacred as we speak. The best we can do now is warn everyone about what Killian and Watts are about to do." He said, and then… to their awe… he truly showed that they could trust him. His helmet opened up and revealed his true identity.

It was Dutch – Killian's Right-Hand Man.

Dutch was the one who let the Rogues out of the Black Cell and had been feeding Robyn information about Killian and what he was doing. "I wasn't… expecting it to be you." Robyn said with wide eyes.

"Yeah, sorry for the secrecy, but we need to move. You're probably already thinking the same thing as me, the Communications Relay?" Dutch asked her, and Robyn nodded her head.

"You know the way?" Robyn asked.

"Yes." He assured as his helmet closed back over, his X-Shaped Visor glowed red once more. The Happy Huntresses walked with them until they heard multiple Atlesian Knights corrupted by the Black Queen Virus march down the hallway, aiming their rifles at them.

"Crap…" Robyn sighed, standing by their side, but Fiona shook her head. "What?"

"We've got this. We'll keep the Black Gallows off your back long enough to get the warning out. Do whatever you have to do, none of these assholes are gonna get close. You have my word." Fiona assured.

"And mine." May promised.

"Eh… I ain't got no plans tonight." Joanna agreed as she spun her Staff through her fingers. She turned back to Dutch who had his Rifle at the ready.

"Okay… Dutch, if things go south, and I somehow aren't with you and you can get back to them? You get them the hell out of here." Robyn begged.

"You have my word." Dutch assured, and the Happy Huntresses nodded back. The three of them sprinted towards the Atlesian Knights, whilst Robyn and Dutch sprinted off in the other direction to get a warning out.

* * *

**Killian**

* * *

There was blood everywhere…

… nobody in this room was being spared, the Atlesian Knights were shooting everyone in here, the family members who lost children, people who lost their jobs and companies. Tyrian laughed maniacally as he cut through them all, slashing their bodies up with the Queen's Servants. He was covered in blood, and he drove his stinger through the back of one poor civilian, taking pleasure in his wails of agony. Killian suddenly picked up one of the guns from a dead soldier and he shot at the Councillors, nailing Vance straight through his face, and he collapsed to the ground.

He then aimed and shot at Alyx who tried to run, hitting her in the stomach three times. She fell over with a pained cry, bleeding out as he lowered the gun. Watts walked over the corpses as Adam cut the humans down with a monstrous laugh. Hazel picked up one of the people and broke his back over his knee. He roared with fury as he butchered them all with his fists. Jacques and Whitley tried to flee, abandoning Willow. But Adam saw them run, they nearly got to the doors but suddenly everything went black and red, and he Moonsliced through Whitley.

Jacques and Willow watched with horror as Whitley Schnee – Weiss and Winter's little brother – was reduced to dust from the power of Moonslice. Jacques collapsed to the ground as he bled out, and Adam slowly walked towards him, his hair glowing bright red. But all Jacques could see was the _S.D.C_ that burned over his eye. He grabbed Jacques by the throat and stared into his eyes. "Remember me? What you did to my mother? My father? To me?" He snarled with anger, before he slowly pushed Wilt and Blush into his chest. Jacques shrieked with agony as he painfully murdered him, cutting the long sword deeper into his body, watching as the life drained from his face.

Watts stood amongst the dead, and then he turned to Willow who had a knife pointed at him with horror. Watts smiled, and he suddenly pointed his Revolver at her and fired it without even hesitating, sending a bullet straight through her head. The knife fell from her hands and she crumpled to the floor.

Without even knowing it… Weiss and Winter were now the Last Schnees left… alongside Arthur Watts.

Or… Arthur Schnee.

He lowered his Ornate Revolver as Killian walked beside him. Adam got his revenge, and he smiled maniacally atop Jacques' body, finally avenging his parents. Hazel walked towards Iso who backed up fearfully, only for Hazel to grab him by the head and smash his head against the wall so hard it killed the Councillor instantly. Whilst Tyrian leapt onto Edward Sino and stabbed him to death with the Queen's Servants, smothering himself in the Mistraalian Councillor's Blood.

Killian stood amongst the dead and he exhaled… feeling relieved to know… that the time has finally come. Watts holstered his Revolver as well, sighing. "Finally… it is done." He said as he looked at all the bodies, every now and then there was a gunshot from the Atlesian Knights or the Black Gallows Stockholm Troopers, finishing off the stragglers. "Now the Throne is empty for Salem to claim. All that remains is the Cross Communications Network. Killian, I need you to get up to Ironwood's Office and upload this into the system. Once it is in, the Inhumane Necessity can be activated at the flick of a switch." Watts assured.

"You got it." Killian agreed, taking Watts' Virus Chip. He then felt her hand grab his leg, he looked down and stared at her.

The last Councillor… she was barely alive, bleeding out across the floor. Alyx whimpered softly as she spluttered blood from her mouth, staring up at him. "W-Why? W-We c-could have… it could have worked… you said… you wanted what was best for…"

"I lied." Killian coldly answered, just staring down at her as he crouched down.

"You… betrayed us…"

"No… you did that to yourself." Killian said as he stood tall once again, one of his Black Gallows soldiers approached him and handed his Chrome Pistol back to him which was in lockup, alongside his knife. He holstered the knife first and he checked his pistol, and it was loaded. "I'm… so sorry… it's come to this." Killian said to her as he stood tall.

She weakly stared up at him, glaring hatefully at him. "No you're not."

Killian stared at her. "No… I'm not." He admitted, smirking sinisterly, pointing the gun at her head and firing, killing the last Councillor of the Unified Governments of Remnant. He holstered his pistol and he walked away, heading to the C.C.T Tower, prepared to end this.

Killian had picked his side.

He chose the monster.

* * *

**Robyn**

* * *

Robyn and Dutch sprinted through the hallways together, Dutch fired his Assault Rifle, killing some of the soldiers that were in their way… but they were too late. Watts was too smart for them to beat, and they saw how many people were dying. There were at least two hundred people in this building – and they were all dead, butchered by the Children of Salem and the Black Gallows.

Robyn had to ignore those bodies though, because if they did not warn the Academies about what was about to hit them, the numbers would reach the thousands. They turned the corner, and Dutch punched one of the Atlesian Knights in the head so hard the metallic head shattered like glass. Robyn jumped and punched the hammer down on her Crossbow, firing a Bolt into the head of another Knight.

Running past the bodies of so many dead innocents.

_This… this was what I wanted to stop… the deaths of so many innocent lives…_

But they had to keep moving, and just because his helmet was concealing his face that did not mean that Dutch was not sharing those same feelings. This was not what he wanted, not at all. They kept running, they ran as fast as they possibly could, and then they made their way up the spiralling stairs, knocking the Atlesian Knights out the way after they were done killing the remaining stragglers left inside of this building.

They sprinted down the hallways, and they approached a room which had a terminal, and outside was the very same Communications Relay that they could use to warn the Academies across the world. "This is it!" Dutch called out. "Get on it and send a warning out, we may still have time." Dutch said as he kept his rifle trained down the hallways, Robyn deactivated her Fan Crossbow and she put the mic close to her lips.

"This is Robyn Hill, former Atlesian Huntress, does anybody copy? This is an emergency broadcast to all Huntsman Academies! Please respond!" Robyn begged, but she got nothing but static. She looked up and her eyes widened, and behind his helmet, so did Dutch's.

"Oh no…" Dutch gasped.

The Black Queen, it was here as well, and had blocked all communications out of this place. She looked through the window and there were people trying to find out what the hell was happening inside here, but there were Atlesian Soldiers stopping them. "Damn it… how many Black Gallows agents are in the Militaries across Remnant?" She asked with fear.

"I don't know." Dutch stammered.

"More than you know." The voice of Arthur Watts appeared, she spun around and so did Dutch, they both aimed their weapons at the Hologram that formed before them. He had his arms behind his back, still with blood on his jacket.

"Arthur Watts, I presume? We haven't officially been introduced." Robyn said.

"Oh I know who you are, I must admit your disguise? Veronica Chamberlain? That was some masterful work, you even fooled me. Not an easy task." Watts congratulated.

"Forgive me for not being flattered." Robyn snarled.

"I hate to tell you this, but your actions are too little too late. The Black Gallows have been secretly employing agents into all the Militaries across Remnant. Valerian, Vacuan, Mistraalian and Atlesian – they all belong to the Black Gallows now." Watts assured, which meant that the Inhumane Necessity will definitely work, because no Huntsman will expect their own allies to spin around and gun them down.

"Why the hell are you doing this? For Salem?" Robyn questioned.

"Her rule will be just and fair, unlike what the Unified Governments of Remnant created. Humanity and Faunuskind will be treated equally, and everyone will be protected. You are defending a poisoned chalice, why not drink from the one that will enrich you?" Watts questioned.

"I'd rather take the poison than whatever monster you're promoting. If butchering innocents is how you help your Queen get what she wants? Then there is no honour in that." Robyn snarled, lowering her Crossbow since she knew it was merely a hologram. Watts turned and stared at Dutch, still unaware of his identity.

"Ah… the Mysterious Soldier. I see you and Robyn Hill are indeed working together. This makes things extremely interesting." Watts said.

His voice disguiser luckily kept his identity to Watts a mystery. "What can I say? I like the theatrics of it all."

"I admire that." Watts chuckled as the hologram paced around. He stopped and stared at Robyn with a smile. "Give up in this suicidal endeavour of yours, Robyn. You cannot stop what is about to happen, Salem's Rule will happen. And the Huntsmen and Huntresses will become nothing but a myth in the coming years. Prepare yourselves for her arrival." Watts advised, his hologram faded away, and the Communications Relay shut down.

"Shit… SHIT!" Robyn yelled with rage, punching the Terminal so hard that her fist left a hole through it. But as she looked around, she double took the window, for a brief moment she saw Killian sprinting towards the nearby Atlas Academy with its C.C.T Tower. She watched him and she clenched her hand into a fist. "Killian… he's headed for the Tower."

"What?" Dutch gasped.

"I have to stop him, you coming?" She asked him, but Dutch looked back the way they came.

"I gave you my word I would get your friends out of here safely, allow me to keep it." Dutch requested.

"Okay, good luck. Hopefully, I'll see you all soon." Robyn said to him, and Dutch nodded his head in agreement.

She turned to the window down the hallway and she sprinted towards it, throwing herself through it and shattering it. She flipped through the air and landed on both feet and she sprinted after Killian. It took her quite a while to get to Atlas Academy, but she made it. She pushed past the completely oblivious students who were headed their dorms to turn in for the night.

Robyn approached the base of the C.C.T Tower and she got into the Elevator which had only just returned to the bottom floor. Which meant that Killian was roughly five minutes ahead of her. She stood inside of it as it flew up the tower, she readied herself, blowing out a nervous breath as she watched the city of Atlas, they had no idea about what was about to happen.

She turned as the Elevator reached the very top, and the doors opened, revealing Ironwood's Office.

Ironwood's office was a circular room featuring dark blue metallic walls and windows which could fade to become opaque. The floors of Ironwood's office were shown to depict constellations in the form of golden stars, reflecting Ironwood's love for astronomy. It felt wrong, that he was not sat in his chair, but stood at the window, was Killian. She double-took, and her eyes widened… he had already uploaded the Black Queen into the network.

It was over…

… they had lost.

Robyn glared at Killian with anger, seeing the blood on his hands, and then he spoke as he looked down at the students who were peacefully headed to their dorms as the sun started to set behind the horizon.

"Look at them… so blissfully ignorant." He sighed, shaking his head.

"Killian." Robyn said, and held his hand out, gesturing to her to walk into the Office. "What the hell have you done?" She growled with heartbreak in her voice, because sadly she did grow to care for him. She genuinely believed there was a good man in that body… but now he surrendered to the monster completely.

"What had to be done." Killian coldly answered.

"You knew I was coming? And you know who I am?" Robyn asked.

Killian chuckled as he turned around. "Oh yes, I know exactly who you are… Robyn Hill." He said. "Veronica Chamberlain… wow, I can't believe that you managed to get that past me." He walked around the table where he had just uploaded the virus into the system. He stood before Veronica.

"I'd say I'm sorry for the deception… but after this? I'm starting to wonder if maybe my Lie-Detector isn't as reliable as I thought." Robyn said. "Because I seriously thought you were a good man wrestling with a demon in you… but now I see… you're a monster who wanted to be good but couldn't overcome your cruel nature."

"Poetic… and as it seems… true." Killian agreed. "But I tried, Robyn. I tried to do things the peaceful way, without violence, without bloodshed. The past few weeks have shown what that accomplished." Killian explained as he stared her down.

"And that excuses this? Butchering innocents?" She questioned.

"Innocent? What an infantile idea… nobody is innocent in this world. Nor I or you." Killian said. "The U.G.R used me as their scapegoat, they ordered me to carry out my actions on Beacon Academy four years ago, and then they tried to pin all of it on me. When I was merely the gun… and remind me… were you not also cast out from Atlas Academy?" Killian asked her.

"I left voluntarily." She answered.

"Yes, but you were motivated to leave by the hypocrisy of Ironwood and the Atlesian Military." Killian stated, and Robyn had nothing to rebuttal. Killian chuckled sinisterly. "We are both tools… for Fallen Dictators." He said, holding his hands out. Robyn stepped forward as she glared at him.

"I am here to bring you to justice." She said.

"Justice? Justice is merely the construct of the current foundation of sovereignty… and those foundations can change in a mere instant. But tell me… what if it were replaced with a ruler who could not be destroyed. A ruler who did not age, one who would exist together. A fair rule, one that looks after everyone equally, and hammers down hard on those who do not deserve it?" Killian questioned.

"And who decides who deserves it or not? Salem?" Robyn questioned and Killian nodded his head.

"She knows… better than we can ever know." Killian assured.

"She's been the one behind all this, hasn't she? Not Watts, and not you? You all work for her?" Robyn asked.

"She is behind everything… in the shadows, always… but soon, very soon… she will reveal herself at long last." Killian genuinely sounded afraid when he said that his voice quivered.

"It doesn't have to… if we unite the Academies we can stop Salem before it's too late, it's not too late." Robyn begged, and Killian scoffed.

"Too late? For what? The Academies to fall? They already have and you just can't see it! There is no justice, no law, no order, unless it is set in stone instead of a flower. Something that cannot decay! Cannot die! The time of the Huntsmen have passed, and with the U.G.R gone… they will not stand a chance against Salem. It is time… for us to adapt with the changing tide or be washed away into the sea of distant memory." Killian explained as he stared at her, and Robyn closed her eyes, she had wished it never would come to this.

She wanted to help him change… but now he was too far gone.

But the… a question entered her mind… it had been plaguing her ever since Argus when they told her about what they went through in Anima.

"Tell me something – truthfully." Robyn stated, and he looked back at her. "What does Salem want with Jaune Arc?"

He stared at her, surprised that she noticed… and to her surprise… and horror… he answered. "He… is the key… to unlocking what Salem desires most."

"And what does Salem desire most in the world?" Robyn questioned.

"Justice… against the Brothers Grimm… for what they did to her." Killian answered and her eyes widened.

"What?" She gasped. "No… I said the truth!"

Killian stared at her. "I am telling you the truth. The boy is necessary in helping her punish the entities that turned her into what she is now. Only with him can she finally be made whole… when the Eclipse blocks the sun." Killian said, clenching his hand into a fist.

Robyn scowled at him.

"I know Jaune Arc… and he would never help her." She stated.

"Salem never intended him to be willing." Killian assured

Robyn had heard enough; she flicked her arm back and her Fan Crossbow opened. "I'm done talking and I'm done with your bullshit. Salem or not… I will kill you." Robyn growled as she aimed the Crossbow at him. "It seems your plan was a little flawed." She smirked.

"I see the Huntress desires one last fight." Killian snarled.

Suddenly his cast burned and crumbled into ash as the Grave Dust poured out from his stump, forming into his Grave Arm, forming razor sharp claws with Fire Dust crackling inside the grey dust. He also pulled his pistol from his holster as he stared her down.

He roared with fury, sprinting towards his Former Lover, and Robyn charged right back, both of them clashed together.

Once they were lovers.

Now they're enemies.

* * *

**Author Note - Oh boy... things are just getting darker and darker**

**The U.G.R are all gone, massacred in the Foundations of Sovereignty, a scene I have had planned for quite a long time now. I loved writing that part simply because of how messed up it is. Plus getting to write Jacques dying an agonising death is always nice. Poor Whitley and Willow though, we hardly even knew them in this story, but in one moment Weiss and Winter are now the only Schnees left apart from Watts. And Killian has now fully fallen into the Dark Side and become a monster.**

**No more beating around the bush anymore, he has accepted that he is a monster.**

**It was really cool to write Robyn and the Happy Huntresses in combat for the first time, I really enjoyed their dynamic. Plus I just love Robyn, one of my favourite characters in Volume 7 and one of my favourites in Eclipse because of that revelation back in the Chapter Dark Deeds. And the X-Visor Soldier's Identity is revealed, as Killian's Right-Hand Man Dutch! Did any of you expect it to be him?**

**And now we have Killian Vs Robyn, that's gonna be one hell of a cool fight, but no matter what... they have already lost, Killian has uploaded Watts' Black Queen Virus into the Cross Continental Transmit Network. He just has to hit the button and it is over for them.**

**Ruby, Jaune and the others don't even know...**

**The next few chapters are gonna be the most important ones, chapters which seriously will change the entire series... honestly... shit is about to get shocking!**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter - Frostwall Bastion**

**\- Matt**


	55. Of Blood and Truth

**Chapter 54 – Of Blood and Truth**

* * *

**Ruby**

* * *

Frostwall Bastion…

… this place just kept getting weirder. But in a strange way they actually felt safer now that they pretty much had a full fireteam with them. They all walked through the dark halls of the facility, yet even all the way down here, they could feel the cold from above seeping through the walls. Yet that was probably the most calming thing about this place. Because they were walking past multiple Black Cells, abandoned ones too. Jaune approached one of them and he gently placed his hand against it. "It's like a rock… feels like Granite. The hell is this?" Jaune asked.

"It's a Black Cell. When Killian came after us at Lake Matsu, he shoved us into one of these. It's how they turn their prisoners into Stockholm Troopers… they just leave them in there until they go crazy, and then they raise them back up. And at the end, they see their own torturers and captors to be their saviours." Ruby explained, it shuddered to even imagine.

"Jackdaw was in one of these cells once, after the Vale Massacre. Yet they couldn't break him because he was already broken inside. You can't break what is already broken." Qrow said with a sigh, Ruby looked at her Uncle and she noticed how jittery he was. Raven too. Something was not right, those two never showed their fear or anxiety in any way before now… whatever was about to be revealed down here was gonna explain everything though. Once and for all.

"Hey, guys… look. There's a terminal here." Winter said as she approached it.

"Iris? Still spying on us?" Eryka asked curiously.

"Correction: I am not _spying _on you; I am merely observing… quietly… from the shadows. Okay I guess it is spying, isn't it?" Iris giggled, which gave them the chills.

"Yeah, yeah, cute and creepy, it's a good thing you have a really hot voice." Eryka shrugged her shoulders, Winter gave her a glare. Eryka shrunk into her shoulders. "Hey you're hotter!" Winter rolled her eyes with a heavy sigh.

"Iris, what is on this terminal? Do we wanna know?" Winter asked.

"Accessing Files… what you are looking at are prisoners in Black Cells in multiple Classified Facilities across Remnant." Iris explained, they looked at the many feeds and their eyes widened when they realised what that meant.

"These… aren't recordings… they're live?" Weiss gasped with wide eyes.

"Correct, Miss Schnee." Weiss answered.

"How the hell is that possible? There's no signal out here in the Atlesian Wildlands, the C.C.T Network cannot reach any scroll here." Qrow commented as he raised his scroll, finding that he still could not connect to the signal of the four Cross Continental Transmit Towers. Normally he could connect to it no matter where he was in the world, even in caves it could connect.

"That is because of the Jammers Broadcasting our own protective signal across the Atlesian Wildlands." Iris answered, Yang furrowed her brow.

"That's odd, she actually gave us an answer. Not cryptic or creepy at all." Yang commented with confusion in her voice.

"Yeah but she never told us _where _the Jammers are though, did she?" Qrow reminded.

"Hey Iris? Where are the Jammers?" Eryka called out.

"Classified." Iris responded.

"Yep, figured as much." Eryka grumbled like a sulky child. Ruby and Jaune both looked back at the live feeds of prisoners trapped in their Black Cells. The footage was horrific, some of them were banging on the cell doors, screaming at the top of their lungs, but the cameras were muted. Nobody could hear them, especially not the guards outside of the Black Cells due to how thick the compound used was. Others had their arms cradling their legs, rocking back and forth in the corner, crying.

But some of the others? The madness had gotten to them, the silence and the darkness combined had driven them crazy, clawing away at their faces to try and kill themselves. Until a gas was pumped into the Black Cell which knocked them unconscious so the Black Gallows medics could stop the bleeding, only to leave him where he was, closing the door back up.

Then… they were shown footage of a prisoners converting. He was laid crying on his bed, whilst Killian entered the room in this older footage, and he crouched down next to him and spoke. The footage cut ahead, he was giving him food, and was helping him recuperate. They literally crushed down the people that they once were, and then turned them into soldiers, devoid of emotion, because they only wanted to serve their _saviours_. It was easy to forget that these prisoners for the most part were truly evil men and women, arrested for the foulest of deeds.

Murder, mass murder, rape, arson, destruction…

But others? Some of them were in here because they dug too far into the mud of the lies crafted by the hands of the Black Gallows, and they were taken away before they could leak the information online. One person got remarkably close once, he managed to get live on air with his information against the Black Gallows about the Inhumane Torturing and Rehabilitation that the Black Gallows forced on their prisoners. The experiments and much worse, but as he started to go through them, the presenter happened to have lots of _evidence_ that made his report sound less and less believable and was arrested.

He was never seen again, and that episode of the show was axed from the show's history.

That was how the Black Gallows would cover up their lies, they buried it… deep, deep away… in a place nobody could find. Unless they were willing to dig down and end up being buried with all the rest.

Ruby shook her head, and they continued through the dark secrets of these catacombs to find where Jackdaw was located. They never expected this facility to go so far, and judging by the top half of the Facility? It was highly likely that the people who worked up there had no idea of things that were happening down here. "Iris… what kind of projects were done down here? I'm seeing Labs that were just abandoned… what kind of experiments did the Black Gallows carry out?" Winter asked as she kept her hand held on the hilt of her sword, whilst Eryka remained close to her Girlfriend, bow at the ready.

Iris took a few moments before she responded. "The Black Gallows operated in secret, cultivating countless experiments, biological weaponry production of preservation and prototype weaponry. The specifics of which are – Classified." Iris responded.

"Typical." Ren scoffed, he and Blake moved forward, keeping their weapons drawn, ready to fight anything that was lurking here. Ruby walked around the corner and her eyes widened from what they saw in the next room. They all walked inside… it was massive… and it had huge and ancient statues built.

She was tall, draped in a cloak with a Spidery Shaped Hairstyle…

"Who is that?" Ruby asked with concern in her voice.

She then looked at Qrow and Raven, both of which had horrified looks on their faces. But Iris answered for them.

"That is Salem – the Original Founder of the Black Gallows, before the Great War…" Iris explained, hearing her name spoken sent a cold chill down their spines. Jaune actually jolted back with horror when he saw what she truly looked like.

"That's… Salem… that's her?" Jaune gasped as he stared at her.

"She is the… founder… of the Black Gallows? They work for Salem?" The shock of this truth coursed through her body.

"The Black Gallows were once the Peacekeepers of Remnant, back when it was ruled by a single Queen. But when the Great War broke out in her Kingdom, it fragmented into the four Kingdoms we know today, of course there were others as well – however none are worth noting anymore." Iris explained, Ruby, Jaune and Pyrrha approached the statue of Salem, staring up at her cold expression.

"If the Black Gallows belong to Salem… then does that mean… that Killian works for her?" Nora gasped, turning to them all. The realisation struck a cord, and it all started to make sense.

"The U.G.R…" Jaune gasped.

"Huh?" Ruby replied.

"Killian told me when we were in Argus. He said the U.G.R were the ones who commanded him to carry out the Attack on Beacon four years ago – he wasn't lying." Jaune explained.

"How do you know? How do you know he wasn't lying to you?" Eryka asked with her hand on her hip.

"If you heard the way he said it to me… you would know he was telling the truth. But… he also mentioned something else, the Inhumane Necessity. Some sort of Order that the Unified Governments of Remnant could issue that could eradicate an entire portion of society. A Societal Restart, he nicknamed it. Maybe Salem planned this, she must have known the U.G.R would have tried to get rid of Ozpin and Beacon this way – the Relic in the Vault would be completely open to her." Jaune explained with wide eyes.

"And they could use the Inhumane Necessity to take down the rest of the Academies and take the Relics with ease…" Ruby agreed, her silver eyes wide. It was all coming together, and now they knew. Not only was this the place where the Black Gallows began, but it was also the place where they found their first truth.

The truth of Killian and the Black Gallows.

"But the Black Gallows are a Splinter Section from the Atlesian Military… surely they aren't as powerful as you claim?" Winter asked Iris.

"Incorrect – the Black Gallows now has enough soldiers and operatives in every single Kingdom and its Military to carry out the Command." Iris informed, of which – this was something they never expected her to actually tell them.

"Wait… that wasn't classified?" Eryka questioned.

"Negative – everything I have been telling you, you have been cleared access to." Iris explained, something did not feel right. She was not glitching or acting up from time, this Artificial Intelligence was highly maintained, which therefore meant that somebody was allowing them access to this sensitive information.

Why?

They walked through the large room together. "I wanted to tell you about what Killian told me at the Airport… but things… were heated. I'm sorry for how things went… we should have listened to you." Jaune said as he looked at Ruby, then to his two teammates.

"And I'm sorry we didn't trust you. We were friends. Family. Turning away from that, well… it blinded one eye, you know? Nothing worked the same, nothing felt the same. So yeah… I'm sorry too." Ruby apologised. They walked up the stairs and approached another room where there was yet another Terminal. One with more records.

"Iris – what's on this Terminal?" Ruby inquired.

"The Terminal you are looking at contains the information recorded by Commander Nathaniel Killian. Operation reports of note." Iris answered, Ruby immediately played one of them to see what would come up.

The screen was screeching with static at first until it focused, and revealed Killian stood in one of the labs, speaking with some of his soldiers, one of which was actually Dutch.

"It can't be done, Beacon Academy is a fortress, a well guarded one. And it is full of innocent children who have done nothing wrong, don't get me wrong I know Ozpin is a dangerous man and cannot be trusted – but wiping out the school? That is just… wrong…" Dutch said as he looked at him.

"Every operation is a matter of resources, Dutch. The U.G.R have made their order; it is our job to carry it out. But we do not need to send in an invasion force, merely use one soldier." Killian explained.

"One soldier?" Dutch questioned.

"So to speak." Killian shrugged his shoulders, showing the holographic file of Jaymes Ickford. "This boy has already shown that he cannot control his power, the U.G.R made sure that he was moved to Beacon Academy for this very purpose. We simply have to carry it out. A Paranoid Schizophrenic Time Bomb." Killian explained, and Dutch stared at him with disgust on his face.

"Sir… he's a child… not a bomb." Dutch said.

"I know, Dutch. Believe me… if it were up to me I wouldn't even carry this out. But we're soldiers… we have to follow our orders. To the letter." Killian explained, and Dutch sighed.

"Well… count me out of it sir. I respect you, you helped me out of the darkest period of my life… but I can't do this. I will help with other operations… but please… I can't be a part of this." Dutch requested as he hung his head in shame, Killian pushed his hand through his hair.

"Granted… I may need you down there for other tasks though." Killian said.

Dutch left the room and Killian sighed, his hand was shaking, and he was sweating, as the Seer floated up next to him from one of the other rooms. "Well done, Commander… everything is going according to plan." Salem's voice spoke, before the footage ended.

Jaune and Ruby's theory was right.

"That guy… he's the one we interrogated." Eryka said to Winter.

"And the same man who seemed to be the polite Black Gallows operator. Killian's right-hand man." Winter agreed.

"Killian didn't wanna do it." Pyrrha pointed out as she looked at them. "I never got the impression from him when I met him… that he didn't wanna do the things he was doing. It's like he was a totally different person."

"I think the guy is losing it, trying to hold onto the good in him… but still having to do all the bad." Eryka stated, which was sad in itself. He was fighting a losing battle every day.

And they did not know it – but he finally gave in.

Weiss and Winter had no idea that they were the last remnants of the Schnee Name left… apart from Watts of course.

Ruby moved onto the next piece of footage, which showed four years after the events of Beacon Academy and judging by the screens in the corner – this must have been quite recent. Killian was stood by the list of names he had targeted.

Ruby Rose

Yang Xiao Long

Nora Valkyrie

Lie Ren

Eryka Vasillias

Qrow Branwen

It must have been before Vacuo, before they knew about the Branwen Tribe's involvement. The door opened and Dutch returned to greet Killian, saluting him. "At ease, Dutch. I think our friendship allows for breaches in Military Salutes and crap like that." Killian chuckled, he was cleaning his Chrome Pistol, and Dutch softly sighed. Killian glanced at him, noticing that he had that look on his face – the one he always had whenever he was concerned. "Something on your mind?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, go ahead. Shoot."

"It's about the mission… should we really be going after those kids? I mean… they have ample reason to go after Jackdaw Branwen. He killed a bunch of kids and two of their teachers. One of the Headmasters. And their track record shows they get the job done." Dutch stated.

"Does it? The Vale Breach? A few people died in that incident." Killian reminded.

"Sure but they're still accomplished, and recently graduated Huntsmen and Huntresses." Dutch explained, and Killian sighed, setting his pistol down on the table.

"There is a Terrorist Threat still in the Academy, the bombs loaded into the concrete. He made it noticeably clear that if someone left they would explode. Yet they still left, whether or not Jackdaw wanted them to go doesn't matter. In times of a Terrorist Threat, people have to stay within the confines of safety until the situation is resolved. Graduated Hunter or Student… it doesn't matter." Killian shrugged his shoulders.

"So then we send their friends after them as well? How is that not the same thing?" Dutch questioned, and they saw Killian pause for a few moments.

"They know them better than we do." Killian said.

"Yeah but… Jaune Arc… Pyrrha Nikos, the rest of them – they're all students, their best friend. How can you possibly expect them to not defect and go and help them?" Dutch questioned.

"We don't need a dance partner; we need those kids… and they are gonna need resources to catch up to them. They'll work with us." Killian assured.

"You really think it will go that way?" Dutch asked him.

He sighed, and then stared at him.

"Do you trust me?" Killian asked him.

"With my life." Dutch shrugged his shoulders.

"Then please, my friend… trust me now." Killian asked, and Dutch sighed and nodded his head.

"Yes sir." Dutch said as he walked away. Killian pinched the bridge of his brow and he stood up, the lying to his best friend was clearly getting to him. Dutch knew about Salem… but it did not seem like he knew the full extent of what was happening, or at least Killian had not told him.

But Killian knew – that there was an ulterior motive here – to lure Jaune out, so then the Children of Salem could try and capture him.

The recording ended there.

Ruby scoffed as she glanced at Jaune. "Looks like he really had you guys boxed in." Ruby commented.

"Every instinct I had told me not to trust Killian… but we needed their help, so we played along." Jaune sighed, yet he still felt responsible for all the things that have happened since.

"Well – we can make things right now, by stopping Jackdaw and then we go after Salem." Ruby assured as she gently squeezed his shoulder.

There were no other files on there, and they walked away from the terminal and moved through the facility some more. Until they heard a chillingly familiar voice come through the speaker system. "There we go, finally." Jackdaw muttered as the microphone chirped. He cleared his throat and spoke. "So… are you ready for your final lesson?" Jackdaw asked them, they all drew their weapons and looked around for him. But then they saw the cameras, watching their every move.

"We've been hunting you down across the damn world… if you think we've come to talk you're sorely mistaken!" Ruby yelled with anger in her voice.

"You may have come to fight… I have come to talk. I am down that hallway." Jackdaw assured, his voice… it was not as dark as it once was. They looked at the hallway, and it looked intimidating. But Blake and Weiss were by her side.

"We'll follow your lead, Ruby." Blake promised, Ruby glanced at her and gave a small smile. They carefully walked down the hallway and found the room he was waiting inside of was some kind of Operations Centre. Like an Amphitheatre. It was huge, with a massive screen and terminal in the corner, bug they could not see Jackdaw.

Until his Top Hat suddenly slid out from the shadows, and Jackdaw walked out from the darkness, his hands held up in the surrendering position. He even deactivated the 3-D Printers in his cybernetic arms… and there was no smirk on his face at all. "Masks off." Jackdaw assured, Ruby kept Crescent Rose pointed at his face, but she could not pull the trigger. "Are you ready to learn the truth?"

"What truth? That you killed my mom?" Ruby snarled with anger, and Jackdaw sighed, shaking his head.

"Tell me… have you not noticed the holes in their story?" Jackdaw asked them curiously. Ruby looked at Yang and then they both looked at Qrow and Raven who had their weapons drawn already. "Let me guess – Qrow made it out that I was just a bloodthirsty monster who wanted to kill her for fun?" Jackdaw asked.

_His way of saying it was shorter… but that was pretty much it._

"And Raven's was that I cared, and I killed her by accident, and I lost my mind?" Jackdaw presumed; Ruby stared at them both – they were sweating.

"You see – you have already learned one truth already today – the first being the Founder of the Black Gallows, who they work for. The second being what I am about to tell you – the big hole in their story?" Jackdaw asked them with a smirk.

He chuckled. "He has good luck until he runs out – my semblance? That's what they told you?" Jackdaw asked them curiously. "The truth? I never unlocked my semblance."

A cold chill ran down their spines, and they thought back to every time that they fought him. If his Semblance was like that, then they would have never gotten so close to beating him ever single time, he always managed to escape just before they could break his aura. But that would not be his semblance, his semblance would cause _them_ to fall or mess up. "Didn't expect that one, did you? I tried, I tried so hard to unlock my semblance with my team at Beacon Academy. But like dear Jaune Arc over here, it took me so long – however unlike Jaune… I never did unlock it. That _semblance_ was just one more lie… crafted by my dear… lying siblings." Jackdaw revealed as he stared at them, hate in his red eyes.

"B-But… why?" Ruby stammered, staring at them, he then held his hand out to Yang. His cybernetic palm opened as he looked at her.

"I can show you." Jackdaw assured, and Yang knew what he meant.

_The Branwen Connection…_

"Yang… don't." Raven begged, Yang stared at her mother, she was shaking with fear, but it did not look like fear for Yang's safety – but more for theirs. Yang slowly walked towards Jackdaw and she offered her warm flesh Hand to him, and he gently held her hand, and they closed their eyes.

"AARGH!" Yang shrieked with terror suddenly, spinning around and drawing Ember Celica on both Qrow and Raven, her eyes were red and hair burning already, tears started to stream down her eyes.

"Yang! Whoa!" Blake stood in between her and the Branwens, holding her arms. "Stop… calm down." She whispered.

"How… how could you?" Yang's voice broke, and Ruby stared at her, and then at Jackdaw.

"What did you do?" Ruby questioned, aiming the Rifle at Jackdaw, pushing the barrel up his jaw, ready to kill him if she had to – he did not even activate his aura though, he just looked at her calmly.

"I showed her the truth – the same truth I will teach you." Jackdaw stated.

"Jack… don't do this."

"They deserve to know the truth of what happened to Summer." Jackdaw responded harshly with fire in his red eyes. Ruby looked back at them and then at Jackdaw, she backed down and stared at him.

Chimes echoed in the background…

"This is your final lesson – Of Blood and Truth."

* * *

**Of Blood and Truth**

* * *

Many years ago…

Jackdaw was only a child, a young boy who always had a tendency for violence. He got into fights all the time, against so many kids, but as he was bigger than them he usually won. But he had so many problems in his mind, because unlike his Brother and Sister… he spent a lot of time with his Uncle.

Valravn.

The whispers were always in his mind, _Valravn, Valravn, Valravn_… they never stopped. He always found himself on his own, playing with sticks, and taking his anger out on the little ants and insects that crawled across the floor. Plucking the wings off butterflies, but he never knew why he did it. Some nights he had to cry himself to sleep, because of how their parents treated them, how the Tribe brutally raised them. Every day was like a beating to make them stronger; they were forced to watch Raids as they butchered innocents in their towns. Qrow usually looked away whilst Raven looked through her fingers – whilst Jackdaw watched the whole thing.

Every single time.

But when things were quiet… he would go to his siblings and run to them with a ball. Even though he was the older brother, he always enjoyed playing with them. But the same could not be said of them, they stared at him and gave him both fearful and hateful looks in their red eyes. Every single time… which constantly lead him back to the one person who never mistreated him – Valravn.

But whenever he was with his Great Uncle… those Whispers returned, and they hurt so much. The voices never seemed to go away, even when he wasn't with Valravn, he heard them when he slept, he heard them when he played, he heard them when he ate. They were always there in the back of his mind, like they had become stapled in there. Whilst Raven and Qrow stayed away from him.

Until one day – the Branwen Leaders brought their children together. For a new mission. "Today you will learn the most important lesson of all for the Branwen Tribe – the importance of adaptation. You will enrol into Beacon Academy, you will learn the ways of the Huntsmen, and once you have graduated you will return to us, and fight for the tribe. You will not return until your mission is complete, or you will no longer be a part of this family – is that understood." Their mother growled.

Jackdaw felt his collar get yanked by their father who stared at him with flaring red eyes. "IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?" He barked with fury, and Jack whimpered fearfully.

"Y-Yes sir." He sniffled,

"Good. Now get going. Prove yourself to us or die trying." The parents departed, giving the kids only the essentials for them to survive out there. Qrow and Raven were always at the front whilst Jackdaw lingered at the back. He tugged his backpack as he walked with them through the rainy weather. They both kept quite a distance from their older brother.

"Guys? Can you hold up?" Jackdaw asked as he walked behind them, he was stronger than they were, yet they were walking faster. They did not even look back at him, because they were afraid of him.

And for good reason – when they were kids they saw what he could do. He killed another kid when he was only six years old because he stole his toy, beat him to death with a rock, and ever since the Branwen Twins were terrified of him. But Jackdaw would never do that to his baby brother or sister, he just wanted to talk to them. He reached out to Qrow, but he suddenly spun around and pushed him into the mud. "Get back!" Qrow yelled angrily.

"W-What's wrong?" Jackdaw sniffled as he wiped the rainwater from his face. Qrow stared down at him whilst Raven hauled Omen with her, and Qrow did the same with Harbinger. They all had to design their own weapons just like every single Student had to before entering Beacon Academy. Jackdaw's Weapons were called the Corvid's Fury, a pair of tonfas with razor sharp feather shaped blades. He got back up and furrowed his brow with frustration as he caught up to them. "How many times have I gotta tell you? I'm your brother, you can trust me!" Jackdaw begged them but they pushed him out of the way.

Leaving him behind once again.

He watched them go, and then he heard the Chimes and Whispers of Valravn. He looked back and saw the almost spiritual image of his Uncle staring at him with his torn cloak blowing in the wind, before he erupted into a murder of crows and ravens. He closed his eyes and shook his head in distress.

_Go away… get out of my head, Uncle… get out of my head…_

Eventually they arrived at Beacon Academy, and they ran the test runs that every student was put through, which was child's play in comparison to the things they did on their way here, let alone what they did in their time with the Tribe. The three Hunters in training were sat down as Professor Ozpin sat down in front of them and he crossed his arms.

"Qrow Branwen… Raven Branwen… and Jackdaw Branwen…" Ozpin said, he leaned forward and stared at them. "It seems that your family likes the use of Corvid Names, don't they?" He asked them, but Ozpin could see straight through them. He knew who they were, people had heard of their Tribe before – the Branwen Tribe, and he could tell by their skills that they were from there. "Tell me – and be honest – why have you come to my Academy?" Ozpin asked them curiously.

"To become Huntsmen." Qrow shrugged his shoulders.

"Yes, of course – but why have each of you specifically come here. What is it you seek?" Ozpin asked them, and Qrow looked around.

"Fame, I guess – like the Grimm Reaper." Qrow chuckled, remembering the Legendary Huntress he based Harbinger off.

"I just wanna find myself, y'know? I wanna know what I can do… who I can be." Raven answered, and then Ozpin's eyes fell on Jackdaw.

"And what of you? Jackdaw Branwen?" Ozpin asked, and Jackdaw stared back at his brown eyes. Ozpin saw the fire in them… but at the time he had no idea of the monster that he would later become. "What do you want to be?"

"Unstoppable." Jackdaw answered with a scowl on his face, and Ozpin could not help but admire his ferocity.

As time passed, they were launched into the Emerald Forest to build their teams. Jackdaw flew through the air and he drove his Tonfas into one of the trees, spiralling around it as he landed on the ground. Raven on the other hand was more graceful, and she bounced off the trees one at a time before he landed. Qrow drove his sword down the side of the cliff and jumped off. Raven and Qrow found each other first and then they encountered Summer Rose and Taiyang Xiao Long. They fought together and retrieved their Rook Piece from the Ruins.

Jackdaw? He also found his team; he had already killed next to twenty Grimm already before he met up with his partner. A girl named Arat. They teamed up with two more girls as well, Cecil and Kara. They formed Team J.A.C.K, whilst Qrow and Raven formed into Team S.T.R.Q.

When Team S.T.R.Q met, it was in the heat of battle, Qrow and Raven both cut through the Grimm with terrifying efficiency, before they saw Taiyang and Summer battling side-by-side. Taiyang did not even need to use a weapon, he was easily the most skilled Hand-To-Hand fighter they had ever seen, and he channelled his aura into his punches, delivering powerful attacks. Whilst Summer used a weapon she named Ivy's Lash, a pair of long whips that had spikes that protruded out from them in many areas. She slashed them through their bodies, strike after strike, cutting the Grimm apart.

Teams J.A.C.K and S.T.R.Q were frighteningly similar to how Teams R.W.B.Y and J.N.P.R were with each other; their dorms were in opposing rooms. Qrow and Raven shared their bunk, Raven had top bunk whilst Qrow had the bottom one. Taiyang was at the bottom of his with Summer at the top as well. And Summer Rose was one hyperactive little bean, just like her future daughter would be. Constantly blinding Raven with sunlight in the morning, singing her "Good Morning" song every single time, full of energy every single day all the way through to the night.

Raven found her tiring, Qrow found her adorable.

Jackdaw's team however – seemed to be afraid of him at first, simply because of how much older he was and also how intimidating he seemed. They saw how many Grimm he cut down – but he was always so quiet. It took him an exceptionally long time before he ever spoke to them, but once he did they immediately understood that there was nothing to fear. He was just shy.

Yet somehow – finally being apart from each other – Qrow and Raven still found ways to neglect Jackdaw. Their fear of him never seemed to fade, some days Jackdaw would join his team with S.T.R.Q… and the two of them would always get awkward and leave as soon as Jack would sit down. Summer and Taiyang however never budged and neither did Jackdaw's team.

"What's up with them?" Arat asked curiously as she looked at their leader, Jackdaw sighed as he fiddled with his food.

"They're scared of me." Jackdaw said.

"Why?" Summer asked him curiously, and Jackdaw just sighed, and he stormed off. Summer stood up and she reached out for him with concern.

"Let him go… he's a mystery. We're getting close to figuring him out." Kara said to Summer with a soft smile on her face. But Summer was never the kind of person to leave someone who needed help, so when the time came she looked for Jackdaw and found him outside, he was biting his nails nervously as he watched Ozpin walking with Glynda, talking to her about something.

"Hey…" Summer softly said, which made Jackdaw jump. He looked at her and he looked like he was about to leave again, until she held his hand to stop him. "What's up?"

"I…" Jackdaw sighed, and he scratched the back of his neck.

"Is it Qrow and Raven?" Summer asked him curiously, since she obviously saw something going on there.

"It's not just that… it's this place… I can't… it's not right." He revealed as he grabbed his shaking hand.

"What's wrong with it?" Summer asked.

"The people here… it's like they know that things are bad out there… but they don't wanna admit it. The things we have seen… Qrow and Raven talk about it but… they never talk to me about it. I try to talk with my team, but they came from the cities as well – they don't know… they have no idea what it's like." Jackdaw said as he held his arm. Then Summer leant against the wall next to him, tilting her head.

"Then… talk to me about it?" Summer asked curiously.

"You won't understand either. Nobody here does – they keep acting like they can keep this game up. That they can just… hope things will turn out alright… that these Academies will make a difference. They're too soft." Jackdaw said.

"Nobody will understand if you don't explain it to them, Jack." She said, she was the first person to actually call him by that name. Everyone called him Jackdaw or their Older Brother. He looked at her and she smiled, wiping off some ketchup he managed to get on his nose, and she licked it off. "Hell… I love a bit of ketchup." She beamed a smile and walked away from him. "If you ever wanna talk, I am always here." She promised, he looked at her as she walked away and he kept his arms crossed, watching Ozpin and Glynda as they continued to walk.

Later on, Summer was in their Dorm Room, sorting out her bed. Taiyang was already in there, reading one of his text books on his bed. Qrow and Raven came back, and they closed the door behind them. Immediately there was an energy in the air, and they looked at Summer with confusion. "Um… what's up?" Qrow asked her, and she sighed.

"What's your problem?" She asked, hopping off her bed, nearly landing on Tai's head.

"Do you want us to start at number one or number ten?" Raven sarcastically asked.

"Shut up. Stop with the crap. Why the hell are you two not talking to your brother, do you not see the pain you're putting him through?" Summer questioned, they both stared at her and their eyes squinted.

"He told you that?" Their faces reddened.

"That and a few other things, answer my question. He's done nothing wrong so far as I can tell. Yet you two constantly are giving him weird looks, walking away whenever he shows up and never say a word. He's your brother." Summer reminded, and they both sat down.

"It's a long story." Qrow said.

"Well we've got time." Taiyang agreed, setting his book down and also crossing his arms, Summer nodded at him.

Raven looked at Qrow and she sighed. "Look… things aren't easy with us, okay? Jackdaw… he's a broken kid. Always has been – our upbringing wasn't great."

"Neither was mine, my parents hated me and abused me. I turned out fine… relatively." Summer shrugged.

"Well you're different. A mutant, I guess. But Jackdaw? He may seem nice right now, but believe me, he has a dark side. We've seen what he can do, I've seen him beat so many kids and he killed one of them. Smashed his head in with a rock." Raven explained with fear in her voice.

"And sometimes when we were young he would start fights on us – screaming like a lunatic." Qrow explained. "And you haven't heard him in his sleep… whimpering and talking to voices in his head. Believe me, I worry for his team. All it will take is for one of them to say the wrong thing and he could end up killing them."

"Or maybe he is different? His team are understanding but he is afraid to talk to them because you have given him the impression that nobody understands him. But he is just a guy who wants to talk to somebody." Summer explained as she crossed one leg over the other. "And… I also wanna know something. You never told us who you're family are – and what's with the Bird Names?" She questioned.

"Yeah, I'm plenty curious myself." Taiyang agreed, Qrow and Raven looked at each other. They knew they could trust their team… hell it was not the first time Summer and Tai had kept secrets for them. Eventually they gave an answer.

"We are from the Branwen Tribe…" Qrow and Raven both revealed. Their eyes widened; they had heard of the name.

"I… wondered… I have to admit…" Taiyang stammered.

"We were sent here to learn how to kill Huntsmen… but honestly I dunno if we will even go back anymore. The Tribe was never kind to us, not like you guys have been. Especially not to Jackdaw… he spent a lot of time with our Uncle – and his semblance… I worry that could have something to do with his madness." Raven explained.

"Who's your Uncle?" Summer asked curiously.

"An old man – called Valravn Branwen." They both answered.

"I… remember stories of Valravn… wasn't it a Creature of Grimm from legend? Some sort of Raven Knight Monster that walked the fields of the Great War, feasting on the dead bodies. Creating illusions and stuff?" Taiyang asked, since he was the Blake of the Group, he read all the time.

"Yeah, and I have heard stories that he was the one who killed it – allegedly. That one person managed to kill it, but it left a mark on him. Lots of people think his Semblance is that mark – the Whispers of Valravn." Qrow explained.

_Valravn… Valravn… Valravn…_

They had no idea that he was watching them from the rafters whilst they talked, watching them through their window, before he vanished into thin air, transforming into many crows and ravens. "Our family – we have a unique ability as well. We can… turn into birds." Raven revealed to them.

"Huh?" Summer beckoned, until Raven suddenly transformed into her Corvid Form and landed next to Summer. Her eyes widened and she shrieked with shock, bouncing up onto Qrow's head like a cat. Raven then transformed back into her Human Form, sat atop the top Bunk.

"What the hell?" Taiyang stammered.

"Only the Direct Branwen Bloodline carry this ability… apparently it comes from the Ancient Times during the Great War. It's what made us so effective." Raven explained.

"I can turn into a Crow, Raven is a… well… Raven. And Jackdaw turns into a Jackdaw." Qrow explained.

"What about Valravn?" Summer asked after she got off Qrow's head.

"He… can turn into a Murder of Crows and Ravens – a whole bunch of them. He's something else… he's a mystery to all of us. Even our… assholes of parents." Raven explained.

"And like some mysteries… he is not a man to be messed with."

Outside of his dorm was Jackdaw, playing with one of his knives, spinning it through his fingers. Some time had passed, and Summer emerged from her Dorm and she tilted her head, wearing a cute white and red onesie as she sat down in front of her friend. "Hey buddy… you okay?"

_Valravn… Valravn…_

"I… I can't sleep…" Jackdaw rubbed his tired eyes as he sat in front of her. The voices were always there, they were never going anywhere. "I don't wanna disturb them…"

Summer looked at him. "Psst!" Summer whispered, getting his attention. "I know that look, Jack." She said.

He sighed. "They deserve better than me as their leader… I was never a leader." He said as he hugged his knees. "My family hate me. My brother hates me. My sister hates me. I'm a failure.

"Nope." Summer said as she looked at him.

"Huh?" He replied.

"Nope. You're no failure. Wanna know why?" She asked him.

"W-Why?" He asked her.

"Because _I_ don't hate you. Tai doesn't hate you. Arat, Cecil and Kara don't hate you. Who cares what Qrow and Raven think? They need to get their thumbs out of their asses." Summer admitted, which made Jackdaw softly chuckle at that.

"A swear? I didn't think you could do that." Jackdaw said.

"Oh there's a lot you don't know about me, buddy." Summer assured as she leant back against the wall. "How about this… why don't you and I do more of this? I'll hear you out whenever you wanna talk, huh? It could do us good. Both Leaders… both Teams. Hell maybe I can help Qrow and Raven turn things around?" Summer suggested, and Jackdaw smiled.

"Okay… I'd like that." Jackdaw smiled happily at her.

Years passed in the Academy, and they became stronger, and Jackdaw started to come out of his shell more. Qrow and Raven were slowly starting to see their brother more as a member of their family, but things were still rough between them. At the end of the day, Qrow and Raven liked to use Jackdaw as their get-out-of-jail free card. Jackdaw was always the one they liked to pin the blame on because of his anger issues, which was always bound to fracture trust between them.

But Summer? She was Jackdaw's best friend, and their many talks had helped him bond with his team, and Team J.A.C.K had become a force to be reckoned with. And he even became quite close with his partner – Arat. She was short, and incredibly beautiful with dark brown skin and hair and large blue eyes.

But on their fourth year… the year of their graduation?

That was when it all changed.

Ozpin wanted to mix things up, and he decided that for all Fourth Year Students, he would mix the teams up for their missions. Splitting the teams up into randomised groups to see if they could adapt in unexpected circumstances. Jackdaw was with Taiyang and Summer and Cecil, whilst Raven and Qrow were with Arat and Kara. It was here that Jackdaw told them about the Branwen Curse…

… a curse that was going to rear its ugly head today.

Jackdaw, Cecil, Summer and Taiyang had a simple supply mission to carry out, nothing too dangerous. But Qrow, Raven, Arat and Kara? Theirs went wrong in an instant, Raven went to scout ahead, leaving Qrow with them. His Bad Luck Charm triggered, and Kara got her foot stuck in a piece of metal, and her pain and shock? It lured in a massive swarm of Grimm towards their position.

Raven tried to fight off the Grimm to save her and Arat, as did Qrow, but every action he made, his Bad Luck Charm made things worse and worse. Because the building was starting to collapse above their heads. Qrow eventually fled, knowing that there was no way to save them despite trying his hardest. That being away from them, maybe their chances would improve, the horror of his bad luck curse. To help was to flee.

And eventually, Raven ran as well, leaving Arat and Kara to be ripped apart, eaten alive by the Grimm. They died screaming, and alone – and when Jackdaw found out that the woman he loved died because of Qrow's Bad Luck Charm? Something dark in him snapped, especially when Cecil… Kara's sister… took her own life from the heartbreak of losing her older sister in an instant.

He lost his mind – and the voices of Valravn took him over.

Jackdaw went on a rampage through Vale, killing over fifty people, including Nathaniel Killian's Parents when he was a teen. With every kill, he became more and more smothered in the blood of innocents, but Jackdaw only saw red, and he heard nothing. All he felt was this innate rage, this hatred in him, and he wanted to kill anything in his path. And he did, so many people were butchered in his massacre, storming into the Killian Household and cutting his parents to pieces.

He erupted through the window and pressed his blade to the throat of a fleeing civilian, his face red with blood and an insane scowl on his face as he pulled his head back to cut open his throat.

"JACKDAW!" Ozpin bellowed, Jackdaw stopped and stared through the haze of red, seeing Ozpin stood with young Glynda, Oobleck and Port with their weapons aimed at him. Alongside Team S.T.R.Q… he saw Summer's heartbroken look on her face. But then he saw Qrow and Raven and he snarled with a feral rage, and he went to butcher the crying man. "Damn it, Jackdaw! Put the man down!" He yelled. Jackdaw stared at Ozpin and then at the man, before shoving him away.

Jackdaw was sat on the road with his legs crossed, shaking his head, and Ozpin calmed himself down. "What have you done, Jack?" Ozpin softly asked him as he cautiously approached him, but Jackdaw slowly stood back up. Then suddenly, many Police Officers arrived, and the Sergeant had his gun at the ready, but kept it lowered, because they knew he could still go berserk any second. They had him calm right now.

"Jackdaw Branwen? My name is Sergeant Taylor… we have to be here… okay? Just so I can hear you. Nothing else. Nobody will move… nobody is a threat to you. I promise you that." The Sergeant promised as he held his hand out to Jackdaw, it was like he was a wild animal, but then he stared back at Ozpin.

"_Nobody is a threat to me_? That's the biggest lie I have ever heard." He said, staring at his brother. "Do you know… what he did? What he has done?" He roared with anguish in his voice. Ozpin glanced at Qrow. "My team… gone… the girl I loved… died screaming… because of _YOU_!" Jackdaw bellowed, pointing his finger at the Professor. Glynda jolted but Ozpin did not move.

Because deep down, Ozpin knew… he was right.

If he had not had Qrow be part of Jack's team… this could have been avoided. Jackdaw had come so far in his recovery, thanks to so many people… and it all just got thrown out of the window because of this accident. Jackdaw began to laugh… the very unnerving laugh that people today knew all too well. "This… _family_ you wanted to build… this little world in this Academy? I was never going to be a part of that, some of you… are very amazing and important people…" He said, looking at Summer and Taiyang. But then he looked at his Siblings. "But not me… this world, Oz? What you wanted? It's all fake… all built on crumbling sand. And sooner or later… it all comes crashing down." Jackdaw promised.

"Jack… please… just put your Tonfas down!" Ozpin begged.

"Or what? You gonna put me down? Gonna lock me up?" Jackdaw asked, it was like he was drunk the way he stumbled, pointing his blades at them all.

"Jack… please… end this." He begged.

"Oh I intend to." Jackdaw snarled, it was obvious that he wanted to die during this massacre, to be with his team. Even though they would have never wanted this. "But… you still don't get it. NONE OF YOU DO!" He roared. "You sit inside of your tower… looking at the world… but you don't do what it takes to get things done! Not like we did… we did what had to be done so we could live! So our family could live, whether they loved us or not! But you? You just sit on your hands and you hesitate, time and time again!" Jackdaw yelled, flailing his weapons around.

"Things don't just get better in the world because you want them to. But if you want things to get better? If you want this place, this Kingdom, to stay standing? Your way of doing things must end! From now on… you need to live in the _real _world. A world that is cruel and unpredictable… and you have to control whatever you can, to stop the chaos from breaking out! To stop monsters from killing the people you love!" Jackdaw roared, staring directly at Qrow.

Qrow felt his eyes burn into his soul. "That's never been clearer to me than it is right now." Glynda said. Ozpin stared at her.

"Glynda, stop." He begged her, not wanting to escalate things further, and Jackdaw grinned maniacally.

"Me? Me? You mean me?" He laughed. "Your way is going to destroy this place."

"But it does not have to end this way, Jackdaw… give us your weapons… and come peacefully. You are not yourself; you are sick and need help."

"Oh-ho, no… I am myself; this has been who I really am for an awfully long time. It seems that dear brother and sister were right to be afraid, even though I desperately wanted to earn their love… in the end they still had the last laugh like always." He snarled. Ozpin reached out for him, just wanting to help his student.

But Jackdaw did not notice Taiyang carefully sneaking around through the crowd, channelling his aura into his fist. "Just… please… put your weapons down."

Jackdaw smirked.

"The day will come, Ozpin… when this little empire of sand of yours is going to get swept away. It's coming – I knew it the second I laid eyes on this school. If you don't adapt, you'll all die. You have no other choi-"

Taiyang silenced him with an extremely powerful punch to the side of his head, which created a powerful shockwave and launched Jackdaw across the road, tumbling towards one of the cars and crashing into it with a thud.

Jackdaw was taken away into custody and locked away in the Black Tower for a few years after the Graduation… after the Massacre of Vale. He was locked away in that place for quite a long time with nothing but the faint Whispers of Valravn to placate his silent nights. Until one day… his cell was opened… and he was released, completely unbeknownst to the Warden of the Black Tower and the many security guards.

A man was stood before him.

He was a tall middle-aged man with a slim build and slightly tanned skin. He had short black and grey hair as well as a thick moustache and eyebrows, and green eyes. The stranger wore a greyish-blue overcoat with yellow linings, a yellow dress shirt, and a black necktie. His pants were the same colour as his overcoat. His yellow-buttoned undercoat and fingerless gloves matched his cordovan shoes, under which he wore yellow socks.

"Who are you?" Jackdaw questioned, sounding like a feral animal.

He stared at him and leant forward. "Call me a concerned friend." Watts greeted with a sinister smirk.

"I don't have many friends anymore." Jackdaw sighed.

"Well it's a good thing you know me. Because I know who you are – Jackdaw Branwen." He said to him. "If I were you I would get moving before the guards notice your cell is open."

"Why are you letting me out? I'm hardly a saint." Jackdaw scoffed.

"Because I think in time… you and I will become good friends. I like to invest in people… in friendships… and I think our friendship will one day be greatly beneficial on both sides." Watts said as he walked away, and Jackdaw took his chance to escape.

Getting through here was extremely easy, all he had to do was get to a window and transform into his Corvid Form and fly away, leaving the entire facility puzzled at how he managed to escape for an exceptionally long time.

Jackdaw headed to the one place he knew he could find them – he was never a fool, and he was never blind. He knew that Raven and Taiyang became close over the four years that they were at Beacon, so he tracked down Taiyang. Because if he tracked down Tai, then he would find Raven… and then he could find Qrow and finish them off. Jackdaw searched for months to find them, and he finally arrived at the Island of Patch off the coat of Vale. He transformed from his Corvid Form, and he held his Tonfas, after he managed to find and retrieve them from lockup.

He approached the house, he had nothing against Taiyang, it was only Raven that he wanted. He looked outside and saw that Taiyang was tending the flowerbeds. He approached the window, and he had a mad grin on his face, a wild bloodlust flowed in his heart to kill the siblings who brought him so much pain over his childhood. All that neglect for an accident… for his anger issues… and then they let his team die in pain? They did not deserve to have such a happy life when they suffered.

He approached the window, ready to breach, but as soon as he went to go through, his eyes widened from what he saw inside. He lowered his blades, and he carefully opened the window. Raven was not inside, but as he carefully got inside of their home… he saw the photographs. Raven and Tai had recently gotten married and Jackdaw picked up one of the photographs… his sister looked beautiful and genuinely happy. Then… he heard a soft mumble behind him, of a baby. He turned and saw the cradle, and he approached the cot and looked inside.

His red eyes were wide…

There she laid… baby Yang, looking up at him with those big lilac eyes. She cooed as her little hand reached up at him. He looked back down at her and he gently held her tiny hand in his fingers. He closed his red eyes, feeling his long-overgrown hair and beard… he then turned to the hallway where he heard Raven doing something.

He couldn't… she was only a child…

It was so contradictory to what he did years ago, how he butchered so many families, how he orphaned Killian and many other children from his massacre. But for some reason he stayed his hand, and he just turned and walked away, climbing through the window and leaving Yang. He left the Window open and he transformed into his Corvid Form and landed on the tree outside, keeping an eye on Yang… when Raven came back in. She tended to Yang with a smile… until she felt a cold chill up her neck, and she stared at the Jackdaw that stared directly back at her.

It was that moment… that fear of him returning… that caused Raven to flee back to the Tribe. Raven found things were different there, and that their parents had died in an attack, Valravn was gone and the Tribe was barely even holding on. She helped rise them up, and after what she had learned at Beacon, who Tai had helped her become, she wanted to only use the tribe to attack others who are deserving – and to protect herself with numbers if Jackdaw eventually came after her.

Over the years after he escaped thanks to the unknown releaser – Jackdaw gained his title as Jack the Ripper, because he left a huge trail of blood behind him with every single attack that he lead. However in these early years in his _career_ as a bloodthirsty monster, he had never killed one person who was underserving either. He specifically went after Bandits or dangerous people who deserved it, criminals or worse. Some people actually thought he had become some sort of monstrous vigilante, but of course that way of killing did not last forever.

Jackdaw's targets also were specifically the Branwen Tribe, hunting down her followers and leaving horrifying messes behind of them. But every now and then, he returned to Taiyang's home to check on Yang… and as the years passed he saw that Summer was visiting more often. And with Summer came Qrow… Raven abandoning Taiyang hurt him and it fractured their family for quite a while. Qrow distanced himself as well, but primarily due to his fear of his semblance bringing Tai and his children misfortune.

Jackdaw kept his eyes on Summer, making sure that she was safe, butchering nearby bandits who wanted to rob Tai and his little family of everything they had. Two years after he met baby Yang… Summer became pregnant with Tai's second daughter – Ruby Rose. Summer and Taiyang were always quite sweet on each other, Jackdaw could tell that Summer loved Taiyang, but he fell for Raven before he fell in love with her.

_He should have been with her from the beginning, would have brought him a whole lot less pain._

He continued on his rampage, killing anyone who was deserving, all the while still hearing those damned Whispers in the back of his mind. Eating away at his sanity that he was desperately trying to cling onto. _Valravn, Valravn, Valravn! _It started to become as constant as the silence in the wind… which was a haunting thought, that he was getting used to that sound.

Jackdaw wiped the blood off his Tonfas after he finished cutting up the corpse of a Bandit who was trailing Summer. However, she was no fool and she knew that he was watching over her. She had seen the blood in the dirt, and even found the bodies hidden away so then they would not come across them. Knelt down by the river, he washed the blood off into the stream, and he turned, hearing the twigs snap behind him. There she was, his best friend, Summer Rose. She had Taiyang's Engagement Ring and Wedding Ring on her finger as she looked at him, Ivy's Lash drawn. "Jack… I thought you were the one responsible for all those deaths… what are you doing here?" She asked with concern in her voice.

He looked at her and he sighed.

"There are bad people out here in Patch… in the world… I'm cleaning things up." He said as he wiped the blades. He had not acquired his signature outfit yet, not even the Hat or even his moustache, he just had a beard and a coat that was strikingly similar. "I never… I didn't mean to…"

"I know… I know, Jack." Summer assured, she put Ivy's Lash away, she knew that he could never hurt her. "How did you escape the Black Tower?"

He chuckled. "You gonna arrest me?" He asked her.

"Do you mean to hurt me or my family?" She asked him, she already knew the answer, but she just needed to hear it from his mouth. He looked at her and he sighed.

"That's what I am now… a monster. But no – I could never hurt you, or Tai or your daughters. That's why I am killing these people in Patch, nobody will ever get close to your family, not so long as I am breathing." Jackdaw promised and Summer flicked her hair over her shoulder, she walked over to him and she sat down next to him.

"It's good to see you, buddy – and don't worry I won't tell. I still think about what happened that day, Jack… it was like something in you changed as soon as you lost them. When you lost Arat." Summer explained, looking at him. "That wasn't you."

"It was… it really was. I was trying to be good, to be the man you believed I could be… but that was always there. I still hate them. For how they neglected me, for how they treated me… for what happened to my team. But… they were right. I am a monster; I always have been." Jackdaw stated, staring at his own face, blood on his hands. "Maybe I should stop pretending and be what they saw… a mindless savage beast."

"No, Jack – you're not a Grimm. Hell, if you were then maybe I would not have my two beautiful daughters. I know Yang isn't mine… I can see Raven in her every day… and it angers me that she just abandoned her and Tai like that. I hated her for a long time… but now? I'm at peace with it now, I suppose? Yang… I'll raise her as my own now – and the fact you have been doing all this? To protect us? I may not agree with it… but it means you aren't heartless, Jack. And I still believe you can atone." Summer said, and he chuckled.

"Even after Vale? After what I did?" Jackdaw asked.

"Some people will never forgive you, just as Qrow and Raven could not forgive you, and how you cannot forgive them for what happened. But you have to make things right – for _you_. Hang the world and what they think, so long as you do what you believe is the right thing, and it makes you feel better about yourself? Then it is worth it. Remember how you were on the last year of Beacon? Forget Ozpin's Mission, think back to what it was like before. You were so happy, you and Arat were so close and clearly in love with each other. Your team loved you. I was so proud of you – you can be that again." Summer promised, gently and kindly holding his hand.

Jackdaw looked at Summer and he smiled. "You have always believed in me… especially when I didn't deserve it." Jackdaw said, Summer smiled, and gave him a warm hug.

"Your my B.F.F, man." She cooed, and he smiled, feeling so safe and at home in her arms. He held her tight, and they were like this for about a minute before they released each other. Jackdaw them looked back at his reflection. "Do you still hear them? The voices?"

"Yeah… I'm starting to just get used to it…" Jackdaw sighed.

"Do you think that maybe… it was because of your Uncle? Valravn?" She inquired curiously.

"Yeah… like I told you… I spent a lot of time with him. Qrow and Raven struggled in his presence, but I heard the voices so much that I started to get used to it. Like he couldn't get in my head." Jackdaw said, chuckling. "It was always when he wasn't there… and I still heard them… that was the hard part."

"If you're starting to get used to it, they will fade. This is a good thing." Summer assured with a kind smile.

"I hope so." He said, he then looked at her. "You… you have always been the one who made me want to be better. And even now… despite everything I have done… I still want to be better."

Summer smiled. "Well – so long as my children are safe – you will always be welcome here. Of course, don't let Tai see." Summer joked.

"Still paranoid as ever?" Jackdaw presumed.

"Yeah, he's a goof – but man… never seen a man worry so much over nothing." Summer giggled.

"It's nice to see you two finally got together. I always wished it were that way from the start – you were always better for him than my sister." Jackdaw admitted, and Summer gently leant against his shoulder.

"I'd do anything for this family." She told him, Jackdaw glanced at her and then she sighed. "I also would like to ask… that if you could actually watch over the home for me… for a few weeks." Summer said.

"Me? A babysitter. I doubt Tai would like that." He chuckled.

"No, no… Tai will be there. I mean, continue what you have been doing here? Keeping anything dangerous from getting close. Babies tend to draw in more than just Bandits, Grimm have been getting closer whenever they cry. If you could stop that from happening? Tai and I have been able to handle it we in the past – but I've got a mission out here in Patch."

"What kind of mission?" Jackdaw asked.

"There are some kids – an Orphanage – of people like me." She said, pointing to her Silver Eyes. Jackdaw raised a brow with curiosity.

"More Silver Eyed People… I remember those stories you told me. The things that Ozpin explained to you about your eyes. Is it true?" Jackdaw asked.

"I have been learning since he told me – it is true. It's extremely powerful against Grimm, if there are more of us then I could help these kids become stronger some day. But for now they're only children, and their previous carer was killed by Grimm. I'm going to be protecting them for a few weeks until an Airship arrives to take them to a new Orphanage in Vale." Summer explained.

"And that means you can't be here." Jackdaw said.

"Exactly. I know that Tai can handle the Grimm here on Patch… but I would feel more comfortable if I knew that you were helping him in the background." Summer requested, Jackdaw smiled, and he nodded his head.

"Look at me – Crazed Serial Killer for Hire." Jackdaw joked, which made Summer laugh.

"Eh, what can I say? I can't help but see the good in everyone." She shrugged her shoulders, they both laughed by the river.

"Okay – I'll do it. Your kids will be fine, I promise you." Jackdaw assured, and she smiled.

"One day – you will be able to show the world who you really are. Whether they want to accept that you are not a monster or not is up to them… but you are a good man." She promised, she then handed him the location of where the Orphanage was. She smiled as she stood up with Jackdaw, she walked back towards the house and he transformed into the Jackdaw Bird and flew up into the trees, constantly keeping an eye on the situation there.

A few weeks later…

The sun had set behind the horizon, and the Fractured Moon watched over the land like some all-seeing eye. She walked through the Orphanage, it was a lonely building in the middle of the woods, she had already killed over a hundred Grimm that tried to get here. She knew of Salem's existence due to the missions that Ozpin had sent Team S.T.R.Q on in the past, before Raven ran of course. And she knew why they were coming for them – because the power of their eyes proved to be dangerous against her and her cause.

Of course she never knew the full extent of Salem and Ozpin and many other factors, however she never really bothered worrying about that. She checked on all the kids as they slept. But as she walked, she heard her Scroll vibrate in her pocket, so she walked outside and closed the only door inside. She then answered and saw it was her loving Husband – Taiyang. She smiled and she answered, holding the Scroll to her ear. "Hey honey." Summer said.

"Mommy!" The voice of little Ruby squeaked with joy, which made Summer smile happily to hear her daughter's voice.

"Mom!" Yang could also be heard, both so exhilarated to hear their mother's voice again.

"Hey, kids! Wow, what a party!" She laughed as she leant against the tree.

"They called dibs on being the first to saying hello." Taiyang chuckled. Summer laughed with a big smile on her face.

"Hey… how are all of you doing?" She asked them curiously.

"Good, daddy made us a cake!" Ruby giggled. "And cookies!"

"Psst… they weren't very good." Taiyang whispered.

"N-No! They were really nice!" Ruby and Yang both sweetly giggled, she could hear Ruby hugging her daddy so tightly. Summer smiled as she stood there, listening to their every word.

"I'm sure they were, sweetie. Your daddy is an incredibly talented man." She giggled.

"Alright you don't have to get all mushy on us, babe." Taiyang chuckled, which made her laugh.

"Oh, and Yang? Have you done your homework this time?" Summer asked her, Yang paused.

"Yes?" Yang softly answered.

"Oh really?" Summer asked, knowing she was lying.

"Y-Yeah…"

"Hmm… I hear the sound of you being really shy… normally the sound of someone who… is lying?" She asked with a big grin, then Yang sighed.

"I mean… I am _going_ to." Yang giggled, which made Summer smile.

"Well you still have another day before it's school, so… I can forgive you." Summer joked, which made Yang giggle.

"When will you be home, mommy?" Ruby cooed, and she smiled.

"Well… hopefully by tomorrow, little egg." Summer answered, and they all gasped. "Yep, the Transport should be picking these kids up soon."

"Things alright down there?" Taiyang asked.

"Yeah, y'know… a bit of Grimm here, a bit of Grimm there. Nothing serious." She shrugged her shoulder – although she was lying. There were so many Grimm here, it was actually unnatural. She had fought off more Grimm than they had ever seen on their property in the years she had been living there. But she never wanted them to worry about that – and besides, the Grimm on Patch were hardly anything she couldn't handle. The most dangerous creature would be an Ursa.

And even they were rare.

"I can't wait for you to come home, mom! We miss you." Yang softly said with a smile.

"Don't worry sweetie – I'll see you all soon." She promised.

"Okay kids, time for bed." Taiyang said.

"Okay – bye-bye Mom! Love you!" Ruby and Yang both squeaked joyfully.

"I love you too, little beans!" She laughed; her heart always fluttered with joy whenever she heard their voices. She heard them run off to bed and now she was just with the love of her life.

"I have no idea how those two can have so much energy this late at night." Taiyang yawned.

"You're telling me… Gods… we're getting old, Tai." Summer chuckled.

"I know, my back's killing me with all this hide-and-seek I've been playing." Taiyang strained. "So… how are things really, honey?" He asked her. Summer chuckled.

"Never could bullshit you, could I?" She said. "Things are a bit worrying Tai – the amount of Grimm? They're nothing I can't handle but even still… they just don't stop. We nearly lost one kid a few days ago. If I weren't here, they'd be dead right now." Summer admitted.

"You think it's… Salem?" Taiyang asked.

"I'd stake my life on it. After this is done I'm gonna go and talk to Oz about it. He should know." Ozpin said.

"Yeah… still haven't heard back from Qrow recently. He's been acting kinda weird lately." Taiyang said.

"Tell me about it. I dunno what's going on with him." Summer sighed. "I wish he wouldn't always go on these solo missions like this. I worry about what it could be doing to him."

"So do I. He always was stubborn." Taiyang admitted. Taiyang could be heard looking back over his shoulder, hearing Ruby calling him. He sighed. "I'm running out of stories to tell her, Summer… got any for me?" Tai asked her curiously.

"Go for the Cookie One. She loves that one." Summer answered with a smile.

"Oh I'm sure of it. Okay, I'm gonna go tuck the little angel in. Stay safe, honey. I love you." He said to her, and she smiled.

"I love you too, baby." She replied, she and Taiyang ended their call and Summer returned to the Orphanage and she opened the door.

She felt sick to her stomach, her silver eyes were wide, and she froze in place. They were all dead, had their throats slit in their sleep. One by one…

… by Qrow and Raven.

She stared at them with horror, and they stared right back, blood on the blades of their knives as they looked at her. She dropped her scroll as she shook with utter dismay at what she was looking at. She had not seen Qrow for days… and this was the first she had seen Raven since before she left. "What have you done?" Summer's voice broke as she spoke to them.

The Branwens had wide, teary eyes.

"Summer… I-I…"

"What… why… how could you? What have you done?!" She questioned, staring directly at them. And then… she heard the chimes… and heard the same whispers that haunted Jackdaw.

_Valravn… Valravn… Valravn…_

He emerged from around the corner, clad in the exact same clothes he was wearing today, with his prosthetic bird-shaped legs digging down into the floorboards. He walked with his massive cane that could split into two scythes. He stared directly at Summer Rose's Silver Eyes with his glowing red ones, the only part of his face that was on show behind that Raven Skull-Shaped Mask he wore. "Child of our enemy… stands before us." Valravn spoke as he stared her down.

"No… you weren't… you weren't supposed to see this." Qrow stammered as he pressed his hand to the side of his head, feeling the voices in there.

"You… you know how important these kids are… they could have… Salem she…" Summer could not find the words; she was beyond horrified to see two people she once considered family to carry out such an atrocity. Valravn did not move, he just stared directly at her, just as he did at Ruby.

"We had to…" Raven stammered.

"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!" Summer yelled, swiftly drawing her weapon and kicking the door shut behind her, pointing it at them with gritted teeth. "You hated Jackdaw for the things he did as a child… but I never believed that you could possibly be worse. You have murdered children… CHILDREN!" She yelled with fury. "And I let you look after my little girls… the little girl that _you_ abandoned." Summer snarled with fury in her Silver Eyes.

"They would have destroyed our family." Qrow answered.

"Family? WE were family! These people, THAT MONSTER! They never loved you, they just used you, turned you into weapons!" Summer screamed, Valravn kept his eyes on her, she could tell though that through that mask he was smirking at her. "And you still served them? Why? Because you share the same blood?"

"It's… you don't get it… you never understood the Branwen Family. We have always survived, together… no matter what." Raven snarled with anger in her red eyes.

"By killing children in their sleep? Because of what they _might_ do? Because of the power of their eyes?" Summer questioned. She turned to Qrow, the one she assumed had less ties to the Tribe… but clearly that was yet another lie. "And you? Raven I actually get… she never had loyalty to us. But I… I actually thought you found your real family…" Summer sounded so heartbroken.

"I… I…" Qrow's lip quivered. Tears splashed the wooden floor.

"You shouldn't have come here; you should have stayed at home. You would have been safe." Raven stammered.

"Safety bound by time, an everlasting end to all existence." Valravn spoke, and she stared at him. Summer Rose was not a fool, this was the first time she had ever met Valravn Branwen and she knew exactly what he meant by that.

"You hear that? You two dumb bastards? Whether I showed up here or not he would have come for me… well here I am. Qrow… Raven… people I once saw as my brother and sister? Here I am." She said as she stared at them.

"We're not doing this. We're not fighting you; it wasn't supposed to be like this." Qrow stammered.

"Oh and how was it supposed to be like, huh?" Summer asked.

"Ozpin believes in the Silver Eyed Warriors against Salem, but we have seen what they have done to our people! They nearly wiped us out… we can't let that stand…" Raven stated.

"The Tribe is not all bad, the people in there they don't deserve the same fate." Qrow added.

"So the choices of people with those eyes excuses all of this? They were children! And you murdered them all!" Summer yelled with anger in her voice, the heartbreak was fading, and the betrayal was feeding her fury.

Valravn approached the Branwen Twins and he held their shoulders as he spoke. "The Ancient Enemy must be eradicated if our people are to survive. I will not stand by and let our name be forgotten. And neither should you. Only when every last Silver Eyed Warrior is gone… will our curse be lifted. Will your Bad Luck finally change… will your fates be corrected? Only through blood can we find our future." Valravn explained as he stared at Summer. They both looked at each other, tears streamed down their eyes.

Summer kept Ivy's Lash in her grasp. Qrow shrugged Valravn off, hiccupping a sob at the unmoving prowess of Summer Rose. "Please… just go…"

Summer scowled. "I'm not going anywhere." Summer snarled, and she suddenly shot forward and she slammed herself into the three of them, except Valravn vanished into thin air, transforming into cawing ravens and crows. The wall exploded around them and she tumbled out into the rain as lightning cracked in the sky, thunder roared above their heads. Summer stood back up with her Whip spinning through her hand, and she launched it towards Raven and slashed it across her face and she rushed towards Qrow.

They fought brutally through the night; Summer was blinded by her heartbroken rage to stop them. Not because they were going to kill her, but because they might go after her daughter. If they would stoop to this level because their Uncle commanded it, then they would definitely go after her own baby. They made their choice, and she had made hers. She battled them as hard as she could through the night, breaking their auras, but then she even had hers broken by the Branwens.

Summer launched Ivy's Lash at Qrow, and it wrapped around his arm, cutting into his arm. He started to wrap it around his arm, the spikes on the whip constantly dug into his skin but he pulled Summer closer and closer whilst Raven got back up.

"Just stop!" Qrow cried as he reeled her in, her heels digging into the mud. "We're family, I'd never ever harm a hair on my nieces' heads! I love those girls, with my life!" He pulled her forward, their flickering auras illuminating the stormy night.  
Qrow reeled as Summer punched him in the face… and then her eyes widened… and she gasped. Qrow gasped as well as tears streamed down his eyes.

He accidentally stabbed one of the long spikes attached to her Whip into Summer's heart when he pulled her forward. She slowly looked down and saw all the blood start pouring from the wound, and she collapsed into his arms. "No! No… no, no, no…" Qrow stammered with pain in his eyes.

Summer's expression softened as tears ran freely. "Don't…" She hiccupped as Raven's eyes widened. "…B-Be…" Qrow's eyes expanded to shaky circles. "…What blood tells you to… be." She softly said, before her eyes faded and her body fell lifeless in his arms. Qrow howled with anguish as he held her, Valravn watched from the treeline, turning and walking away – his mission accomplished. Raven stood by her brother's side, and they both sobbed.

"Qrow…" Jackdaw softly gasped, they both turned with shocked eyes to see Jackdaw emerging from the darkness. The lightning flashed and thunder clapped as he walked out from the trees. He stared at Summer's lifeless body in his arms, her eyes still open but lifeless. He then stared at his two siblings… the two who killed her. But mainly Qrow… the one who delivered the fatal blow. "What… have you done?" Jackdaw growled with heartbreak in his voice.

Qrow swiftly stood up with fear as he backed up, releasing Summer as he walked back.

"What have you done?" Jackdaw was terrifyingly calm, but his eyes were sobbing… and he slowly approached her body and he collapsed next to her. He held her in his arms, and he started to cry as he held her.

"No…" Jackdaw sobbed as he cradled her body in his arms, shaking her desperately so that she would wake up. "No… no… I made her a promise. I promised…" He sniffled, and then he stared at the two of them with furious eyes.

"You did this…" Qrow said, and the lightning flashed once again. Raven stared at her brother with shocked eyes. Jackdaw snarled with anger as he held her body, but he did not go after them… he just held her. "Jack the Ripper… you… What have you done?!"

Raven could not believe what she was hearing from Qrow. How was this the same Qrow that Ruby and Yang knew today? A man who would pin the blame on someone else so cowardly? A man who would butcher children in their sleep.

How… was this the same man, who was their Uncle?

Jackdaw looked at her body in his arms and he closed her eyes, and he shook his head and then scowled at Qrow once again. He turned and fled, transforming into his Corvid Form, whilst Raven hung back for a few moments, staring at Jackdaw. But eventually she fled as well, Jackdaw never moved an inch though, he just held her body.

He carried her body from where those poor children died and took her to the ridge of a cliff and he buried her there, where her gravestone would later be placed. Jackdaw knelt beside her buried body and he wiped the tears from his eyes, and he stared at the rising sun. But he walked away, entering the shadows.

And with Summer's Death…

… Jack the Ripper was born.

The next time he was seen he embraced the role as the monster, and he started his scheme against them. He knew that Qrow and Raven told their side of the story to Taiyang, that Summer was murdered by Jackdaw in an act against Qrow for what happened to his team. Even though Jackdaw had stopped caring for revenge, and just wanted to make Summer proud. But now… he did not care… the one person in the world that mattered to him was killed.

The one person that mattered… was taken from him yet again… by Qrow and Raven Branwen.

Accident or not it doesn't matter anymore – Jackdaw accepted what he was, and he started to go berserk, killing any innocent he came across. Leaving horrific bodies behind, chopped to bits by his blades. He bought the coat; he bought the Top Hat… and he fashioned his moustache the way it was. And his madness began to claim him.

Eventually Jackdaw was captured by the Black Gallows once again, with Nathaniel Killian now in charge of the Organisation.

Years passed…

… after the first Battle of Beacon.

His Black Cell opened, and he hardly even reacted, turning and his eyes widened with awe at who it was. It was Watts – once again – and he had his arms crossed. "I told you we would meet again…" He said with a smirk on his face. Watts took Jackdaw with him to a secure location, out in Vale near where Beacon was located. Jackdaw was leant against the wall whilst Watts explained to him why he had released him.

"You know of Team S.T.R.Q's exploits, against the entity known as Salem?" Watts asked him.

"Summer told me." Jackdaw admitted.

"Well what if I told you that Salem does not wish for the destruction of this world? What if I told you it is merely to save it? From the corruption and the greed of the Unified Governments of Remnant? To rule over everyone with both an iron fist, but also fairly. So then everyone is protected and safe?" Watts asked him and Jackdaw shrugged his shoulders.

"I honestly couldn't give a damn, Arthur. I just kill people." Jackdaw said, fully embracing the monster that Qrow and Raven painted him as.

"Now… that is not what Summer Rose believed was it?" Watts asked him.

"Careful." He snarled.

"You are not just a monster, you have conviction, and you care for those children that Qrow and Raven Branwen orphaned that night. If Professor Ozpin were not a threat that must be eliminated then I would have you present the proof to him so then they could suffer in the Black Cells like you have. But – I need your help with something more sensitive, something only someone with your… particular strengths… can accomplish." Watts explained.

"I am not some mercenary for hire, Doctor." Jackdaw reminded.

"Of course not… think of this as a trade. You do something for me… and I shall do something for you." He assured, and Jackdaw raised his brow.

"What can you possibly offer me?" He asked.

"First I want to know if you are willing to accept the risks of this." Watts said, and Jackdaw sighed.

"I stopped fearing death a long time ago – what is it you want from me?" Jackdaw questioned.

"Two targets – two locations. The first will be relatively simple, after the Battle of Beacon Amity Arena was left adrift. But still inside of it is a Prototype Android that could prove useful to my plans. It is called Penny Polendina, it's carcass is still inside of the facility. I need you to get inside and fight through the Grimm to retrieve her body and bring it to me. I will handle the rest." Watts explained.

"Fine, and the second?" Jackdaw asked.

"The second will be harder to get access to. Because it is out in the Atlesian Wildlands, there is a facility there called Frostwall Bastion, where all information across Remnant is backed up to. Killian does not have access to the Inhumane Necessity Command Codes, but that facility will give us the edge we need to take down Ozpin and his Academies once and for all. If I believe history is correct – you yourself stated that the Academies are a failed idea." Watts said and Jackdaw nodded his head in agreement.

"The Atlesian Wildlands are suicide to get into. Let alone getting out of." Jackdaw said.

"That is why there is a secret Tunnel System that leads back to Mantle, designed for Black Gallows Operatives to easily gain access in and out. However the entrance on Mantle's Side is hidden. The easiest way to get in is through the Wildlands, whilst the fastest way out is that tunnel." Watts explained, and Jackdaw nodded his head.

"Okay… and what is it you can offer me for all that?" Jackdaw asked, and Watts smiled.

He revealed something on the table, and he pulled the sheet off – they were his cybernetic arms that he had today. "The tools for revenge… for what your brother and sister did to Summer Rose."

Jackdaw's eyes widened. "I know your heart still burns with anger, with hatred for what they did to you. These weapons are loaded with a material I invented – Grave Dust – which can print any weapons you desire. These will make you the most dangerous adversary the world has ever seen. Even Qrow and Raven Branwen will not stand a chance against you – avenge her Jackdaw." Watts said as he held the cybernetic arm towards him.

But… Jackdaw was hesitant, not because he would have to amputate his own arms for this… but for another reason. "It's been a long time… her daughters have grown up. Perhaps it would be kinder for them to not lose anymore loved ones." He sighed.

"Loved ones? Their Uncle is the murderer of their mother. She never got to see her little girls grow up… she should have." Watts said, and Jackdaw closed his eyes as tears started to well up in them.

"Yes… it's true…" He agreed with a dark voice.

"And what about them? They were robbed of their mother's love!" Watts said, and Jackdaw slowly clenched his hands into fists. He turned and walked towards him and he stared down at the Cybernetic Arms.

"I… do… hate them." He snarled.

That night, Watts carried out the painful procedure, cutting off Jackdaw's arms and welding the new ones onto him. Jackdaw emerged from the room after the surgery, wearing his dark brown trench coat, newly attached Cybernetic Arms, and he fitted his hat on his head. And the events began…

… he went to Yang the day she woke up, checking on her after learning she lost her arm. Helped get Watts' Mercenaries into Beacon Academy with the explosives, watched over Ruby every chance he had to make sure she was safe as Summer would have wanted.

And then…

… Graduation Day. Just like thirty years ago. The day Jack the Ripper returned to haunt the world once again.

The Atlesian Knight approached Ironwood.

"Red Means Stop."

"Yellow Means Get Ready."

"Green Means Go!"

And in one moment…

… everything came full circle.

* * *

**Ruby**

* * *

Her eyes were wide… filled with tears as Jackdaw finished telling them the truth.

The full truth… of what really happened.

Ruby suddenly spun around and drew Crescent Rose on Qrow and Raven who both backed up, Nora and Ren both were by their side. Weiss, Blake, Jaune and Pyrrha kept on trying to calm the whole thing down though. They knew they were guilty, but they did not want them to fall down the same dark path of revenge that Jackdaw had. They saw what it would lead to. Qrow held his hands up and so did Raven as they backed up.

"Ruby… I…"

"Tell me he's lying…" Ruby begged, she then pushed the barrel closer. "TELL ME HE'S LYING!" Ruby screamed, desperation in her voice. Ruby looked back at Jackdaw, there was no smirk or anything – he had done what he wanted. He told them the truth of what really happened to their mother.

"I…" Qrow could barely even answer.

"Yang… I… things weren't supposed to go the way they did…" Raven stammered.

"Don't… you dare… try and make it sound right." Yang snarled with anger in her burning eyes.

Weiss looked at Ruby, trying to calm her down. "Ruby… let's not do this right now… you're not thinking straight, okay?"

"Not thinking straight? He… he killed my mom… and LIED! MADE SURE HE'D STILL BE MY UNCLE?" She screeched with rage in her voice.

"Unless… he is lying?" Blake asked, desperately looking at them… but then they heard the sounds of the chimes… and they all heard the whispers. Jackdaw looked up and saw him stood in the rafters with his staff in his hand. Valravn dropped down from above and landed in front of them all, slowly rising back up.

Yang stared at him with anger.

_He was following us…_

"The Fallen Child speaks the truth – the Silver Eyed Gene is a plague that must be eradicated." Valravn snarled as he stood before them.

"For choices made over a century ago?" Nora questioned with horrified eyes.

"The Silver Eyed Warriors butchered my family in front of me, butchered our entire people." Valravn explained, and oddly enough he was no longer speaking in riddles as he stood before them. "The Silver Eyes… the trait is always bestowed upon those who carry out the same bloody deeds. Your mother cut down plenty of Bandits just like Jackdaw Branwen did." Valravn explained as he stared at him

Jackdaw no longer even seemed to be affected by the Whispers, he just hatefully glared at him. "Summer Rose's death… was a necessary sacrifice for the survival of our family. Of _your_ family." Valravn said, staring at Yang.

"The Branwens are no family of mine." Yang snarled viciously.

"Your choice matters not; you are one of us. You carry our blood – therefore – you are one of us." Valravn stated.

"If you think Blood makes Family… then you're dumber than I thought you were. You choose your family. And you took away the mom I loved." Yang snarled, staring at Qrow and Raven.

"You gonna kill me too?" Ruby questioned Qrow and Raven. "Huh? For your precious little bloodline? Huh?" Ruby snarled, and they did not answer.

Only Valravn did.

"Yes." He answered, she stared at him and he stared right back.

"Ruby…" Weiss softly said to her. "We can deal with them later, Valravn is the real enemy you know that. You don't wanna do this – please… just… stop." Weiss begged her, but Ruby closed her eyes.

Qrow spoke up. "Ruby… I loved your mother… I never…"

But then it was all over – hearing him say those words after what he had done? It sent her over the edge, Ruby suddenly pushed Weiss out of the way, and she yelled with fury, suddenly unleashing the beam of white light from her Silver Eyes towards Qrow, until Blake tackled her down to the ground to stop her. The light carved through the ceiling and brought it down on top of them.

Dividing them all.

Team R.W.B.Y with Qrow and Raven.

Team J.N.P.R with Valravn.

Eryka and Winter with Jackdaw.

The truth was out – and Ruby was done waiting.

She and Yang were going to get their revenge… by any means necessary.

* * *

**Author Note - The truth is out... and what a shocking and dark truth it was**

**You know it gets serious when I name a chapter off the title of the story.**

**This right here is the chapter where everything changes, and it is honestly one of the most anticipated chapters David and I have ever come up with. I mean... man... I was genuinely anxious for this one. The truth of Qrow and Raven being responsible for Summer's death and that they put the blame on Jackdaw to protect themselves... it was one shocking revelation but one that has been hinted at for quite a long time now.**

**Jackdaw also has one of the most tragic backstories of any villain I have written so far, it does not excuse his actions but jesus does it explain them. If you treat someone like a monster then you are bound to create one. Summer was the one thing that was good and kind in his life and the thing that took that from him were people she considered family.**

**And now Ruby and Yang have snapped, and the Branwen Twins are their targets now.**

**Jackdaw won, in the end he only wanted Summer's children to know the truth of how she died, and not live in the lie anymore. Plus = Valravn needs to pay for what he has done, since he is the monster behind all of this. His semblance played a major catalyst in Jackdaw's descent into madness, and he used the Twins like pawns.**

**This was such a powerful chapter to write - I hope you enjoyed it as much as we have! Please review, follow and favourite!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter - Fracture**

**\- Matt**


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